The effort was there, but the end result remained the same as No. 19 LSU held off what was a tenacious Georgia team Saturday night at Stegeman Coliseum, 83-79.
“We’re not about moral victories, but this does show, with them being a top three team in the SEC, that we can play with anybody,” sophomore Nicolas Claxton said. “We’ve just got to keep grinding, day by day.”
Although the loss marked six straight defeats for the Bulldogs (10-16, 1-11), it was one of Georgia’s better showings in recent weeks.
The Bulldogs committed just 11 turnovers, trying their season low against Sam Houston State in the third game of the year.
Georgia also shot a respectable 47.4 percent, but second-chance points proved to be a major issue as the Tigers finished with 11, proving to be the difference in the game.
“We had a couple of untimely turnovers. We broke a couple of plays. We did execute a couple of plays very well, but with all that being said, we couldn’t guard the dunk. We struggled guarding the dribble, which is why we tried to switch, and ended up getting into the zone. But they crashed the glass. We’ve got to have numerous people in the glass, and that hurt us,” head coach Tom Crean said.
“But I loved the effort, I loved the attitude. I loved the way the last two days have been in practice. I was very confident going into this game. I would have been very confident against any team we played, based on the way we practiced. We’ve had really good practices all year, but the last two days were different. We’ve just got to figure out how to build on them and move forward, because there was no question we were ready to play. We just couldn’t figure it out in the end.”
The Bulldogs had their chances.
In fact, it was a one-possession game after Derek Ogbeide knocked down a pair of free throws to draw within 82-79 with 53 seconds left.
Following a missed-jumper by Naz Reid, Georgia had a chance to tie, but instead ran a play for Claxton in the paint. Unfortunately, Claxton’s jumper was off the mark and Reid rebounded, forcing the Bulldogs to foul Skylar Mays with 15 seconds left. Mays made one of his two foul shots, extending LSU’s advantage to four, which proved to be the final margin in the game.
Claxton finished with 17 points to lead the Bulldogs, followed by Rayshaun Hammonds with 13. Jordan Harris and Ogbeide added 12 each.
Tremont Waters topped LSU (21-4, 11-1) with 20 points, with Ja’Vonte Smart chipping in with 19 and Reid with 13.
“Georgia played a terrific game,” LSU coach Will Wade said. “We had no answer for Claxton, he played great. Hammonds played great, Harris did a good job. I just thought the key to us winning was, we didn’t turn the ball over in the second half.”
Despite four turnovers over the first four-plus minutes, Georgia got off to a quick offensive start, building a 15-10 lead on a trio of free throws by Tyree Crump.
A three-pointer by the junior guard had the Bulldogs in front at 20-16 before the Tigers rallied back.
Walter hit a three-pointer that gave LSU a 21-20 edge, starting a 13-2 run that was capped by a Mays layup with 5:17 left in the half.
The Tigers led 31-22 before Georgia closed within 34-30 and went into the locker room at half down 41-37.
“I would say it's progress,” Claxton said of the Bulldogs’ effort. “But we didn’t get the win. All we can do is go back to the drawing board.”
Georgia returns to action Wednesday when the Bulldogs host Mississippi State.
