Written by Brian Pohl
Athens, GA- In front of a sellout crowd for their sixth consecutive home game, UGA was unable to pull off the upset over the 19th ranked LSU Tigers in 83-79 loss.
UGA head coach Tom Crean on the loss, “At the end of the day, the biggest story to me on why we weren’t able to pull this out at the end was the 11 second-chance points they got in the second half.”
This was one of UGA’s best efforts this season. The Dawgs looked focused throughout both halves but unfortunately missed a couple shots late, coupled with LSU’s second-chance points, that were the difference as LSU was able to outlast UGA at the very end.
The big story for UGA in the first half was a starting lineup change made late by coach Crean as he inserted senior guard Christian Harrison into the lineup. Harrison, whose minutes have fluctuated throughout the season, played 19 minutes and was a key to UGA trying to slow down LSU guard Tremont Waters.
Harrison on making his first start, “I didn’t know (about starting) until a couple minutes before the game started. I had the same mentality I have every game, just to bring energy and try to get a win. That is always the mentality.”
That mentality echoed throughout the rest of the roster as the Dawgs came out firing from the opening tip, taking an early lead and building it to as much as a five-point advantage within the first ten minutes of play. The Dawgs limited their turnovers and fought for rebounds on the glass to build the early lead, but struggled to sustain the hot start. An experienced LSU squad found itself shortly thereafter, however, and settled down to even up the score, even taking as much as a nine-point advantage late in the first half. UGA would fight back and go to the locker room trailing the Tigers 41-37.
The close-fought battle continued through the second half as both teams fought for every inch until the final buzzer. The difference, as coach Crean mentioned in his post-game press conference, was the 11 second-chance points that allowed the Tigers to come away with the four-point victory.
LSU head coach Will Wade said it best with how his Tigers escaped with the win saying, “We just kind of settled in. I thought Javonte [Smart] played well. I thought Emmitt [Williams] had some big offensive rebounds. I thought Naz [Reid] asserted himself in the second half and we were able to just grind it out. We got enough stops there at the end.”
The loss moves UGA to 10-15 on the season under first-year head coach Tom Crean, but fans should be proud of the effort show today in what looked like progress as coach Crean continues to rebuild the program in his first season at the helm.
Coach Crean on his teams improved transition from practice to games, “This was the best I’ve felt before a game all year.” He continued, “The way we practiced the past few days, the authority with how we practiced, the intensity, the communication, the competitiveness, and all of those things were really good. They’ve been good, but we haven’t always brought that effort to the ga,e. Today, they did, but we fell a little short. If we can build on that, we’re going to win games. No doubt about it.”
UGA will next host the Mississippi State Bulldogs on Wednesday, February 20th at 6:30 p.m. from Stegeman Coliseum.
