LSU Advances In SEC Tournament, Defeats Georgia, 68-63

The LSU Tiger men's basketball team advanced to the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament on Thursday, after defeating the Georgia Bulldogs, 68-63, in second round action, in Nashville, Tennessee.

The game was a tale of two halves, before LSU eventually came out on top, keeping their championship hopes alive.

It was all LSU in the first half, as the Tigers dominated the early stages, taking a 39-19 lead into the locker room at halftime.

LSU out-shot Georgia from the floor in the first half, 47%-32, including a 42%-11% advantage from beyond the three-point arc.

Shavon Coleman scored ten opening half points to lead the way.

As much as the first half belonged to the Tigers, the second half belonged to the Bulldogs, as they controlled the boards, and trimmed the lead to two points, with under 1:00 remaining.

It was then that Andre Stringer came down and hit a hit a clutch three-pointer for LSU, giving the Tigers a five-point lead.

Georgia came back once more, and were down three points, with the basketball, with under :10 left. A three-point attempt by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was off the mark however, and the Tigers went on to escape with the

LSU wound up out-shooting Georgia from the field, 43%-29%, and also forced 11 turnovers, while committing only five themselves.

Georgia out-rebounded LSU, 45-31.

Coleman led the way for LSU, finishing with 24 points, and six rebounds, while Pope paced Georgia in a losing cause, with a game-high 32 points, along with 13 rebounds.

The loss eliminates the Bulldogs from the tournament, as they fell to 15-17 on the year.

For the Tigers, the win improves them to 19-11 on the season, as they advance to take on top-seeded Florida, on Friday, at noon, in quarterfinal action.

View the game box score.