National Basketball Association
Louisiana State 68, Georgia 63
When: 1:00 PM ET, Thursday, March 14, 2013
Where: Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tennessee
Officials:
# Lee Cassell, # Rob Groover, # Doug Shows
Attendance:
20057
By SportsDirect Inc.
Louisiana State 68, Georgia 63: Shavon Coleman scored 24 points on 9-of-11 shooting and the ninth-seeded Tigers held off Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and the Bulldogs in the second round of the SEC tournament in Nashville, Tenn.
SEC Player of the Year Caldwell-Pope scored 25 of his career-high 32 points in the second half but No. 8 seed Georgia (15-17) could not overcome a 20-point halftime deficit. The sophomore guard’s 3-pointer with 2:43 left cut it to 63-59, but the Bulldogs did not make another field goal.
Andre Stringer scored 16 points and Johnny O’Bryant III collected 12 and 12 rebounds for LSU (19-11), which avenged a regular-season loss to Georgia. The Tigers will take on No. 1 seed Florida in the quarterfinals Friday.
LSU switched up its regular lineup for before the game, inserting sixth man Coleman into a starting spot and pushing center Andrew Del Piero to the bench in a smaller unit. Coleman responded by scoring 10 points in the opening half as the Tigers took a 39-19 edge into the break.
The lead reached 21 points early in the second half before Caldwell-Pope began to take over. Charles Mann’s free throws with 1:06 remaining got it to within 63-61, but Stringer hit a 3-pointer and sealed it at the line.
GAME NOTEBOOK: The Bulldogs dominated the glass 48-34, including 21 offensive rebounds. … LSU went 13-for-28 from the free-throw line, lowlighted by O’Bryant III’s 6-of-17 effort from the stripe. … The Tigers suffered a 74-52 home loss to Florida in the lone regular-season meeting Jan. 12.
Top Game Performances
| Louisiana State |
|
Georgia |
|
Shavon Coleman 24 |
Scoring |
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope 32 |
|
Anthony Hickey 5 |
Assists |
Charles Mann 5 |
|
Johnny O'Bryant III 12 |
Rebounds |
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope 13 |
|
Johnny O'Bryant III 6 |
Free Throws Made |
Charles Mann 12 |
|
Charles Carmouche 2 |
Steals |
Charles Mann 1 |
|
Shavon Coleman 1 |
Blocks |
Kenny Gaines 3 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Louisiana State
|
68 |
43.4 |
9-21 |
13-28 |
14 |
31 |
2 |
9 |
5 |
| Georgia
|
63 |
28.6 |
8-25 |
23-30 |
9 |
45 |
5 |
1 |
11 |