Georgia pulls off exciting win over LSU with late and-one

ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia picked up an important win at home on Wednesday night, moving to 14-5 on the season and 4-2 in SEC play with an exciting 68-66 victory over visiting LSU.

Big man Russel Tchewa made a layup and free throw on an and-one with just 2.3 seconds to play after LSU had taken the lead moments early with 17.4 seconds left in the game. The Tigers got off an open look from 3-point range before the buzzer but rimmed out for the UGA win.

Georgia freshman Silas Demary led the Bulldogs in scoring with 15 points, the majority of which came in the first half. Tchewa and Noah Thomasson each added 11 to the cause while LSU was led by Jalen Cook (21) and Jordan Wright (18). Tchewa also had 11 rebounds for his second double-double in Athens after transferring from South Florida in the offseason.

“It’s not going to be easy to win in this league and the SEC is the best defensive league in college basketball. It seems like every time we play a team, we say they are one of the best defenses in our league. Who doesn’t guard you at a very high level in this league?,” Georgia head coach Mike White said. “LSU is rebuilding and we are rebuilding and tonight it was just two teams fighting it out. We can say it was ugly or a grind, but really it was ten guys out on the court that were throwing haymakers. It was a high-level game of intensity. I know everybody that played in this game is going to be tired. It was a competitive, high-level game.”

“Great win for us. You take any win you can get in this league, home or away. LSU is really good. We’re really fortunate to have won. They have chances down the stretch. They kept fighting and fighting and they were tremendous defensively. The play at the end of the game, wow. What a pass. Could have gone either way. Obviously we’re really fortunate, excited, but we’ve got to move on quickly. Here comes another one at noon in a couple of days.”

How It Happened…

The first half saw a back and forth affair from Georgia and LSU. There were seven lead changes with neither team up by more than seven or going on a scoring run of more than eight straight.

Jabri Abdur-Rahim kept Georgia in it early with five straight points for the Bulldogs to cut into LSU’s largest lead of six. UGA tied it at 10 about halfway through the first frame on a 3-pointer from RJ Melendez at the top of the key.

For the Tigers, it was star guard Jordan Wright that did the majority of work with 11 points. He hit a trio of 3-pointers including two that took the lead for LSU. Wright’s third triple however was met by eight unanswered points from Georgia freshman Silas Demary to tie the game and give the Bulldogs the lead once again.

Demary would end up scoring 11 in a row for the Dawgs, helping them enter the locker room leading 35-33.

The first few minutes of the second half were far from an offensive masterclass. The first field goal from either team came with over 3:30 in, but it was a big one. After scoring the first points of the half from the free throw stripe, Melendez made the first field goal as well with a dunk that sent the Stegeman crowd into a bit of a frenzy and prompted an LSU timeout.

Jalen Cook helped keep LSU in it with a pair of 3-pointers after the Tigers’ opportunity to settle things down. That made it a one-score game again. Then, less than 3:00 later, LSU had it tied at 50 apiece.

Noah Thomasson did his best to take over for Georgia as the graduate transfer guard knocked down a pair of 3-pointers to give the Bulldogs the lead once again.

Thomasson’s second 3-pointer sparked a 7-0 run for Georgia to get the Bulldogs out to a nine-point lead. However, just one field goal after the 5:00 mark allowed LSU to make it a two-point game with 2:03 to go. Russel Tchewa had the lone field goal and helped on the defensive end down the stretch as well with a block with 25.8 to go that prevented the tying bucket. However, the Tigers regained possession where Cook converted on an and-one to give them the lead with 17.4 seconds to go.

Georgia opted not to call a timeout off the made free throw, down 66-65, and instead let Justin Hill go to the rim. He got into trouble, kicked it out to Abdur-Rahim for a 3-pointer look from the top of the key that missed. However, Tchewa came up with the rebound and made a layup with 2.3 seconds to go, fouled on his attempt. His free throw to convert on the and-one made it 68-66.

Out of the traded timeouts, LSU got an open look from 3-point to win the game at the buzzer, but the ball rimmed out to give Georgia the win.

Georgia hits the road this weekend to take on rival Florida at the Stephen O’Connell Center. The Bulldogs lost each of the two meetings with the Gators in Mike White’s first season – of course coming over from Florida where he spent seven seasons as the head coach. Tip time for Saturday is set for 12:00 p.m. ET on ESPN2.