Basketball’s version of the Bluegrass Miracle almost happened, but it would not have mattered anyway.
LSU (13-4, 3-3 Southeastern Conference) survived 18 turnovers and a last second, full-court shot by Georgia (9-8, 1-5 SEC) to defeat the Bulldogs 63-59 Wednesday night in the PMAC before a crowd of 6,740.
With 0.4 seconds left and one made Regis Koundjia free throw in the books, the freshman forward missed his second charity shot.
After missing the free throw, Georgia’s senior guard Damien Wilkins grabbed the ball and launched it the full length of the court, hitting nothing but net.
The referees ruled the shot no good, but had it meant something, the officials may have had to review the tape.
“I thought about telling Regis to miss the free throws,” said LSU coach John Brady. “Thank God he made the one, because that would have been a bonehead coaching move. I would have had to walk in here with that deal.”
Even though the Tigers had to deal with such a close call, their defense continued to stifle opposing teams offensive flow and their offense showed a marked improvement in execution and shot making, even though many were layups.
LSU held Georgia to 39 percent shooting from the field, while the Tigers shot 53.8 percent on their field goal attempts.
The Bulldogs were 1-for-14 from behind the 3-point line, meaning LSU’s last two opponents have shot a combined 2-for-37 from the arc. South Carolina was 1-for-23 from the 3-point line in its victory over LSU Saturday.
“We defended really well,” Brady said. “We rebounded the ball well… We made enough plays to win. I thought our team played hard and I was proud of them for playing hard and winning the game. We needed the win. It would have been heartbreaking to lose that game.”
LSU’s perimeter players continued to struggle, shooting 5-for-17 from the field. But its bread-and-butter continues to be the inside combo of Brandon Bass and Jaime Lloreda, who combined for 35 points on 14-of-19 shooting from the field. Koundjia chipped in with 7 points on 2-of-2 shooting, with both shots being 3-pointers.
Lloreda even handled the ball some, dishing it off to Bass for a layup with 12 seconds left that gave LSU a three point lead.
“I knew the guy was about to foul me and I didn’t want to shoot free throws,” said Lloreda, who has struggled with his free-throw shooting the whole season. “I just saw a white jersey and gave it to him because they wanted to send me to the free throw line.”
True to LSU’s form, the score stayed low, especially in the first half.
Throughout the first half, both teams mainly traded baskets throughout, with the largest lead for either team being five. LSU led 13-8 at the 12:08 mark.
The second half involved more scoring and larger leads.
At the 17:35 mark, LSU led 33-27, but Georgia drew even at 36 with 13:43.
The Tigers then began pulling away, leading by as much as 10 points with 5:53 left.
But the Bulldogs used two LSU turnovers to tighten the score to 58-54 with 3:44 remaining.
With 24 seconds left, Georgia had drawn the lead to one, but because of Bass’ fast-break basket and Koundjia’s free throw, LSU was able to hold the Bulldogs off.
LSU now travels to Alabama Saturday to try and complete the season sweep at 6 p.m. in Tuscaloosa.
“We really needed this win,” Mitchell said. “Now we’re 3-3 and tied for second [in the SEC West] and we’re going to Alabama. Hopefully, we can get that win and that would be another nice win.”