BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Tari Eason finished with 21 points, nine rebounds and three steals to power LSU to an 84-65 victory over Georgia on Wednesday night.
Eason came off the bench in the first half to score 17 and grab six boards, sparking the Tigers (19-7, 7-6 Southeastern Conference) to a 38-22 lead at halftime. LSU forced 15 turnovers in the first half and had a 20-2 advantage in points off turnovers. The Tigers raced to their first-half lead by outscoring the Bulldogs (6-20, 1-12) 26-2 in the paint.
Xavier Pinson's layup following another Georgia turnover pushed LSU's lead to 49-29 with 16:27 left. Eric Gaines' 3-pointer gave the Tigers their biggest lead, 70-42 with 7:07 left.
Eason buried 9 of 15 shots from the floor for the Tigers, who shot 49% overall in notching their third straight win. Darius Days pitched in with 15 points and 12 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season. Pinson distributed a career-best 10 assists and had four of LSU's 16 steals on the night. The Tigers came in averaging leading the nation in steals with 11.1 per game.
Kario Oquendo hit three 3-pointers and scored 26 to pace Georgia. Oquendo accounted for eight of the Bulldogs' 20 baskets. He was 7 of 7 at the free-throw line.
LSU hits the road to play South Carolina on Saturday. Georgia returns home to host Mississippi on Saturday.
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