Five observations from Georgia's double-digit victory over LSU

Yante Maten's performance in Saturday's 93-82 win over LSU moved him one spot away from the top of Georgia's all-time scoring list.

Maten scored 27 points, which moved him past Vern Fleming and Alec Kessler for the second-most spot. He is now only behind Litterial Green, who scored 2,111 points over his Georgia career. Maten now has 1,797 points in his storied Georgia career.

"It means a lot, just being able to represent my school the way I’ve tried the past four years, to have the opportunity to make plays night in and night out," Maten said.

The Bulldogs (16-12, 7-9 SEC) routed LSU (16-12, 7-9) in a game that saw them score over 80 points for the fourth time this season. Georgia's point total was the most it has put up in a game this year.

It also marked the first time Georgia crossed the 80-point threshold in SEC play. Being able to play uptempo proved to be an enjoyable day for the Bulldogs.

"It was fun. You’ve got to find ways to win games," freshman forward Rayshaun Hammonds said. "This game, we had to play uptempo. We didn’t slow it down. The main thing was playing uptempo and finding ways to score."

Close to a complete game

It's hard not to wonder what the season, to date, would have looked like if Georgia could have played the way it did against LSU in most of its games this season.

The Bulldogs put in one of its more complete performances. Georgia jumped out to a good start on both ends of the floor and then used a 15-6 run over the final 5:29 of the first half to build a 45-34 cushion. To start the second half, Georgia then went on an 11-0 run to essentially put this game out of reach of a comeback.

While Maten was Georgia's star once again, Hammonds had one of the best games of his young career. Hammonds played aggressive throughout and was more involved on offense than he has been at times this season. Hammonds finished the game with a career-high 21 points.

"He’s just a young guy who’s had to learn a lot on the fly this year," Fox said. "I think he’s finally having some confidence in recognizing what he’s supposed to do."

LSU did make the final score look a little deceiving as this was a game controlled by Georgia from tip-off to finish.

Starting hot

Georgia's hadn't opened with a first half quite like it did against LSU.

While the Bulldogs previously recorded 40 or more points in a first half four previous times, the 45 points scored against the Tigers in the first 20 minutes Saturday was the most this year. Georgia didn't shoot the ball particularly well from the perimeter in the opening period, going 2-of-16 from behind the arc.

Where Georgia was able to get the bulk of its points early was in the paint and at the free-throw line. Maten jumped out to 13 first-half points and the Bulldogs hit 13 of its 14 first-half free throws.

Waters gets his

When Georgia faced LSU the first time in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, guard Tremont Waters was held to only six points for the game. This time, Waters was able to pour in 25 points on 6-of-20 shooting.

With Waters going over his scoring average, it would have seemed likely for LSU to have ended with a much better showing. But while Waters was able to get to the rim and put in some long-range jumpers, no one else on the Tigers gave him much help. LSU's second-leading scorer of the game was Skylar Mays, however, who finished with 20 points.

Mays only had seven points at halftime and scored the majority of his points with the game in hand.

Too much inside

Despite featuring two players 6-foot-10 and taller, LSU was unable to handle Georgia's inside presence.

The Bulldogs finished by out-rebounding the Tigers by a 49-34 margin. Sixteen of those came on the offensive end, which helped lead to 17 second-chance points. Georgia was able to get four players who posted at least eight rebounds in the game. They were Maten (11), forward Derek Ogbeide (10), guard Juwan Parker (nine) and forward Rayshaun Hammonds (eight).

Rotation shrinks

In the first half against South Carolina, and partly due to foul issues, Georgia rotated 12 players.

Against LSU, the Bulldogs went with an eight-man group for the entire game. Georgia started Maten, Parker, Ogbeide, Turtle Jackson and Teshahun Hightower. From there, only Nicolas Claxton, Tyree Crump and Rayshaun Hammonds were the only ones to rotate in.

This story was originally published February 24, 2018 at 4:18 PM with the headline "Five observations from Georgia's double-digit victory over LSU."