It was wild game on Tuesday night between the LSU Tigers and the Georgia Bulldogs (11-7, 4-4 SEC). Both teams went at it like a couple of heavyweights throughout the first half, but LSU was able to pull away with some clutch shooting late to get their second straight win by the score of 89-85.
LSU started to put a gap between themselves and Georgia with a 9-0 run midway through the first half. And just as quickly as the Tigers started to go cold, the Bulldogs cut away at the gap with a 6-0 run and kept it within three point at the half with LSU leading 33-30. This was only the second time in SEC play that the Tigers had led at the half.
It was Craig Victor and Ben Simmons who put the team on their back, combining for 18 of the Tigers 33 points in the first half.
Georgia tied the game up early in the second half, but the Tigers, who were 0-7 from the arc in the first half, had Tim Quarterman and Antonio Blakeney both drain threes to put another gap between themselves and Georgia. But a 17-4 run in the final two minutes by Georgia was able to cut it down to one point, but the Tigers were able to hang on in the final seconds.
A big talking point was the amount of fouls committed by both LSU and Georgia in the second half. There were 27 personal fouls between the two teams. But the Tigers started to get hot behind the arc late with Quarterman draining three straight to put them up by double digits at the final media timeout.
The freshman phenom Simmons got his 14th double-double of the season with 22 points and 14 boards on the night. Quarterman also had a solid game with 22 points, six boards, five assists, and one steal.
J.J. Frazier led the Bulldogs with 26 points, two boards, and one assist on the night.
The Tigers (13-7, 6-2 SEC) will stay in the PMAC and will host Oklahoma (17-2, 6-2 Big 12), the number one team in the country in a non-conference matchup on Saturday with tipoff set for 4 pm.
-Clint Domingue