The Breakdown: LSU Earns Tough 67-66 Victory Over Georgia
BATON ROUGE – Will Baker made two free throws with 15 seconds to play and then LSU stopped two Georgia misses in the lane at the other end as the game ended to give the Tigers a 67-66 win over the Bulldogs Tuesday night at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
The Tigers have now won more games than a year ago at 15-13 and upped their SEC record to 7-8 with three games remaining. LSU will be no worse than eighth in the standings after Wednesday’s games are completed.
The game turned into a back-and-forth affair in the end that featured six lead changes and two ties. The teams were tied with three minutes to play at 61-61 before Georgia’s Justin Hill hit a three to give UGA a 64-61 advantage with 2:41 to play.
But the Tigers then worked their way back. Jordan Wright, who would make 10-of-11 free throws on the night, drew a foul driving for the goal and made both tosses to cut the Georgia lead to 64-63 with 2:31 to play.
Georgia brought the ball over halfcourt and called timeout and when play resumed, Wright was able to force a steal and got the ball to Tyrell Ward who drove and scored to put LSU up 65-64 with 2:05 to play.
Georgia missed a mid-range jumper; LSU got the rebound and missed a long-range jumper as the game entered the final minute of play. Silas Demary Jr., missed a layup and the ball ended up in a scramble on the floor giving UGA the possession on the jump ball with 38 seconds to play.
Georgia’s Hill was able to get to the goal and score to give the Bulldogs back the lead at 66-65 with 29 seconds to play.
LSU had been out of timeouts since the 4:28 mark so the Tigers had to play on. Baker drew the foul inside as he went up with the ball and went to the line where he was 1-of-3 to that point in the game.
But the graduate student sank both shots and Georgia with a timeout remaining decided to play on. First Hill drove the paint and missed the layup but LSU could not come up with the ball. Dylan James did for UGA and he got the ball to Noah Thomasson whose driving shot to the lane was blocked by LSU’s Jalen Reed. Jordan Wright got the rebound and held it as the horn sounded to end the contest.
UGA dropped to 15-13 and 5-10 in the SEC.
Wright led LSU with 17 points on 3-of-7 shooting with a trey and the 10 free throws. Baker had 12 points on 4-of-9 shooting with a trey and the three free throws. Ward showed no effect of the injury that kept him out much of Saturday’s loss to Mississippi State and had eight points, with two treys. Reed had eight points on 4-of-6 shooting.
Tiger point guard Trae Hannibal played almost 39 minutes with six points, six rebounds, a team co-high eight assists and just two turnovers.
Georgia was led by Thomasson with 16 points while Hill had 11 for the Bulldogs.
LSU shot 46.8 percent for the game (22-of-47) and 9-of-18 from distance. LSU improved its free throw shooting to 14-of-18 (77.8%). LSU shot 58.3 percent (14-of-24) and 7-of-10 from deep in the first 20 minutes when the Tigers built a 40-27 halftime advantage.
Georgia finished at 37.3 percent (22-of-59) with seven treys and 15-of-19 at the line.
Georgia won the rebound battle, 34-31 with a 9-0 advantage on second chance points.
After LSU hit just three treys and four assists in the entire game Saturday against Mississippi State, the Tigers had three treys and four assists by the 15:46 mark of the first half Tuesday night.
The Tigers go on the road now Saturday to Nashville to face Vanderbilt in Memorial Gymnasium at 2:30 p.m. on the SEC Network and the LSU Sports Radio Network.
