New on Sports Illustrated: Looking to continue late-season surge, LSU visits Georgia

LSU is making an impressive run as the Southeastern Conference regular season enters its final days.

The Tigers (14-6, 9-4 SEC) have won three in a row and are tied for second place heading into their game against Georgia (13-9, 6-9) Tuesday night in Athens, Ga.

"I would say that we are getting more comfortable with each other, and trust each other even more," sophomore forward Trendon Watford said Saturday after he had 18 points and 11 rebounds in a 104-80 home victory over Auburn. "That's what we have been doing for the last few games, and everyone has been contributing to it for a team win."

After the Tigers scored their most points in an SEC regulation game in 30 years, coach Will Wade thought the defense was equally worthy of praise.

"I thought our defense led to our offense," Wade said. "We were able to get the stops. We were able to get out on offense.

"Any time you shoot over 50 percent and hold the other team under 40 percent, if everything else is somewhat manageable, you're going to have a great chance to win."

Georgia fell behind host Florida by as many as 18 points in the first half Saturday before playing better in the second half in a 70-63 loss.

Sahvir Wheeler scored a career-high 27 points and Tye Fagan (14) was the only other Bulldog to score in double digits.

"We're just looking to build and improve every day," Georgia coach Tom Crean said. "I think we've got a lot of guys that are making improvements right now."

Georgia scored 40 points in the second half compared to 23 in the first.

"The biggest thing is that we defended when we weren't shooting well," Crean said. "We continued to defend, and we held them down. We continue to move in a good direction there. That's what we have to build on."

Georgia made just 1 of 12 treys in the first half, but made 3 of 8 after the intermission.

"When we got down in the first half, the whole key was to not lose our spirit defensively because we were having trouble scoring," Crean said.

In the first LSU-Georgia game of the season, Cameron Thomas scored 26 points and Javonte Smart 21 to lead host LSU to a 94-92 overtime victory Jan. 6. Justin Kier had 25 for Georgia.

--Field Level Media