ATHENS — Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 22 points, Donte’ Williams added 14 and Georgia snapped a three-game losing streak with a 67-58 victory over LSU on Saturday night.
Johnny O’Bryant finished with 16 points and 14 rebounds as LSU (9-6, 0-4 Southeastern Conference) lost its fourth straight. The Tigers committed 21 turnovers and handed out just six assists. They shot just 36 percent (18 of 50) from the field.
Anthony Hickey scored 12 points and grabbed six rebounds for the Tigers.
Georgia (7-10, 1-3) desperately needed to win to avoid potentially dropping its first five SEC contests with games next week at home against No. 10 Florida and Saturday at Texas A&M.
Caldwell-Pope, who is fourth in SEC scoring average (16.8 points per game coming in), has led Georgia’s scoring in all but two games this season.
LSU played without starting senior guard Charles Carmouche, who made the trip but couldn’t play because of sore knees.
Georgia led by eight with 16:49 remaining on a three-point play by Williams, but the Bulldogs struggled with LSU’s full-court press midway through the second half with three turnovers and three straight missed 3s by Caldwell-Pope.
Those mistakes helped the Tigers to reclaim the lead when Hickey hit consecutive 3s to make it 47-45 at the 11:10 mark.
Caldwell-Pope put Georgia back ahead 54-48 with a fast-break dunk and a layup that forced LSU coach Johnny Jones to call timeout with 7:24 remaining.
Shavon Coleman responded with a straightaway jumper that cut the lead to two, and Nemanja Djurisic’s turnover on a 5-second call for failing to inbound the ball in time caused Bulldogs coach Mark Fox to call timeout.
Georgia went 4 minutes without a field goal before Brandon Morris fed Williams in the lane for a basket that caused Malik Morgan to foul out. Williams hit the ensuing free throw, and the Bulldogs led 57-54 with 3:25 to play.
Caldwell-Pope scored Georgia’s next four points on a jumper and a pair of free throws, and Vincent Williams hit two free throws to give the Bulldogs a seven-point lead with 50 seconds remaining.
LSU (9-6)
Hickey 4-15 1-3 12, O’Bryant III 5-8 6-8 16, Stringer 3-9 1-2 9, Morgan 3-5 4-6 11, Del Piero 1-4 0-0 2, Courtney 0-1 0-0 0, Collins 0-1 3-3 3, Coleman 2-6 1-2 5, Hammink 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 18-50 16-24 58.
GEORGIA (7-10)
Caldwell-Pope 7-14 6-6 22, Mann 1-6 3-5 5, D. Williams 6-8 2-2 14, Morris 2-5 1-1 5, Florveus 3-3 0-1 6, Dixon 0-0 0-0 0, V. Williams 1-2 2-3 5, Gaines 0-1 0-0 0, Brantley 1-2 1-2 3, Djurisic 1-6 4-6 7. Totals 22-47 19-26 67.
Halftime—UGA 33-29. 3-Point Goals—LSU 6-17 (Hickey 3-10, Stringer 2-4, Morgan 1-2, Coleman 0-1), UGA 4-12 (Caldwell-Pope 2-6, Djurisic 1-2, V. Williams 1-2, Brantley 0-1, Mann 0-1). Fouled Out—Coleman, Morgan. Rebounds—LSU 38 (O’Bryant III 14), UGA 29 (Djurisic 8). Assists—LSU 6 (Hickey, O’Bryant III 2), UGA 16 (Caldwell-Pope, Mann 5). Total Fouls—LSU 23, UGA 15. A—5,779.
NO. 10 FLORIDA 83,
NO. 17 MISSOURI 52
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Scottie Wilbekin had 13 points and 10 assists, his first career double-double, in No. 10 Florida’s win over No. 17 Missouri.
The victory was coach Billy Donovan’s 400th with the Gators, making him the third coach in Southeastern Conference history to accomplish that feat with the same school. He joined Kentucky’s Adolph Rupp and LSU’s Dale Brown in the 400-win club.
Erik Murphy scored 15 points despite playing with a broken finger for the Gators (14-2, 4-0 SEC), who won their sixth straight, and Kenny Boynton added 14.
Jabari Brown led the Tigers (13-4, 2-2) with 16 points.
VANDERBILT 58,
SOUTH CAROLINA 51
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Kyle Fuller scored 12 points and Dai-Jon Parker 11 as Vanderbilt held on down the stretch to defeat South Carolina for its first SEC win of the season.
The Commodores (7-9, 1-3) led 45-35 with 8:35 to go after a free throw by Shelby Moats. South Carolina (11-6, 1-3) used a 14-6 run over the next six minutes to get within a basket at 51-49, but the Gamecocks got no closer.
ALABAMA 50,
TEXAS A&M 49
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Trevor Lacey scored 14 points and hit the game-winning jumper with 9 seconds left as Alabama overcame a 14-point first-half deficit to edge Texas A&M.
Playing the 2,500th game in program history, the Crimson Tide (11-6, 3-1 SEC) trailed 20-6 early and 26-15 at intermission, then opened the second half on a 15-2 run, with Lacey hitting two 3-pointers, to lead 30-28.
The lead went back and forth, with Alex Caruso’s layup putting the Aggies (12-5, 2-2) ahead 47-45 with 1:11 left. Andrew Steele answered with a three-point play for Alabama, but Texas A&M regained the lead on Fabyon Harris’ jumper with 19 seconds to go. After an Alabama timeout, Lacey scored for the final margin.
Texas A&M’s in-bounds pass bounced off Lacey’s leg and Trevor Releford, who led Alabama with 15 points, picked it up to preserve the win.
MISSISSIPPI 76,
ARKANSAS 64
OXFORD, Miss. — Marshall Henderson scored 16 points, Murphy Holloway added 15 and Mississippi pulled away for a victory over Arkansas.
Ole Miss (15-2, 4-0) is now off to its best start in conference play since the 1936-37 season. The Rebels won despite a mediocre shooting performance and a 30-minute power outage that delayed the game late in the first half.
TENNESSEE 72,
MISS. STATE 57
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Jarnell Stokes scored 18 points and pulled down 11 rebounds as Tennessee defeated Mississippi State to avoid starting 0-4 in SEC competition for the first time since 1993-94.
Josh Richardson added 16 points and Jordan McRae (Liberty County) had 12 points as the Volunteers (9-7, 1-3) snapped a four-game losing streak. Trae Golden had 10 points and nine assists.
McRae ended a string of four consecutive games in which he had exceeded 20 points. He was the first Vol to score at least 20 points in four straight games since Chris Lofton in 2008.
Jalen Steele scored 15 points, Fred Thomas had 14 and Craig Sword added 10 for Mississippi State (7-9, 2-2).
NORTH CAROLINA 62,
MARYLAND 52
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Reggie Bullock scored 21 of his career-high 24 points in the first half to help North Carolina beat Maryland.
James Michael McAdoo added 19 points and 11 rebounds for the Tar Heels (12-5, 2-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), who turned in a dominating first-half performance to build a 22-point lead at the break. Maryland (14-4, 2-3) never fully recovered from that mistake-filled first half and never got the lead below double figures after halftime, even after UNC slowed down.
Bullock scored the game’s first eight points and outscored Maryland 21-20 through the opening 20 minutes, then set his career high with a straightaway 3-pointer with 5:45 left for his only second-half basket.
VIRGINIA TECH 66,
WAKE FOREST 65
BLACKSBURG, Va. — Robert Brown made a short jumper with 12.3 seconds left to lift Virginia Tech over Wake Forest.
Brown, who previously made one of his last 10 shots, had the ball with the shot clock winding down before driving into the lane for the score and getting fouled. He missed the free throw.
Wake Forest called a timeout with 8.8 seconds left to setup the final play. C.J. Harris missed a contested jumper in the lane and Tyler Cavanaugh missed the put back. Virginia Tech’s Jarell Eddie got the rebound as time expired.
VIRGINIA 56,
FLORIDA STATE 36
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Joe Harris scored 17 points and Virginia used a 22-4 run late in the first half and stifling defense throughout to beat Florida State for the first time in eight tries.
Akil Mitchell added 13 points for the Cavaliers (12-5, 2-2 ACC), who led 33-15 at halftime — the fifth time this season they have held an opponent under 20 first-half points. It was the first time they have done it in an ACC game since they led Clemson 28-14 on Feb. 10, 1996.
Michael Snaer scored nine points to lead the Seminoles (10-7, 2-2).
The games was delayed for several minutes with 3:58 remaining when Terrance Shannon dropped to the floor after appearing to slam his head into Evan Nolte’s hip in a scramble under the basket.