Georgia @ Louisiana State preview
Pete Maravich Assembly Center
Last Meeting ( Mar 7, 2020 ) Georgia 64, Louisiana State 94
Georgia was undefeated before losing its SEC opener. LSU won its SEC opener then lost its second conference game.
Both teams will try to bounce back Wednesday night when they face each other in Baton Rouge, La.
The Bulldogs were 7-0 before hosting Mississippi State and losing 83-73 in their most recent game last Wednesday. In that one, they shot horribly in the first half, making only 23.7 percent of their shots while falling behind by 14, and never quite got back into striking distance in the second half.
"We've had some really good games," Georgia coach Tom Crean said. "We were 7-0, but we've also had five games where we've let our offense, or lack thereof, affect our game."
Tye Fagan, who scored 10 points as one of four double-figure scorers for the Bulldogs, said the offensive shortcomings against MSU began with the team missing several "bunnies," around the basket.
"We beat ourselves," Fagan said. "When we missed those shots I feel like we let our heads drop a little bit."
P.J. Horne led Georgia with a career-high 21 points, making five 3-pointers.
The Bulldogs fell behind by double figures midway through the first half, trailed 41-27 at halftime and couldn't reduce the deficit to single digits until 1:09 remained.
LSU (6-2, 1-1) also lamented offensive shortcomings in its 83-79 loss at Florida on Saturday, just four days after the Tigers started SEC play by routing Texas A&M 77-54.
"We missed a lot of easy ones and a lot of stuff at the basket," coach Will Wade said. "It was a tough night for us finishing around the rim and they obviously finished better than us."
The Gators finished the first half better than the Tigers did, scoring the final five points to gain a 40-all halftime tie.
"We had a chance to close out the first half, and we didn't close it out," said Cameron Thomas, who led LSU with 28 points. "Then, we just got outplayed in the second half.
"We were playing real well, playing good defense. When they had that little quick spurt, it just uplifted them to play harder in the second half."
Wade also pointed to the end of the first half as being pivotal.
"We didn't close the first half as well as we needed to," Wade said. "They dominated us inside."
Colin Castleton, Florida's 6-foot-11 forward, scored his team's first 15 points of the second half as the Tigers couldn't handle his size.
--Field Level Media