Right place, right time.

Russel Tchewa’s rebound and putback with 2.3 seconds left came at the most opportune of moments, lifting Georgia to a thrilling 68-66 win over LSU Wednesday night before a Stegeman Coliseum crowd of 9,243.

“After every shot, I just go to the glass. I try to do that every day in practice,” said Tchewa. “I did my job.”

The Bulldogs are happy he did.

With 16 seconds left, Jalen Cook put LSU ahead 66-65 by converting a three-point play before Jabri Abdur-Rahim missed a three-point attempt. But Tchewa would not let the game end there, grabbing Abdur-Rahim’s miss before following it up by banking the in the ball for the go-ahead points.

Tchewa - who was fouled on the play - hit his free throw to put the Bulldogs up by two. Still, the Tigers almost pulled it out. LSU used a long inbound pass to Jordan Wright, who was able to get off a three-point attempt, only to have the ball bounce off the rim.

"Whew. My goodness. It was scary. The angle, I was down there in the corner and it was one of the best passes I've ever seen,” head coach Mike White said. “The footwork there in the corner to tightrope the sideline and the 3-point line and get a clean look off, I'm eager to see it on film. It was nerve-wracking to say the least. We're really fortunate. Great execution by those guys."

The win boosts Georgia’s record to 14-5 overall, 4-2 in the SEC, and most importantly keeps the Bulldogs in the postseason conversation.

Georgia is now 11-1 at Stegeman Coliseum this year.

“Every game in this league is very hard to win,” Tchewa said. “It was a big game for us.”

Tchewa finished the game with his second double-double as a Bulldog, scoring 11 points to go with 11 rebounds.

Georgia scored the first six points of the second half before LSU finally recorded its first bucket at the 15:46 mark.

But that’s when Cook would start to find his range. His back-to-back threes brought LSU back within 43-41

LSU would tie the game at 50 on a three-point play by Hunter Dean, only to have Noah Thomasson respond for Georgia by bouncing in the first of two three-pointers for a 57-52 lead with 7:44 left.

Points would be hard to come by for the Tigers.

LSU would go the next 6:25 without a single field goal until a dunk by Jordan Wright brought the Tigers within 61-55 before Cook’s play gave his team the lead late.

Silas Demary Jr. led the Bulldogs with 15 points.

The game wasn’t Georgia’s prettiest of the year.

Eighteen turnovers did the Bulldogs absolutely no favors, but after pulling out the win, White wasn’t doing much complaining.

"We can say ugly and grind it and all that stuff, but really I probably should say make the point more that you had 10 guys out there on the court for 40 minutes that were just throwing haymakers," White said. "It was a high-level game of intensity. I know everybody that played in that game's going to be tired and sleep well and need some rest, because we've both got quick turnarounds. It was a competitive, high-level game."

Georgia led 35-33 at the half despite what was a sloppy first 20 minutes for the Bulldogs.

If not for a red-hot Demary Jr., LSU would have been in control.

But thanks to the freshman, that did not happen.

During a 3:34 stretch late in the half, Demary Jr. scored 11 straight points for Georgia to give the Bulldogs their biggest first-half lead at 32-25 before the Tigers rallied back in the final 2:06 to draw within three.

Georgia travels to Florida on Saturday for a noon tipoff in Gainesville.

Boxscore

...Three Georgia players scored in double figures: Silas Demary Jr. with 15 and Noah Thomasson and Russel Tchewa with 11.

...Georgia’s largest lead was nine points in the second half.

...The Bulldogs are 3-0 in games decided by three points or fewer this season (2-2 last season).

...Georgia finished the first half 11-for-14 from the field after starting 3-for-13 shooting.

...The Bulldogs outscored the Tigers on the bench 22-14.

...Georgia won the battle in the paint, outscoring LSU 32-22 on the night.

...Tchewa matched his season-high in rebounds with 11 boards on the night.

...Demary Jr. led the Bulldogs in scoring on the night with 15 points, averaging 16.3 points per game in his last four games.

...Demary Jr. has reached double-digit scoring in six of his last seven games.

...With his lone 3-pointer on the night, Jabri Abdur-Rahim has now made 47 shots from behind the arc in 19 games (46 3-pointers through 32 games last season).