ASSOCIATED PRESS

BATON ROUGE, La. — Marcus Thornton scored 22 points to lead LSU in a 76-62 victory against Alabama in Southeastern Conference play on Sunday.

Thornton, who also grabbed six rebounds, was 8-of-13 from the field and 5-of-5 at the foul line. Thornton scored all but 2 of his points in the opening half.

Tasmin Mitchell added 16 points and Garrett Temple had 10, all in the second half, for the Tigers (19-4, 7-1).

Mikhail Torrance led the Crimson Tide (13-10, 3-6) with 12 points. Senario Hillman added 11 points, scoring 9 in the second half. Alonzo Gee, who was averaging 14 points a game, was held to seven points. JaMychal Green played just 10 minutes due to a hip pointer.

It took the Tigers a few minutes to get going in this one. LSU made just two baskets in the first six-plus minutes and fell behind, 13-4. Tigers coach Trent Johnson was not expecting such a slow start.

“We got off to a real sluggish start,” Johnson said. “That surprised me. Then, we got some contributions from guys off the bench. They gave us some energy. When we play with a sense of urgency, we can compete with anybody.”

A 3-point play by Thornton began a run of 17 consecutive Tigers points. Mitchell’s 3-pointer at the 7:23 mark of the first half gave LSU the lead at 24-22. Mitchell then sank another 3-pointer, and both Thornton and Chris Johnson made two baskets.

The Tigers put together a 10-minute stretch of the first half in which they outscored the Crimson Tide 31-9. During that time, LSU went from trailing by 9 points to taking a 13-point lead at 35-22. Reserve guard Chris Bass started the Tigers outburst with a 3-pointer.

“We came out without intensity,” Temple said. “We were just sluggish on offense. We were not setting screens, not cutting hard. Alabama had been struggling. Maybe we thought they were going to give us the game.”

A pair of foul shots by Hillman with 3:48 left in the opening half ended the Crimson Tide drought. Baskets by Mitchell and Thornton in the last two minutes gave the Tigers a 40-28 halftime advantage.

The Crimson Tide reduced their deficit to 11 points at 46-35 after Justin Knox made two foul shots with 15:39 left in the game. But Temple sparked a 15-4 run with two free throws and two 3-pointers, pushing LSU ahead by 22 points.

“We got off to a good start in the first six or eight minutes and had a 6- or 7-point lead,” Alabama coach Philip Pearson said. “But, we couldn’t hold it. LSU did a great job defensively in both halves. There defensive pressure was excellent.”

The victory was the seventh in a row in conference play for LSU, which remained in first place in the overall league standings. Alabama has now lost 17 straight SEC games on the road.