No. 19 LSU rallies to beat Georgia
ATHENS, Ga. — Ja’vonte Smart was a little too emotional after hitting a 3-pointer for LSU midway through the second half.
He yelled out to celebrate and was whistled for a technical foul, helping Georgia take a three-point lead. Smart gathered himself, though, and hit another 3 two possessions later, and the Tigers didn’t trail again.
“I was just playing with the flow of the game, trying to bring energy on (defense),” Smart said. “Once we got stops, I wanted to put the ball in the hole and do whatever I could to help us win.”
Tremont Waters scored 20 points, Smart added 19 and No. 19 LSU won its fourth straight game, holding on for an 83-79 victory Saturday night.
The Tigers (21-4, 11-1 Southeastern Conference) are off to their best start in league play since the 1981 Final Four team was 11-0. Georgia stayed close but the Tigers had enough quickness and size to wear down the Bulldogs.
“In the second half, we just didn’t turn the ball over, and that’s why we were able to pull it out,” LSU coach Will Wade said. “Georgia played tremendously, and we were very fortunate to pull it out.”
LSU was down six midway through the first half but went on a 17-2 run to take a 31-22 lead on Skylar Mays’ layup. Georgia remained in the game, thanks in part to a sixth straight sellout crowd at Stegeman Coliseum that made it tough on the Tigers.
Nicolas Claxton finished with 17 points and Rayshaun Hammonds had 13 for Georgia (10-15, 1-11). The Bulldogs have lost six straight in their first season under coach Tom Crean.
Claxton liked his team’s effort even though Georgia came up short.
“I would say it is progress, just playing our hardest for the whole 40 minutes,” Claxton said. “Not coming out in the second half and being in a drought.” › Auburn 64, Vanderbilt 53 NASHVILLE — Jared Harper scored 16 points, and Auburn beat Vanderbilt for the Tigers’ first win at Memorial Gym since 2000.
Auburn (17-8, 6-6) had lost 13 of the last 14 against Vanderbilt inside the league’s oldest gym and had won only twice here since 1990. The Tigers survived a first half with their worst shooting performance in nearly a year to snap a nine-game skid to Vanderbilt along with their two-game skid this season.
The Commodores (9-16, 0-12) lost their 13th straight, putting them just a loss off the longest losing streak in school history set over the span of the 193435 and 1935-36 seasons.
Bryce Brown added 14 points for Auburn. Chuma Okeke and Malik Dunbar each had 13 apiece.
Aaron Nesmith led Vanderbilt with 24 points. › South Carolina 84, Texas A&M 77 COLUMBIA, S.C. — A.J. Lawson had 23 points off six of South Carolina’s program record-tying 16 3-pointers to rally past Texas A&M.
The Gamecocks (13-12, 8-4) trailed by double digits in the first half and were down 45-35 after Savion Flagg opened the second half for Texas A&M with a 3-pointer. Tre Campbell quickly answered for the Gamecocks to start a 29-15 run over the next 13 minutes to take control.
Chris Silva added 22 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks as South Carolina continued its surprise run in the SEC. After entering league play 5-7, the Gamecocks came in tied for fourth in the SEC.
Texas A&M (10-13, 3-9) saw its two-game winning streak end.
Flagg led the Aggies with 24 points and Wendell Mitchell had 20.
› Florida 71, Alabama 53 TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Freshman star Andrew Nembhard scored a careerhigh 21 points without missing a shot and Florida throttled Alabama’s offense.
The Gators (14-11, 6-6) held the Crimson Tide (1510, 6-6) without a field goal for nearly eight minutes to start the game and fought off a second-half rally attempt.
Nembhard, whose previous scoring high was 13 points, made all nine field goal attempts, including a pair of 3-pointers.
Keyontae Johnson had 14 points and 13 rebounds for the Gators, who shot 54 percent from the floor. KeVaughn Allen scored 13.
Kira Lewis Jr., like Nembhard a freshman and former five-star recruit, led Alabama with 14 points. Donta Hall and John Petty each scored 10 points.
› Ole Miss 75, Missouri 65 OXFORD, Miss. — Bruce Stevens scored 17 points, K.J. Buffen and Breein Tyree each added 14 and Ole Miss beat Missouri.
Ole Miss (18-7, 8-4) won its fourth straight game, scoring 32 points off of 25 Missouri turnovers. The Rebels never trailed after the opening minute despite a dominant rebounding effort from Missouri, which owned a 37-21 advantage on the glass.
The Tigers managed to stay close despite a rough night on offense, but the turnovers and poor firsthalf shooting were too much to overcome.
Missouri (12-12, 3-9) cut the lead to seven with less than three minutes remaining. The Rebels scored on their next three possessions to end the comeback threat.