LSU men’s basketball coach Trent Johnson struggled to find words to describe LSU junior Tasmin Mitchell’s performance after the Tigers’ game against Mississippi State on Wednesday.”My goodness,” Johnson said in a postgame radio interview. “He was unbelievable down the stretch. [He hit] every big basket we needed.”Mitchell’s career-high 41 points helped muscle the Tigers to a 97-94 double overtime victory against the Bulldogs.”I couldn’t be more proud of the LSU Tigers,” Johnson said. “Just from the standpoint where there were so many ups and downs, so many emotional swings, but we kept battling.” Mitchell is the first Tiger to score more than 40 points since Ronnie Henderson scored 40 against Alabama on Feb. 11, 1995.The Tigers blew out the Bulldogs, 81-57, the last time the teams met because of a second-half run, but that wasn’t the case Wednesday night.LSU committed 21 turnovers but still managed to outshoot Mississippi State 44 percent to 31 percent.”It speaks volumes to our ability to defend,” Johnson said.The Tigers also outshot the Bulldogs from behind the arc.”Their strength was the 3-point line,” Johnson said. “I thought we did an excellent job of closing out on shooters.”The Bulldogs were just over 20 percent from 3-point range, while the Tigers were 10-of-21 from long range. “We knew we were about to pick our poison, and we thought if their post guys were going to score that was going to be OK.”Mississippi State junior center Jarvis Varnado led the Bulldogs with 31 points before becoming one of seven combined players to foul out. The fouls, injuries, and struggles created an opportunity for other Tigers to make contributions.Both seniors Chris Johnson and Quintin Thornton fouled out, forcing freshman Storm Warren into action down the stretch.Warren finished with 7 points and just two rebounds but converted a 3-point play in the second overtime that sparked a 7-0 run that allowed the Tigers to pull away slightly.”Storm comes in the game, has the free-throw line violation and misses the open jump shot, but he just stayed the course,” Johnson said.Sophomore guard Bo Spencer suffered an ankle injury after scoring 15 points for the Tigers, and senior guards Marcus Thornton and Garret Temple both struggled offensively.Thornton finished with 19 despite hitting only 6-of-19 shots, and Temple was just 1-of-8 from the field.But senior guard Terry Martin came up big for the Tigers, scoring 11 points and sinking both of his 3-point attempts.”Terry Martin was incredible,” Johnson said.—-Contact Amos Morale at [email protected]