LSU uses strong first half to beat Arkansas at home
BATON ROUGE, La. — Trendon Watford scored 23 points, Cam Thomas added 17, combining for 24 points in a dominating first half, and LSU rolled to a 92-76 victory over Arkansas on Wednesday night.
The Tigers made six 3-pointers and shot 50% (18 of 36) in racing to a 51-31 halftime lead with Watford scoring 13 points and Thomas 11. LSU shot 55% in the second half (16 of 29) to maintain the lead.
Darius Days scored 18 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for the Tigers (92, 4-1 Southeastern Conference). Javonte Smart scored 13 points and Mwani Wilkinson 11. Watford finished with 10 rebounds.
JD Notae led the Razorbacks (10-3, 2-3) with 22 points. Moses Moody added 18 and Desi Sills 14.
Less than three minutes into the game Thomas, who was a game-time decision after injuring an ankle in LSU’S last game, hit a jumper to ignite an 18-0 run. Watford’s two free throws made it 22-7.
Sills ended Arkansas’ seven-straight misses and 6 1/2-minute scoring drought but Aundre Hyatt and Watford quickly answered with 3s and LSU scored 22 of the next 26 points to lead 44-13.
Arkansas, which finished at 34% from the field, going 8 of 31 from 3-point range, never challenged in the second half.
The teams entered leading the SEC in scoring, with the Razorbacks averaging 88.2 and the Tigers 85.6. It was LSU which imposed its will, surpassing its league-leading 49% shooting from the field. Arkansas, which leads the league at 16 assists a game, only had eight against 15 turnovers.
On Saturday, Arkansas plays at Alabama and LSU is home against South Carolina.
Auburn 95, Georgia 77
ATHENS, Ga. — Freshman Sharife Cooper had 28 points, five rebounds, 12 assists and two steals and Auburn never trailed in its win over Georgia.
Cooper, a five-star recruit who was cleared to play by the NCAA about 90 minute’s before Saturday’s 94-90 loss to Alabama, is averaging 27 points, 4.5 rebounds, 10.5 assists and 2.5 steals in two games.
Devan Cambridge scored 14 points for Auburn (7-6, 1-4 Southeastern Conference), which snapped a four-game skid. JT Thor, Allen Flanigan and Jaylin Williams had 11 points apiece and Jamal Johnson added 10. Williams and Cambridge each had five of the Tigers’ 14 blocks — the most in a game by a Division I team this season.
Williams and Cambridge hit back-toback baskets to cap a 13-3 run that gave Auburn a 10-point lead about 7 minutes into the game. Georgia (7-4, 0-4) scored the last five points of the the first half and opened the second with a 7-0 spurt to pull within 45-41, but the Bulldogs missed their next seven shots. The Tigers scored 22 of the next 25 points to make it 67-44 with about 11 minutes to go and Georgia trailed by double figures the rest of the way.
Freshman K.D. Johnson had 21 points, seven rebounds, two blocks and four steals for the Bulldogs. The 6-foot-1 guard, who was Georgia’s top-rated recruit in the class of 2020, did not play in the first 10 games of the season due to academic issues.
Sahvir Wheeler added 19 points, five assists and four steals for Georgia and Toumani Camara scored 12 points. Both players fouled out in the closing minutes.
Georgia has lost four in row.