Georgia Basketball falls in opener of SEC Tournament to LSU
NASHVILLE — Mike White’s first season at the helm of the Georgia Basketball program came to a close on Wednesday night in Nashville. The Bulldogs lost 72-67 to LSU in the opening round of the SEC Tournament at Bridgestone Arena to finish an even .500 at 16-16 overall and 6-13 against conference opponents.
Braelen Bridges and Jabri Abdur-Rahim each had double-digits in the second half and finished among Georgia’s leading scorers. Five Bulldogs had 10 or more including Bridges and Justin Hill with a team-high 13. Terry Roberts had 12 while Kario Oquendo and Abdur-Rahim had 10 each.
While Georgia seemed to get off to a strong start, holding the lead for the first 4:03 on the back of a M.A. Moncrieffe put-back, a Mardrez McBride 3-pointer and a Terry Roberts layup, things went south in a hurry. The Bulldogs turned the ball over four times in the next 2:39 and only hit a pair of field goals in the next 8:52. Both came courtesy of Roberts – a 3-pointer and a jumper – before Kario Oquendo made a 3-pointer with 4:47 to go in the first half, ending a 13-4 LSU run. Oquendo scored eight in a row for Georgia and got the Dawgs’ deficit back into single digits with 4:15 to go. The Tigers however would stretch it back to 10+ after the final media timeout and go into the locker room up 42-30.
Georgia shot just 37.5 percent from the field in the first half, but for the most part, things changed in the second half. After turning it over eight times in the first 20:00, the Bulldogs did so just three times in the next. Furthermore, they finished 42.3 percent from the field in that span. Still, it wasn’t enough.
The Bulldogs cut the deficit to single digits early in the half but saw the LSU lead bounce back and fourth for the first 4:07. After that, it was a stead climb back into the game. Georgia used a 9-2 run to get within a single score. LSU got back to two scores, up 5 with 7:09 to go, but another 9-2 run gave Georgia the lead for the first time since the first half with 4:16 to go. Jabri Abdur-Rahim hit a 3-pointer to tie it before making two of three free throws to claim the lead.
Georgia and LSU went back and forth down the stretch with the Tigers tying it at 59 before taking the lead on an Adam Miller 3-pointer. That was the first of six straight points for the Tigers and eight of the next 11. However, a Justin Hill and-one with 1:33 tied the game again, this time at 67.
LSU closed out the game with the final five points to move on in the SEC Tournament as the 14 seed. The Tigers will take on Vanderbilt.
