BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Ben Simmons and Tim Quarterman scored 22 points apiece and LSU held off a late Georgia rally for an 89-85 win Tuesday night.
The Bulldogs trailed 82-71 after Quarterman made two foul shots with 50 seconds remaining. Georgia then scored 14 points, 10 by J.J. Frazier, in the next 34 seconds. A layup by Frazier cut Georgia's deficit to 86-85 with 18 seconds left.
Georgia had an opportunity to tie it after Keith Hornsby made 1 of 2 from the line with 12 seconds to play, but E'Torrion Wilridge missed a short jumper with two seconds to play. Antonio Blakeney grabbed the rebound for the Tigers and made a couple of free throws.
Simmons and Quarterman were a combined 23 of 36 at the foul line. Simmons, who also had 14 rebounds, was 10 of 17. Quarterman made 13 of his 19 foul shots.
Blakeney finished with 12 points for LSU (13-7, 6-2 Southeastern Conference). Jalyn Patterson and Craig Victor had 11 each.
Frazier led Georgia (11-7, 4-4) with 26 points, all but five coming in the second half. Kenny Gaines added 20 points and Charles Mann had 19.
With its lead down to two points just past the halfway mark of the second half, LSU got four 3-pointers in a three-minute span to go up by double figures for the first time. Patterson made three, while Quarterman had the other one.
Sparked by the long-range shooting, the Tigers went on a 19-7 run. A basket by Quarterman put LSU in front 80-66 with 2:27 remaining.
Both teams struggled on the offensive end of the floor in the first half. LSU shot 38 percent from the field (11 of 29), while Georgia was just slightly better at 40 percent (10 of 25). The Bulldogs had the lead twice in the first 20 minutes — the last at 7-6 following two foul shots by Mann.
The Tigers scored eight straight points to take their largest first-half lead at 18-9. Victor converted a 3-point play and Quarterman added two free throws and a field goal during this stretch. LSU then went nearly five minutes without a point to allow Georgia to get back in it.
On two occasions in the last two minutes before halftime, Georgia pulled within two points. But a foul shot by Quarterman put the Tigers in front 33-30 at the half.
The Bulldogs tied the score at 39-all early in the second half on a 3-point play by Yante Maten.
LSU answered with eight consecutive points. Quarterman started the run with a 3-pointer. Blakeney followed with two baskets, the first a 3-pointer, as the Tigers moved ahead 47-39.
LSU maintained at least a six-point lead over the next four-plus minutes. Then Frazier scored seven consecutive points to cut it to 61-59 with 8:35 remaining.
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TIP-INS
Georgia: The Bulldogs nearly pulled off the upset without much production from Maten, their top scorer and rebounder. Maten finished with five points and three rebounds as he fouled out after playing just 20 minutes. Maten was averaging 16 points and eight rebounds per game.
LSU: The Tigers won the game at the foul line. LSU made 23 field goals, which were nine fewer than Georgia's total. However, the Tigers made 37 of their 55 free throw attempts. The Bulldogs went to the foul line just 24 times and made 15.
UP NEXT
Georgia plays at No. 17 Baylor on Saturday.
LSU hosts top-ranked Oklahoma on Saturday.
