Preview: LSU at Georgia

LSU at Georgia

WHERE: Stegeman Coliseum

WHEN: Saturday, 6 p.m.

RECORDS: Georgia 16-12, 7-8; LSU 9-18, 1-14

TV/RADIO: SEC Network (Dave Neal, Jon Sunvold); Georgia Bulldogs Radio Network (Scott Howard, Chuck Dowdle, Tony Schiavone); Sirius/XM (136/190)

Most Recent Starting Lineups

LSU

G- Skyler Mays (7.6 ppg, 2.3 rpg)

G- Antonio Blakeney (17.8 ppg, 4.9 rpg)

G- Brandon Sampson (11.1 ppg, 3.1 rpg)

F- Duop Reath (12.7 ppg, 6.2 rpg)

F- Aaron Epps (5.9 ppg, 4.4 rpg)

Georgia

G- Turtle Jackson (3.7 ppg, 1.1 rpg)

G- J.J. Frazier (17.7 ppg, 3.5 rpg)

G- Juwan Parker (9.6 ppg, 5.3 rpg)

F- E’Torrion Wilridge (1.4 ppg, 1.4 rpg)

F- Derek Ogbeide (6.9 ppg, 7.5 rpg)

Make no mistake, the Bulldogs miss Yante Maten and everything he brings to the Georgia basketball team.

Losing upwards of 20 points and eight rebounds per game is not easy to replace.

But so far, the Bulldogs (16-12, 7-8) – who host LSU (9-18, 1-4) Saturday at Stegeman Coliseum (SEC Network, 6 p.m.) - are showing they can adjust by going with a smaller lineup that through two games has more than held its own.

Take the team’s 60-55 win Thursday at Alabama, for example.

Even with no Maten in the lineup, the Bulldogs still managed to shoot just under 50 percent, with seven different players getting into the scoring column, one more than the Crimson Tide.

“I think if you look at it Turtle (Jackson) had two or three baskets, Derek (Ogbeide) had two or three baskets and Yante not being there and the way they guarded J.J. opened things up for a lot of other people,” head coach Mark Fox said. “Obviously by playing small spaced the floor differently than we normally do, but late J.J. (Frazier) he was able to get it, get off the ball screen and get in open space because we were playing smaller players and we could space and cover the three-point line up with some shooters.”

Frazier certainly didn’t mind the change.

His 28-point effort was just the latest in another memorable effort for the senior, who will play his next-to-last home game in Saturday’s contest against the Tigers.

“We decided to play him off the ball and start Turtle,” Fox said. “We felt like that would give us some advantages but he’s got a big competitive heart and he certainly came through.”

As usual, Frazier shrugged off the showing, preferring instead to spread the love to his teammates.

“We’ve been doing that off and on this year so it was something I was used to. It really wasn’t a big deal,” he said. “Turtle did a great job running the team from the point guard position and helped us get off to a good lead.”

But don’t kid yourself, Frazier will be key to whatever success the Bulldogs are able to enjoy the rest of the year.

For those counting, Frazier has averaged 27.5 points over Georgia’s last four outings, which has boosted his points-per-game average from 16.0 to 17.7 while his production in SEC play has improved from 17.2 to 20 ppg.

“We’ve done pretty good, but you obviously want Yante back,” Frazier said. “We’re going to hold it down as much as we can without him.”

NOTES: The LSU game will serve as the Bulldogs’ alumni outing, with approximately 50 coaches, players and support staff from previous generations returning to Stegeman Coliseum. ... Also at halftime, Georgia will honor both former head coach Hugh Durham, who was inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame last November, and Jimmy Pitts, who will be Georgia’s Legend at the upcoming SEC Tournament. ... Durham was enshrined along with Dominique Wilkins, making them only the second player-coach combo to be inducted into the CBE Hall of Fame together. The other was LSU’s Dale Brown and Shaquille O’Neal.