Georgia men's hoops moves to 0-7 in SEC

ATHENS -- Marcus Thornton scored 30 points, Tasmin Mitchell added 27 and LSU won its sixth straight Southeastern Conference game, routing Georgia 80-62 on Wednesday night.

Thornton, the SEC's fourth-leading scorer coming into the contest, has reached at least 30 points in three of his last five games. Mitchell made a run at his career high of 30 points in a win over South Carolina last month.

LSU (18-4, 6-1) hasn't lost in the conference since a 65-59 setback at Alabama on Jan. 11. Then there's Georgia (9-13, 0-7), which hasn't won a game in 2009; the Bulldogs' last victory came on New Year's Eve against Kennesaw State.

Terrance Woodbury led Georgia with 22 points.

The Tigers never trailed, twice leading by 14 points in the first half. Georgia rallied near the end of the half, then went more than 4 minutes without a field goal to start the second. LSU stretched its lead as high as 23 points.

Some hopeful Georgia students, seizing on reports that Bob Knight might be interested in the Georgia job, showed up on a frigid night with his name painted on their bare chests. But even the General would have trouble winning games with this bunch.

Athletic director Damon Evans watched glumly from the stands as the Bulldogs lost their second straight under interim coach Pete Herrmann, who took over last week after Dennis Felton was fired.

LSU took command with a 17-4 run, topped off by Chris Johnson's three-point play that made it 27-14 with 8 1/2 minutes to go in the opening period. Georgia closed the half with a 10-0 spurt that brought the home team to 35-31 at the break, briefly rousing a sparse crowd generously listed at 6,659.

A trip to the locker room got LSU back on track. The Bulldogs went more than 4 minutes at the start of the second half before making their first field goal, a 3-pointer from the corner by Woodbury that rolled all the way around the rim before dropping in.

More typical of Georgia's offense was a 2-on-1 fast break that ended with the Bulldogs missing not one, but two shots from right under the basket.

The Bulldogs made just 8 of 30 shots in the second half and finished at 38 percent from the field. LSU made half its shots (32 of 64).