Tigers Rout Georgia 84-65

It may not have been the most telling of performances but going up against lowly Georgia Bulldogs, LSU ran the Bulldogs off the PMAC floor by 19 points.

LSU (19-7, 7-6) won its third straight game and is now on the ride side of .500 in SEC play with five games remaining in the regular season.

Wednesday’s game was tight at the beginning but LSU used its defense to put Georgia in a chokehold at the end of the first half, going on a 19-2 run to put essentially put the game away.

Georgia is 1-12 in league play for a reason and the second half only got worse for them as LSU would lead by as many as 32 points. To Georgia’s credit they finished the game hitting eight straight shots to make the final score a little more respectable but make no mistake this was as comfortable a win LSU’s had all season. LSU improved its record to 17-1 this season when Pinson plays more than 16 minutes.

LSU’s defense made Wednesday night a complete laugher. Georgia had more turnovers, 26, than made shots, 20, and LSU converted those turnovers into 31 points. LSU forced 16 steals, four coming from Xavier Pinson and three by Eric Gaines.

Pinson had maybe his best game coming back from injury handing out 10 assists. The shot wasn’t falling (3-10 from the floor, 0-3 from three) but the decision making and creating for others was on point and been sorely missed while he was injured.

Tari Eason, meanwhile, was a force coming off the bench once again leading the Tigers with 21 points and 9 rebounds. Eason showed some playmaking on the defensive end grabbing three steals and adding a block.

Brandon Murray and Darius Days also had great efforts as both players scored 15 points. Murray was hot from three hitting three of five attempts, while Days was a force on the glass and grabbed 12 rebounds.

Up next the Tigers head to Columbia for a Saturday afternoon match with South Carolina. LSU’s had a tough go of things in a true road environment this seaon (2-5) and will need to keep the momentum going leading up to Wednesday’s massive game at Kentucky.

Tip off Saturday is set for 2:30 P.M. and will be carried on SEC Network.