ATHENS -- Georgia achieved one milestone and inched closer to another by defeating LSU 73-53 on Wednesday night in Stegeman Coliseum.
The victory gave the Bulldogs a 20-win season, which coach Mark Fox had said would be a significant marker of the program's progress, and kept them on pace for an NCAA tournament bid, by most projections.
"It's a big deal for our team," senior forward Jeremy Price said of the latest victory. "The 20 mark is pretty special for us."
Completing its home schedule, Georgia (20-9, 9-6 SEC) also moved into a three-way tie for second place in the SEC East with Kentucky and Vanderbilt. The Bulldogs finish their regular season Saturday at Alabama, but Fox raised the possibility late Wednesday night that star forward Trey Thompkins might not be able to play because of an injured toe.
Thompkins played 22 minutes, only six in the second half, and scored eight points against LSU.
"I'm not sure, to be honest with you, if he'll make it to the weekend," Fox said. "We've got to get him healthy. The poor kid has been hurt the entire year."
Georgia got off to a slow start against LSU, which had lost 11 of its previous 12 games and ranked No. 206 out of 345 Division I teams in the RPI. The Bulldogs trailed by nine points early (13-4) and led by only five at halftime (30-25).
But the Dogs took command in the second half, scoring the first six points to build their lead to double digits and going up by 16 when their only seniors, Price and Chris Barnes, connected on a stirring play with 9:57 remaining. A Barnes dunk on a pass from Price gave Georgia a 51-35 lead and thrilled the crowd of 8,642.
"That was a funny moment," Barnes said. "For [Price] to get an assist is something very rare. . . . For him to throw it back to me and for me to dunk, it was a good feeling. He gets his last assist in Stegeman Coliseum, and it was to me.
"We've got a lot of emotion right now. Both of us were sitting in the locker room about to cry."
Price and Barnes, honored in pregame "Senior Night" ceremonies, left the game in style in the closing minute.
Fox substituted for them about 10 seconds apart, allowing each to leave to a standing ovation from the crowd and a hug from the coach. Before leaving the floor, Price kissed the "G" at midcourt -- a gesture he said he planned in advance.
"I was just saying to myself, ‘This is the last time I'll be able to go out in Stegeman Coliseum,'" Price said. "This has been a great experience here. I had fun the whole time I was here."
Georgia had four scorers in double figures -- Gerald Robinson with 16 points, Dustin Ware with 15, Travis Leslie with 14 and Price with 11.
While the Bulldogs celebrated a 20th victory, LSU dropped to 11-19 (3-12 in the SEC).
How long it had been since Georgia won 20 games in a season is a bit complicated.
The Bulldogs went 22-10 in 2001-02, but that season's record later was reduced to 11-10 when half of the victories were vacated by NCAA sanctions. Before Wednesday night, Georgia's most recent 20-win season that stood in the record book was in 1997-98, and its most recent 20-win regular season was in 1996-97, the second of Tubby Smith's two seasons as coach.
Etc.
Freshman backup forward Marcus Thornton did not play because of an injury to his right arm, which was heavily bandaged. "Marcus has a deep laceration [that] we are watching for infection," Fox said. "Right on the joint of the elbow." Thornton is averaging 1.8 points and 2.1 rebounds per game off the bench. ... Ronnie Hogue, a Bulldogs basketball star of the early 1970s and the first African-American student-athlete to receive a scholarship at UGA, attended the game. He was recognized at halftime at midcourt as part of the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of desegregation at UGA. Hogue still holds the UGA record for points in a game, 46 vs. LSU on Dec. 20, 1971.
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