Georgia basketball: What went wrong in the loss to LSU
Georgia basketball ended its 2019-20 season in lackluster fashion Saturday, losing to the LSU Tigers 94-64. The Bulldogs end the regular season with a 15-16 record overall and 5-13 record in SEC play.
Georgia basketball thought it had already reached rock bottom and was gaining momentum entering the SEC Tournament. Then came a road trip to Baton Rouge to play the LSU Tigers.
The Tigers, with a No. 3 seed going into the SEC Tournament, threw its weight around in a 94-64 victory. LSU outscored the Bulldogs by 15 points in both halves. This game was hardly close.
Anthony Edwards finished with 17 points and Rayshaun Hammonds added 12 points with eight rebounds. Six other Bulldogs found the bottom of the net. Georgia had less turnovers and hung with the Tigers in the rebounding department. So, what went wrong for the Bulldogs to lose by 30 in the regular season finale?
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Abysmal three-point shooting
What more can you say about this? Georgia shot 11.5-percent outside the arc, making just three of its 26 three-point attempts. That is horrible. Edwards alone was one-of-12 on three pointers and Sahvir Wheeler was one-of-five. At Least Christian Brown made his only three-pointer. Four other shooters combined to go zero-of-eight outside the arc.
If Georgia just had a decent day shooting threes, it would have at least cut LSU’s lead in half. Who knows? Maybe Georgia could have penetrated into the paint more often and effectively if the threes were falling. Missing 89.5-percent of of shots outside the arc makes any game tougher, especially against teams with 20 wins.
Hammonds and Camara’s early foul trouble
Georgia was still holding on early in the second half. Through just over three minutes, LSU’s lead was 52-38. Then, in the span of 16 seconds, Toumani Camara was called for two fouls and Hammonds was called for one.
Both players had to leave the floor, and without Georgia’s best two big men on the court, LSU’s 13-point-lead became a 20-point-lead in just six minutes after a pair of free throws at the 10:32 mark gave the Tigers a 69-49 lead.
Failing on second chances
Georgia had more offensive rebounds (14-6) and less turnovers (13-11). How did Georgia lose by 30 points? Simply by not following up with points. Georgia only followed half of its offensive rebounds with shots, usually having to pass back out and settle for a low-percentage shot. One of its offensive boards led to a turnover.
Of the 13 turnovers forced by the Bulldogs, they only managed to score on seven of them, but they also gave the ball right back to LSU twice. These were ample opportunities for Georgia to get back into the ball game, and it failed just as much as it succeeded.