Once the pomp and pageantry of senior day festivities concluded, the same Tigers emerged.
Those same Tigers that have struggled so mightily to defend the perimeter — or anything else for that matter. Those same Tigers that can go four or five minute stretches without points, then bury a flurry of 3-pointers.
And those same Tigers who’ve struggled all season to put a consistent 40 minutes together.
Georgia used a 48 percent shooting night, including 60 from 3-point land, to down the Tigers 69-61 on senior day in the PMAC, cementing the Tigers as the No. 7 seed in next week’s Southeastern Conference Tournament.
As the 7 seed, LSU (18-12, 9-9 SEC) will play Alabama at 6 p.m. in the second round of the SEC Tournament on Thursday, with the winner facing No. 2 seed Kentucky on Friday.
LSU senior forward Andre Stringer shouldered the offensive load in his last regular season home game, scoring 22 points while freshman forward Jarell Martin had 13 points and grabbed four rebounds.
“Finishing the season out 10-8 was our goal with this last day,” Stringer said. “Senior day was an important day, but I was concerned with my team and moving forward and getting a win before the [SEC] tournament.”
Junior forward Johnny O’Bryant III was largely absent, held in check by various double teams from various angles and limited to only five points with eight rebounds.
The Cleveland, Miss. native said he struggled to pass out of the double teams, a skill he said had gotten better all season, but the different looks Georgia threw at him thwarted his attempts.
“I just had an off night,” O’Bryant said. “I didn’t do a good job of handling the double team tonight. Shots didn’t fall for me and I really struggled offensively. Credit Georgia for having their A-game defensively tonight.”
Bulldog guards Kenny Gaines and Charles Mann shredded the Tiger defense on the perimeter, combining to go 8-for-10 from beyond the arc. Mann finished with a double-double — 22 points and 10 rebounds — while Gaines chipped in 20 points.
“They made some NBA-type threes,” said LSU coach Johnny Jones. “I thought we did a good job of switching [defensively] and trying to get a hand up. But you have to give them credit … That’s a really good night from behind the line, I don’t care how you cut it.”
Stringer started his senior day in style, swishing three 3-pointers and adding a jumper in the first eight minutes for 11 quick points in an 18-18 ballgame at the 12:32 mark.
The pace slowed to a trickle from there as LSU broke out its press and the Bulldogs were mired in a series of turnovers, ending the half with 13, but maintained a slim 30-28 lead at the break.
It was Georgia that drew first blood in the second half, racing out with a 17-7 run through the first six and a half minutes to build a 47-35 lead with 14:24 remaining.
Gaines buried two 3-pointers, Mann added one and forward Nemanja Djurisic got around LSU freshman forward Jordan Mickey for consecutive layups to force Jones into a timeout and give the Bulldogs a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
Even when LSU put the press back on with twelve minutes remaining in the game, the Bulldogs handled it with ease, passing diagonally and crisply to break the traps.
“I will take the credit for not coaching very well in the first half and having 13 turnovers,” said Georgia coach Mark Fox. “We made an adjustment at half, so we were much more organized against the press. We were more poised and composed.”
The Tigers would inch as close as five after Mickey split a pair of free throws with 9:34 left, but Georgia spouted off an 8-2 run in response to push the lead back to 11 and keep LSU at bay.
“Each time we made a run, I thought they did a great job in terms of responding,” Jones said. “It was a hard-fought basketball game. Unfortunately, we came out on the short end of it.”