Asa Newell scored a game-high 17 points as Georgia pulled away for an 81-62 victory over LSU on Wednesday in Athens, Ga.
RJ Godfrey and De’Shayne Montgomery added 12 points apiece, while Blue Cain collected 10 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists as the Bulldogs (16-7, 4-6 Southeastern Conference) outrebounded LSU 47-26 for their second win in three tries.
The Tigers (12-10, 1-8) dropped their fifth straight and have lost eight of nine. Jordan Sears led the way for LSU with 11 points, and he was followed by Daimion Collins and Cam Carter, who chipped in 10 apiece.
After leading by six at halftime, Georgia saw its advantage shrink to three after Sears’ triple and Carter’s free throws cut LSU’s deficit to 49-46 with under 15 minutes left.
From there, Montgomery, Cain and Newell’s buckets extended the Bulldogs’ edge to nine. Mike Williams III’s free throws stopped the bleeding for the Tigers, but Cain’s three-point play began a 12-2 Georgia run, stamped with Godfrey’s dunk at the 8:27 mark.
Dakota Leffew’s 3-pointer just over a minute later gave Georgia a 70-52 lead — the Bulldogs’ largest of the night to that point. After LSU pulled within 13, Newell scored seven straight points to push the Bulldogs’ advantage to 20 with 2:06 left.
LSU connected on five of its first six 3-point attempts and grabbed a 15-13 lead on Dji Bailey and Sears’ consecutive treys.
After Newell’s back-to-back buckets, Bailey’s second triple gave LSU an 18-17 advantage at the 13:15 mark.
Curtis Givens III drained a 3-pointer to knot the score at 27 with 7:43 remaining, before Montgomery’s triple put the Bulldogs ahead by three 24 seconds later.
Neither team scored again until Dylan James’ hook shot with 3:39 left, which he followed with a 3-pointer, giving Georgia a 35-27 edge. Williams’ layup then snapped a nearly six-minute scoring drought, accounting for the Tigers’ first two-pointer of the game with two minutes left.
Georgia took a 37-31 lead into halftime.
–Field Level Media
