Seniors Skylar Mays, Marlon Taylor Carry LSU to 94-64 Win Over Georgia on Senior Day

On what was an emotional senior day tribute inside the PMAC, the Tigers couldn't have scripted a better ending to the regular season, knocking off Georgia 94-64 behind a stellar performance from senior Skylar Mays and a career-high 30 points from Marlon Taylor.

With the Tigers win and the Florida's loss to Kentucky Saturday, LSU (21-10, 12-6) secured the No. 3 seed in the SEC tournament next week in Nashville.

It didn't take long for the senior Mays to make a little history on senior day. Mays scored his first bucket of the game 1:12 into the contest, giving him officially 1,600 career points, moving him into No. 10 on the all time scoring list at LSU.

The four-year starter dropped 15 of his 19 points in the first half as LSU jumped on the Bulldogs early behind a phenomenal shooting display.

While LSU's offense has been a well-oiled machine for the most part in conference play, the balance displayed on Saturday was a pleasant change in approach. The Tigers shot 64% from the field in the first half and an uncharacteristic 60% from three-point range to take a 49-34 lead into the break.

For the game, LSU would finish shooting 58% from the field and 52% from three, both of which were season highs. Coach Will Wade said after the game that when LSU is able to get its defense set, they aren't a bad defensive team.

The struggles have come when team's get the Tigers out in transition, which has been the common denominator for some of the losses LSU has suffered in conference play.

“We made shots. It was 42 to 42 in the paint. We’re both top-10 in the country in scoring in the paint," Wade said. "It certainly helps when you’re able to make shots, but we were good today. We were able to get our defense set too. We’re a pretty good defensive team when we can get back and get set. Today, we got back and stopped them. "

“I said after the Arkansas game, which definitely wasn’t our best game, we are a dangerous team when we get things going, come out the right way, and think of defense first," Mays said. "I think they only scored 64 points today, so when we think defense first, we are one of the better teams in the country. We definitely have some momentum going into the SEC tournament and we are looking to do big things in Nashville.”

A 19-6 run in the opening frame was highlighted by a SportsCenter top-10 worthy alley oop from Javonte Smart to Taylor to give the Tigers some breathing room.

The offense ran smoothly through the sophomore point guard Smart, who finished with a 13 point, 10 assist double-double, but it was Taylor who took over the second half. The senior scored 19 of his career-high 30 points in the second half as the Tigers were able to build out a 31-point advantage at one point.

“Today was a special day, the last game in the PMAC," Taylor said. "I’m happy I got to finish it out with my brothers. It was a tough journey. Today I was just trying to get the win. I was trying to give the team everything I could, and we got the win. I had a good feeling early on.”

"I would assume that was his career-high, right? I think he scored 21 against Arkansas last year," coach Will Wade said. "He played great and it wasn’t just the offense. I know the 30 points is going to get a lot, but he did a really good job defensively and had to exert a lot of energy. (Anthony) Edwards scored his average, 17 points, but it took his 22 shots to score 17, which is credit to Marlon pushing him off his spots."

The exclamation point on Taylor's phenomenal final career performance in the PMAC came with 2:59 to go as he caught a transition alley-oop from Trendon Watford, earning a playful shove from Emmitt Williams and even putting a smile on coach Will Wade's face.

Even senior Marshall Graves got his time to shine as he knocked down a three-pointer with 44 seconds left to end his time in the PMAC with a bang.

Graves had played the last season and a half on former teammate Wayde Sims' scholarship so for his final shot to go in with exactly 44 seconds remaining was the cherry on top of a perfect tribute for all of the seniors.

"That's perfect, you can't write a better story," Mays said. "That's probably the only story that comes close to how Marlon played today. I'm so happy for these guys and for us to go out the way we did."

"That's awesome, I didn't know that," Wade said. "There was another game this year where we took the lead with 4:44 left on one of Skylar's shots at home. To see Fay and Wayne out there, it was pretty cool to honor him and have them out there. We've been honoring all year and will continue to do so."

LSU will now turn its attention to the SEC tournament next week in Nashville as it will play its first game on Friday.