Marcus Thornton seemingly couldn’t miss.
Wednesday against Auburn in Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum, the LSU junior made tough shot after tough shot, single-handedly keeping the Bayou Bengals in the game.
But Thornton waited until the final seconds to sink his biggest shot. That basket — a twisting, off-balance fadeaway 3-pointer with 4 seconds left and Auburn’s Lucas Hargrove guarding him closely — helped clinch a wild, 81-80, win for LSU.
Thornton said he’d never had such a hot-shooting night. But he liked the feeling.
“You feel like you can shoot it from anywhere on the court, just put it up and it’s got a chance to go in,” he said.
Thornton made 14 of his 23 shots, including 8-of-15 3-pointers, en route to a career-best 38 points. Most of the shots — like the final one — came with Auburn defenders in his face.
Auburn head coach Jeff Lebo could only shake his head.
“I thought we played very well tonight,” Lebo said. “We just got beat by one guy, who was absolutely as good as anybody I’ve seen in a long time. He was making unbelievably tough shots.”
Thornton’s big shot made the score 81-80, but didn’t end the game: Auburn quickly called timeout to set up a game-winning shot with 3.8 seconds left.
But AU’s Quan Prowell was whistled for a turnover for stepping over the baseline on the inbounds pass. LSU regained possession, but missed a free throw, giving AU one final chance.
Auburn forward Frank Tolbert sprinted toward halfcourt and heaved a shot toward the basket at the buzzer. But the ball fell short, allowing LSU to escape with its first Southeastern Conference win.
The victory snapped a 15-game road losing streak for the Bayou Bengals (8-12, 1-5 SEC), who had lost eight in a row overall.
“We’ve had moments in games where we couldn’t make the right play at the right time, but we were able to do that tonight,” LSU head coach John Brady said. “I thought our execution was better than it’s been.”
The credit for that execution belonged mostly to Thornton.
“We just got beat on 3-pointers that were absolutely insanely tough tonight — insanely tough,” Lebo said. “My hat’s off to Thornton. … That was an incredible performance by him.”
Thornton’s circus shots included a remarkable streak early in the first half. After Auburn took a 10-0 lead, Thornton made five consecutive 3-pointers, eventually tying the score at 15.
“They got off 10-0, and I look up and it’s 12-10, Marcus Thornton,” Brady said. “He rescued us.
“Marcus made some big plays early to keep us in it, and he made the big shot at the end, and he made some big shots in between.”
Auburn (12-7, 2-4) led by 5 points with 1:19 to play. But Thornton hit a 3 with 55 seconds left to cut the lead to 80-78.
After an exchange of missed shots, Auburn point guard Quantez Robertson missed a free throw with 21 seconds left. LSU snagged the rebound; Thornton hit his final 3-pointer on the ensuing possession.
“I’m sad we didn’t win the game for these kids, but we played well,” Lebo said.
Auburn plays at No. 19 Vanderbilt on Saturday.

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