Only two games remain in the regular season for the LSU basketball team, but much can still be accomplished.
Though the Tigers (11-18, 3-11) can finish with no more than five Southeastern Conference wins, they have the opportunity to play the role of spoiler Wednesday night when they travel to Athens, Ga., to take on Georgia.
The Bulldogs (19-9, 8-6) are in the thick of the NCAA Tournament discussion. Georgia can play its way into the field of 68 with a strong finish to the regular season and a good showing in the Southeastern Conference tournament.
LSU sophomore forward Eddie Ludwig downplayed the importance of ruining Georgia’s postseason dreams.
“We’re approaching this game as a game we want to win because we want to win every game,” Ludwig said. “We could use that as added motivation, but we don’t need any more motivation than to just get the win.”
Though Saturday’s final score doesn’t give the impression, the Tigers had one big positive come out of their 90-69 loss to Vanderbilt.
Junior forward Storm Warren scored a career-high 24 points and grabbed eight rebounds.
“In the previous three or four games when we threw the ball to him in the post, he has made bad decisions,” LSU coach Trent Johnson said. “For the most part I thought he was in a good rhythm, and I thought Chris Bass did a really good job of getting the ball to him in positions where he could score.”
Though both LSU and Georgia will be looking to best each other on the court, there is a much different atmosphere between the two head coaches off the court.
Johnson and Georgia coach Mark Fox became friends while they were assistant coaches at Washington. Johnson introduced Fox to an employee in the Huskies promotions department, Cindy Holt, who later became Fox’s wife.
The coaches are still friends and have followed each other’s careers throughout the years.
“I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him,” Johnson said. “There’s a relationship there and a friendship there that’s pretty special, but … when the [ball] gets thrown up, we’re two very competitive and intense individuals. He’s done a much better job with his team than I have with mine this year.”
 
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Contact Rob Landry at [email protected]