It’ll be a long road back to Baton Rouge as the LSU men’s basketball team dropped Thursday night’s road matchup with Georgia, 91-78.
The Tigers were never able to produce momentum throughout the game as the Bulldogs dominated the paint, posting 44 of its 91 points from down low, and beat LSU on the boards to the tune of 37-30.
“I don’t think we played at the level we needed to — to play on the road and get a victory tonight against a team that was very capable,” said LSU coach Johnny Jones on his radio show after the game. “We allowed them to gain confidence. Bottom line is, they made the plays they needed to make early on.”
The Tigers’ post game troubles were ailed even more when LSU junior forward Johnny O’Bryant III fell off his recent hot streak thanks to foul trouble early in the game.
O’Bryant scored just nine points and a pair of rebounds in 15 minutes of play before fouling out in the closing seconds of the game.
“They lived in the lane tonight,” Jones said. “They drove the ball a lot tonight. Post guys were certainly a much better shot blocking team. They got 44 points in the paint tonight and several more at the free throw line because the ability to drive and get in there.”
O’Bryant wasn’t the only Tiger sending opponents to the line, though. LSU senior forward Shavon Coleman also fouled out Thursday night, helping contribute to Georgia’s 32-46 shooting clip from the stripe.
By comparison, LSU shot 15-22 from the free throw line.
“We got whistled for about 33 fouls,” Jones said. “That’s a little bit tough for us. Johnny O’Bryant was on the bench early with two fouls and was in the game for 15 minutes. That’s tough for us, yet at the same time we have to be good enough to play through that.”
The Tigers — who won four out of their last five Southeastern Conference games — now come home for a quick turnaround with Auburn on Saturday in a must-win matchup if LSU hopes to keep any postseason dreams alive.