Shutting down Caldwell-Pope imperative for Tigers

When LSU and Georgia collided for the first time this season, Bulldog sophomore guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 22 points to propel Georgia (15-16, 9-9 Southeastern Conference) to a 67-58 victory.

Locking down Caldwell-Pope will be critical for ninth-seeded LSU (18-11, 9-9 SEC) when it takes on eighth-seeded Georgia in the second round of the SEC Tournament at noon on Thursday in Nashville, Tenn.

“We just have to really make some adjustments to [Caldwell-Pope] and try to keep him out of his comfort zone,” said LSU coach Johnny Jones. “He’s really good, talented, crafty. He’s excellent with the basketball in terms of his ball-handling skills. He’s a good passer as well, and I just think he’s a really tough matchup.”

Caldwell-Pope is the second leading scorer in the SEC with 18 points per contest, and he averages just less than seven rebounds a game.

Carmouche to play key role for LSU

LSU senior guard Charles Carmouche missed the previous game against Georgia because of knee tendonitis, but the Tigers will most likely lean on him for offensive production against the Bulldogs on Thursday.

Carmouche has eclipsed the 20-point mark in five of the last seven games, good for an average of 16.6 points during that stretch.

But Carmouche’s biggest contribution to an LSU victory may come in the form of his stingy defense against Caldwell-Pope, who had success against the much smaller LSU guards in                                                               January.

“We can have an opportunity to show [Caldwell-Pope] some different looks we weren’t able to show the first time that we played him,” Jones said. “With the addition of Carmouche and the way that he’s played — not only defensively, but offensively — I think he gives us some other dimensions that will really help us as well.”