Tuesday, February 23
Athens, Ga.
7:00 PM
University of Georgia
14-9,7-9SEC
91
vs
78
LSU
14-7,9-5SEC
1
2
F
LSU
29
49
78
Georgia
45
46
91
Wheeler’s Historic Performance Leads Georgia to 91-78 Upset Over LSU
February 23, 2021 | Men's Basketball
ATHENS, Ga. – A historic triple-double performance from sophomore Sahvir Wheeler led the University of Georgia basketball team to a 91-78 win over LSU, on Tuesday evening before 1,638 fans at Stegeman Coliseum.
Wheeler's triple-double performance marked the first in the program's 116-season history with 14 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists. Sophomore Toumani Camara notched a double-double that led all scorers with 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting and 10 rebounds. This marks Camara's seventh double-double of the season which leads the SEC.
Freshman K.D. Johnson and junior Tye Fagan followed close behind with 21 and 18 points, respectively. Johnson, who had a career-high of four assists, also posted his third 20-point performance in Georgia's last five games.
"I had no idea on the triple double until the end of the game when John Bateman told me," Georgia head coach Tom Crean said. "It's phenomenal, and it's incredible when you think about how many years they've played basketball here—116 years, and it's the first time it has happened....We got a lot of high-level energy and effort basketball out of these guys, and they established early on that they were going to play with toughness. I said to them today, 'That the team to establish the toughness was going to be the team that got the running game,' because it's hard to get your running game going, consistently, if you're taking the ball out of the net."
The contest started with an early lead by the Bulldogs. Back-to-back jumpers by Fagan and graduate Justin Kier contributed to a 10-0 run over the Tigers. Georgia held a five-point advantage with points scored by Wheeler, Johnson, and graduate Andrew Garcia.
Georgia benefitted from a LSU scoring drought by maintaining a steady lead. With the score tightening, points scored by Camara and Fagan kept the Bulldogs out front. Georgia's advantage extended to 16 at the one-minute mark. Camara ended the half with a buzzer-beating layup, bringing the score to 45-29 at the half.
The Bulldogs' success continued in the opening minutes of the second half with Georgia responding to all points scored by LSU. With multiple Tiger-turnovers and back-and-forth exchanges, the Bulldogs maintained an ample lead.
Midway through the half, a three-pointer from graduate P.J. Horne and a jumper from Johnson extended Georgia into its largest lead of the night with 22. Leading into the final minutes of the contest, the Bulldogs stayed in front for good with Wheeler's final layup clinching the win.
"So many times, our guys got the rebound," said Crean. "We got out ahead, and we didn't have too many live-ball turnovers in the first half, which made a huge difference to us. We had a lot of really good contributions. K.D. [Johnson] did an excellent job. P.J. [Horne] made threes. Tye Fagan did outstanding! We had a lot of really good basketball. They've done a great job bouncing back from the other day. They just continue to show resilience. They just continue to get better every day."
Georgia remains home for Senior Day against South Carolina (5-11, 3-9) on Saturday, Feb. 27 at Stegeman Coliseum. The matchup with the Gamecocks is set for 1 p.m. tip time and will be broadcast on the SEC Network.
Coach Crean
Georgia head coach Tom Crean
On Sahvir Wheeler's historic performance...
"I had no idea on the triple double until the end of the game when John Bateman told me. I really don't look at the stats during the game. Probably sometimes I should, but I had no idea. It's phenomenal, and it's incredible when you think about how many years they've played basketball here—116 years, and it's the first time its happened. Really, he had a quadruple-double because he had 10 deflections, which is important to me, and Toumani [Camara] had a triple-double because he had the points and rebounds, and he had 15 deflections. We got a lot of high-level energy and effort basketball out of these guys, and they established early on that they were going to play with toughness. I said to them today, 'That they team that established the toughness was going to be the team that got the running game going best,' because it's hard to get your running game going consistently if you're taking the ball out of the net. So many times, our guys got the rebound, we got out ahead, and we didn't have too many live-ball turnovers in the first half, which made a huge difference to us. We got a lot of really good contributions. K.D. [Johnson] did an excellent job. P.J. [Horne] made threes. Tye Fagan did outstanding! We had a lot of really good basketball. They've done a great job bouncing back from the other day. They just continue to show resilience. They just continue to get better every day."
On the takeaways from a big win against a good team...
"I think you take a lot. It's the way you prepare. It's the mindset. It's the ball movement. It's staying connected defensively. It's the defensive rebounds. I thought Toumani [Camara] established that he was going to be on that rim rebounding-wise, scoring-wise, and most importantly with blocking the shots early and challenging them. That was very important. It was a very efficient many ways. It was an outstanding team. He does a great job with them. They have enormously talented players. We knew from playing them the first time that we had to be better defensively. We had to be better taking care of the ball. You can never come in and say that you know you're going to shoot the ball so well, but I thought even the threes that we missed were open threes, good threes. Again, you have to establish that you're going to play in the paint. You have to establish that you're going to get to the foul line, and that's what we were able to do."
On triple-doubles in his coaching career...
"I know we had a famous one when Dwyane Wade had his at Kentucky. I think I had another one at Indiana. I don't know. So many times, I'm not good with stats, heck, I forget our own players numbers sometimes. I just don't sit here and wait on that stuff. For him to get a triple-double this late in the season like that and to do it the way that he did it against a very good team like that, that says a lot about where he's at and where his future is heading. I'm never very good at putting it into perspective until I watch the film, but we wanted to come out and establish aggressiveness, toughness, physicality, and speed, and for the most part—these guys did that."
On being loose in warmups...
"It's a good thing that I don't come out for warmups then because I might not have read that right. They were confident. We had a good day, and we had a very short walkthrough. We spent more time watching film this afternoon and showing what we were capable of, so they were in a good frame of mind. It's being loose without being giddy and loose without being careless. That's a good way to play."
On having underclassmen contributors to build the team on...
"I think you just live in the moment, I think you really do. You live in this moment and like I said, 'When this season ends it's the last time inevitably—we'll all be together.' There is no reason for that to have to happen any time soon and I thought our seniors did a really good job as well, but again I don't think as much about next year I don't think as much about the youth of it, if you're on the court right now that means you can play and it means you can impact winning. I could have easily played a few more guys tonight based on the way practices have been, I just didn't do it. To me it all comes down to whatever five are on the floor that you're as connected to what you have to do defensively, be in the stands, be active, you're not guarding LSU in just a one-on-one, even though we wanted our one-on-one to be good. something Sahvir [Wheeler] said, this is another assist to Sahvir, after the game the other day, and I make my points and I ask if anybody else has got anything and he made a great point, he said 'We have got to start taking pride in our individual matchups.' He said that, it's one thing for a coach to say that, it's another thing for a player to say that, especially a leader player, a player of leadership. That became—we are going to make sure over these next few days that we understand that we can guard these guys one-on-one without overhelp. It's a lot easier said than done trying to guard Trendon Watford and Cameron Thomas and Javonte Smart and Darius Days. I think one of the keys is that Days only had two points, and he is such a factor because when they win he gets fifteen and when they lose he averages six, he's such a factor. You can't sleep on anybody that he puts in, but he's got four bona fide guys that you've got to be sure of every possession and that's not easy. So, it's got to be individual defense mixed with a collective mindset on how you're going to show, help, play the ball and see your man. For the youth to be able to do that is a good sign that we are trying to pick this up and understand what we are trying to get done defensively."
On what he can take away from the numbers of tonight's game and in his coaching...
"It's very, very rare, it's never going to sink in when it happens immediately, but it's also a very profound thing to have somebody accomplish that at such a young age, in such a prestigious league against a really good opponent like that. I think it's just part of the experience whether you're coming back from your deficit with your hold in a lead. Whatever it is, every experience you go through should help prepare you for the next one. When he [Wheeler] has shown, he had seven rebounds against Missouri last week, when we understand that we have to get guard rebounds because we are not going to be overly physical with the majority of these frontlines that we, see so we have to be physical with them, and that may mean that we don't get the board, but we have to have a guard slide in there to do it, Sahvir understood that. I think the way you get it in a win, the way he did it defensively in his activity too, that says a lot."
On how big lead at halftime catapulted the team…
"I think it did a ton. It's the way we did it, and they did it on the defensive end, and we stayed locked in. The baskets they were making, for the most part, they had to earn them. We were not giving them baskets, they had to earn the baskets. A lot of times we were getting a defensive board, and we were making the next pass, getting behind the defense. We got our running game going, we got some easy buckets, some dunks, some lay-ups which I think were really, really important. The threes build confidence, but the dunks, the layups, the getting behind the defense – that builds leads and that's what you have to get. I thought we took a few too many threes early on, so I wanted to make sure we were getting the thing established to go through the paint because we know we are going to need that bonus. We've got to be there. That's a number I do know, I know all the time where we are at in conjunction with how we've got to go to get to the bonus. I know we are successful if we get to it early now. Those kind of numbers I pay attention to during a game. I don't study the numbers until after the game really. But bottom-line, momentum is always up for grabs, and these guys did a really good job of grabbing momentum and not letting it go."
On Wheeler's aggressiveness…
"I think it says a lot, and he had 11 [rebounds]. I am just looking at it now, he had three offensive boards. I think it says a lot about being in position. Right, like you are guarding, and you are in position. He is a tough kid; I mean he is a tough man. He has an incredibly bright future, there is no doubt about it. So, when you do—when you play that way and show your level of toughness—when a point guard gets a rebound, it skips a whole step in the break, there is no outlet anymore. Now, you are going, you are speeding up the floor, now you are throwing the ball ahead to someone in scoring position or someone who can make one more pass. That makes all the difference in the world, and when you can skip that step of getting the outlet passed to your point guard because the point guard grabbed the ball, it is a big deal."
On adding another game this regular season…
"That's not up to us. That will be up to the league, and we'll learn from them. We'll play another game next week. We'll learn later in the week who that is going to be, but certainly we play to play. I don't think there is any reason that we wouldn't, unless something happened with COVID[-19] with somebody else. We will wait for the league to tell us, and we'll go, whether it's here, on the road, we'll be ready to roll."
#10 Toumani Camara | Sophomore
On Wheeler's first triple double in school history…
"It's amazing, Sahvir [Wheeler] is a great leader, a great point guard—somebody who is a lot of fun to be around. It's something I knew he was capable of. When I saw he had, I think it was the first five minutes of the game, he had five rebounds. I knew that's the signal he's going to get going so I thought about it. I didn't know it was the first one in school history. It's a great moment and a big moment for him for sure."
On the big offensive performance tonight…
"It's something I said from the beginning of the year. It's something we can do. Everyone on this team can get the night going. Maybe one day it's going to be Sahvir. Another day it's going to be Justin [Kier], other nights it's going to be me. Another night it's going to be Tye Fagan, P.J.[Horne], and Andrew [Garcia]. It can be anyone really. I think it's a big advantage for our team. When the ball is moving like that it's really hard to beat us. It's a great feeling. I can't complain, it's a lot of fun to play with these guys."
On how this game builds confidence…
"It's a great win. We learn a lot about how we can play defense. I believe our pressure can be great like that every game. We just got to keep it going. Like I said every time, 'We learn how to get better after every game.' This game we really learned how strong we can be on defense and how well the ball can move and how everybody can participate. We had a lot of people in double-figures today, so that means a lot to our game and how well the ball moves."
On changing the narrative of UGA basketball…
"We just want to be great. People who say that are not with us in the locker room, not with us between the four lines. It's something we think about. The goal is to win games and be great at getting better every day. It's always been the objective to bring this team to a better reputation. Like I said, 'It's getting better every day.'"
On the youth of the team…
"It's very encouraging for us. K.D. [Johnson] is a great player. He's very aggressive—that's something he can do every night—that something we can all do every night. Sometimes it's not going to be our night, sometimes it's going to be somebody else's night. We just need to be able to figure that out and keep playing as a team. That's what I believe is most important is keep playing. If it's not going to be my night, then it's going to be somebody else. We just need to keep that mentality that everyone can play and trust each other."
On beating his career high in points…
"It's something—I don't know if it means a lot to me as long as we got the win. I will say it's something I wanted to do—feel like I am capable of more often than this time. It's just something that had to happen at some point, I guess—keep working on my game every day, everybody keeps working on their game every day. Today was just my day more than theirs."
On only having one personal foul…
"It's just something I need to stay smart about. Sometimes just maintain instead of trying to make a play. Just be more in control of my defensive stands, and like I said—just control of my plays and be smart about it. Sometimes I want to be too aggressive and make a play that's not there and the team, I felt like needs me. It's something I'm trying to get better at and learn from."
#2 Sahvir Wheeler | Sophomore
On if him having the first triple-double in school history tonight has really sunken in yet…
"It's a great feeling, but it's an even better feeling for it to come out of a win. The biggest thing was the rebounding because Coach Crean, my dad, and some of my other AAU coaches have been telling me that guard-rebounding is a big thing, especially in the league. We can't always depend on Andrew [Garcia] and those guys because those guys are fighting some monsters down there, so it's going to be hard for them to fight and then go get the rebounds. That's something we've been emphasizing, so I'm trying to help in there and get as many rebounds as I can. With the rebounds, that makes our break faster because that's one less pass and one less second that we're wasting if we're already in our lanes and in our rhythm. Guys also made shots; guys made shots today, and that's always a good thing for a win—a confidence-boosting win against a good team. It was a good day."
On if he aims for triple-doubles, and when tonight it seemed possible…
"I knew the double-double was definitely possible, with the eight rebounds at halftime so I was trying to get to 10 rebounds to secure the double-double. Then we went on a run and those guys started hitting some shots, guys like P.J. [Horne], Toumani [Camara] made some nice cuts, and even K.D. [Johnson] got himself involved in early offense. So, that's when I thought there might be a little chance here. Like I say when it comes to the assists, the credit is always to my teammates. Those are the guys who finish the plays and make the shots, so if it wasn't for them, I obviously wouldn't be in this position. I was just hoping it [the 10thassist to K.D. Johnson] would go in, and they wouldn't call offensive goaltending or interference, but they let it play out. "
On how this game can boost both the team's and his confidence...
"Having a good win like this at home is definitely a confidence booster against a quality opponent. LSU is a tournament team, they're consistently good, and they got us the first time earlier this year, so we wanted to come home and protect home court and get the win. After a five-game stretch of some really tough competition in the SEC, we've played some really good games and some good halves. We finally wanted to put together two good halves of basketball, especially at home, so that was the main focus. Definitely, a confidence booster going into South Carolina, that's a team that I don't think we've beaten yet since I've been here or since Coach Crean has been here, so we're really focusing on winning that game. We don't know what's going to happen next, as far as the postseason, because this has never happened before having a pandemic in the postseason. If we continue to win games and take it one day at a time and get better each day, I think that good things will happen."
On leaving his mark on this program in such a short time…
"I think it's just a testament to the work that I put in, as well as a testament to the coaching staff. With how much they believed in me and had a vision for me when I de-committed from Texas A&M. Coach Crean and his staff showed a lot of faith, a lot of heart, and they wanted me here. They wanted me to come to be a part of something big and they wanted me to come in and lead this team and the program. All that is to them."
On the joy that he plays with on the court…
"At the end of the day, obviously basketball is a business, but it's a basketball game. Games are meant to be fun and you're meant to enjoy them. This is something that I hope to be playing for all of my life, so I want to enjoy it while I can. As far as teammates, our camaraderie over the past month or so has been on a great level, and we knew that at some point there was going to be a big breakthrough. Like I said, in the last couple of games we've played some really good halves and learned a lot about ourselves. We learned about what a happy brand of basketball is and for us to put these two halves together and win this game was big for us and a great confidence booster going into Saturday and beyond."
On how much of an influence Anthony Edwards had on the program and him…
"Obviously playing with a number one pick is intriguing in any sport, just to get that firsthand experience of what it's like to be at that level and what comes with the work ethic. I met Anthony [Edwards] previously at the NBA Top 100 Camp, and I knew he was cool; he was a personable guy with a great personality. Like you said, having fun is something that I've always done. I've always personally played the best when I was loose with a smile on my face, even when things weren't going my way. Him starting it because he was the biggest thing coming out of Georgia, he led the way and created that path, and I want to keep that going. Hopefully, my infectious personality can spread to others until that's just the culture of Georgia: we're playing fast, defending, we have a grit and grind team, but we're also having fun."
On how his father will coach him after a great night like tonight…
"My dad is going to tell me I'm the best in the world as any other father should. He's going to congratulate me and praise me, but I know in two days or so we're going to watch the game and he's going to tell me some things that I could have done better. He's been coaching me since I was in third grade, I remember when I decided to take basketball seriously, and he told me that he could make me into a player if I buy into him. From then on, we've been rocking out together all the way through AAU until my last summer in 11th grade. Even in high school, he was the head assistant coach at my high school. We won a lot of games together, lost very few games together, but the games we lost we learned a lot and I wouldn't be here today without him, for sure."
LSU Head Coach Will Wade
Opening Statement
"It was an embarrassing performance, we got whipped every way we could get whipped. Poor habits came out. They gave us a bunch of resistance, give Georgia a ton of credit. Coach [Tom] Crean, their staff, they had a great game plan. They beat us to loose balls, they played with better spirit than we did and just an all systems breakdown and as disappointing a night, a bad a night as we've had."
On how the team could allow Georgia to get so many offensive rebounds…
"We weren't as quick to the ball. They were long and loose, they chased them down, and we weren't just as quick to the ball. They beat us to almost every loose ball. We fumbled a bunch of balls out of bounds. Like I said, it was just a total embarrassment. I feel bad for all of our fans, I feel bad for everybody who follows our program. It was laughable, our effort. It starts with me."
On whether making shots would have gotten the energy up…
"We missed some, we gave up some transition baskets, we couldn't get going at the free throw line so it's just… everything just compounded on us tonight."
On Wheeler's night…
"Wheeler, first off, is a great player. He's extremely quick and he did a great job exploiting us. He was able to get into the paint. I thought [K.D.] Johnson, who didn't play against us the first time, he was physical. He finished a ton of stuff around the rim. We were fading away at the rim and he's just driving right through us. [Toumani] Camara killed us. He had a double-double again. I think he had 21-10, 25-10, something like that, I don't have it in front of me. He absolutely whipped us. Their guys played great. They were more prepared tonight and played with great energy and great spirit. Camara whipped us, Wheeler absolutely controlled the game, and Johnson was a difference maker."
On whether his team is hard to figure out…
"There are some matchups that are tougher for us. There's a reason why we struggled with them the first time too. [Sahvir] Wheeler is a very difficult matchup for us and he controls things. When he's able to control a game like he did tonight, it's going to be tough for us. We just didn't have it tonight. It's on me, not the players. We just didn't have it tonight. It's my job as the coach to have it every game."
On why there wasn't enough "snap" on the ball tonight…
"Yeah, we were casual, we were laissez-faire. Snap is a good word for it. I'd use the word pop. We just didn't have a lot of pop. Even some passes we completed almost got picked off, we just didn't have a lot of pop to us. We didn't cut hard, we didn't move. We just reverted back all of our bad offensive stuff we've done in certain games, all of our bad defensive stuff. It was just an awful, all of it reverted back."
On how frustrating it is to come out and play like he did…
"I can't say I saw it coming. I would have tried to prevent it if I saw it coming. It was a shorter turn around, I didn't think we prepared quite as well as we did for some of the other games, but I thought we were going to be a lot better than this but we didn't have that pop. Snap, pop, snap-crackle-pop, whatever. We just didn't have it. It's disappointing. We're too late into the season to be having this crap."
#1 Javonte Smart | Junior | Guard
On how the game got out of control…
"The beginning of the first half, we came out slow. The recent games, we have been trying to come out fast, the first five minutes, bring good energy. This game, somehow, I guess we just did not come out to fight. We tried to come back in the second half, but it was too comfortable, and they just had an edge on us."
On Georgia's early blocked shots…
"We wanted to attack them, but we came out sluggish. Coach [Wade] said we were moving in slow motion. It starts with defense, and we could not really get any stops, and our offense was not going, so that was hard to do."
On missing open shots…
"Our team is surrounded by offense. When shots are not falling, some nights like this, it is hard. We just have to pick it up on defense and try to fight on defense, and our offense will come to us."
On the slow defensive play…
"Our offense was not at its best, so our defense was lacking a little. Once our offense gets going, our defense will take us to what we want to do, but our offense was not where it was supposed to be."
On Coach Wade's message after the game…
"I would not want to say what he said at halftime. He gave a good message. He told us we have to play harder, but that is all I want to say about halftime. At the end of the game, he just said we have to come back and practice and get ready for Arkansas on Saturday."
On the frustrating loss after winning the previous three games…
"It is pretty frustrating after the few games we had been winning. We were playing as a team, and tonight was a rough one. We could not really come together and come out with the win, so it was pretty frustrating."
Wheeler's triple-double performance marked the first in the program's 116-season history with 14 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists. Sophomore Toumani Camara notched a double-double that led all scorers with 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting and 10 rebounds. This marks Camara's seventh double-double of the season which leads the SEC.
Freshman K.D. Johnson and junior Tye Fagan followed close behind with 21 and 18 points, respectively. Johnson, who had a career-high of four assists, also posted his third 20-point performance in Georgia's last five games.
"I had no idea on the triple double until the end of the game when John Bateman told me," Georgia head coach Tom Crean said. "It's phenomenal, and it's incredible when you think about how many years they've played basketball here—116 years, and it's the first time it has happened....We got a lot of high-level energy and effort basketball out of these guys, and they established early on that they were going to play with toughness. I said to them today, 'That the team to establish the toughness was going to be the team that got the running game,' because it's hard to get your running game going, consistently, if you're taking the ball out of the net."
The contest started with an early lead by the Bulldogs. Back-to-back jumpers by Fagan and graduate Justin Kier contributed to a 10-0 run over the Tigers. Georgia held a five-point advantage with points scored by Wheeler, Johnson, and graduate Andrew Garcia.
Georgia benefitted from a LSU scoring drought by maintaining a steady lead. With the score tightening, points scored by Camara and Fagan kept the Bulldogs out front. Georgia's advantage extended to 16 at the one-minute mark. Camara ended the half with a buzzer-beating layup, bringing the score to 45-29 at the half.
The Bulldogs' success continued in the opening minutes of the second half with Georgia responding to all points scored by LSU. With multiple Tiger-turnovers and back-and-forth exchanges, the Bulldogs maintained an ample lead.
Midway through the half, a three-pointer from graduate P.J. Horne and a jumper from Johnson extended Georgia into its largest lead of the night with 22. Leading into the final minutes of the contest, the Bulldogs stayed in front for good with Wheeler's final layup clinching the win.
"So many times, our guys got the rebound," said Crean. "We got out ahead, and we didn't have too many live-ball turnovers in the first half, which made a huge difference to us. We had a lot of really good contributions. K.D. [Johnson] did an excellent job. P.J. [Horne] made threes. Tye Fagan did outstanding! We had a lot of really good basketball. They've done a great job bouncing back from the other day. They just continue to show resilience. They just continue to get better every day."
Georgia remains home for Senior Day against South Carolina (5-11, 3-9) on Saturday, Feb. 27 at Stegeman Coliseum. The matchup with the Gamecocks is set for 1 p.m. tip time and will be broadcast on the SEC Network.
POSTGAME VIDEOS
Coach Crean
Georgia head coach Tom Crean
On Sahvir Wheeler's historic performance...
"I had no idea on the triple double until the end of the game when John Bateman told me. I really don't look at the stats during the game. Probably sometimes I should, but I had no idea. It's phenomenal, and it's incredible when you think about how many years they've played basketball here—116 years, and it's the first time its happened. Really, he had a quadruple-double because he had 10 deflections, which is important to me, and Toumani [Camara] had a triple-double because he had the points and rebounds, and he had 15 deflections. We got a lot of high-level energy and effort basketball out of these guys, and they established early on that they were going to play with toughness. I said to them today, 'That they team that established the toughness was going to be the team that got the running game going best,' because it's hard to get your running game going consistently if you're taking the ball out of the net. So many times, our guys got the rebound, we got out ahead, and we didn't have too many live-ball turnovers in the first half, which made a huge difference to us. We got a lot of really good contributions. K.D. [Johnson] did an excellent job. P.J. [Horne] made threes. Tye Fagan did outstanding! We had a lot of really good basketball. They've done a great job bouncing back from the other day. They just continue to show resilience. They just continue to get better every day."
On the takeaways from a big win against a good team...
"I think you take a lot. It's the way you prepare. It's the mindset. It's the ball movement. It's staying connected defensively. It's the defensive rebounds. I thought Toumani [Camara] established that he was going to be on that rim rebounding-wise, scoring-wise, and most importantly with blocking the shots early and challenging them. That was very important. It was a very efficient many ways. It was an outstanding team. He does a great job with them. They have enormously talented players. We knew from playing them the first time that we had to be better defensively. We had to be better taking care of the ball. You can never come in and say that you know you're going to shoot the ball so well, but I thought even the threes that we missed were open threes, good threes. Again, you have to establish that you're going to play in the paint. You have to establish that you're going to get to the foul line, and that's what we were able to do."
On triple-doubles in his coaching career...
"I know we had a famous one when Dwyane Wade had his at Kentucky. I think I had another one at Indiana. I don't know. So many times, I'm not good with stats, heck, I forget our own players numbers sometimes. I just don't sit here and wait on that stuff. For him to get a triple-double this late in the season like that and to do it the way that he did it against a very good team like that, that says a lot about where he's at and where his future is heading. I'm never very good at putting it into perspective until I watch the film, but we wanted to come out and establish aggressiveness, toughness, physicality, and speed, and for the most part—these guys did that."
On being loose in warmups...
"It's a good thing that I don't come out for warmups then because I might not have read that right. They were confident. We had a good day, and we had a very short walkthrough. We spent more time watching film this afternoon and showing what we were capable of, so they were in a good frame of mind. It's being loose without being giddy and loose without being careless. That's a good way to play."
On having underclassmen contributors to build the team on...
"I think you just live in the moment, I think you really do. You live in this moment and like I said, 'When this season ends it's the last time inevitably—we'll all be together.' There is no reason for that to have to happen any time soon and I thought our seniors did a really good job as well, but again I don't think as much about next year I don't think as much about the youth of it, if you're on the court right now that means you can play and it means you can impact winning. I could have easily played a few more guys tonight based on the way practices have been, I just didn't do it. To me it all comes down to whatever five are on the floor that you're as connected to what you have to do defensively, be in the stands, be active, you're not guarding LSU in just a one-on-one, even though we wanted our one-on-one to be good. something Sahvir [Wheeler] said, this is another assist to Sahvir, after the game the other day, and I make my points and I ask if anybody else has got anything and he made a great point, he said 'We have got to start taking pride in our individual matchups.' He said that, it's one thing for a coach to say that, it's another thing for a player to say that, especially a leader player, a player of leadership. That became—we are going to make sure over these next few days that we understand that we can guard these guys one-on-one without overhelp. It's a lot easier said than done trying to guard Trendon Watford and Cameron Thomas and Javonte Smart and Darius Days. I think one of the keys is that Days only had two points, and he is such a factor because when they win he gets fifteen and when they lose he averages six, he's such a factor. You can't sleep on anybody that he puts in, but he's got four bona fide guys that you've got to be sure of every possession and that's not easy. So, it's got to be individual defense mixed with a collective mindset on how you're going to show, help, play the ball and see your man. For the youth to be able to do that is a good sign that we are trying to pick this up and understand what we are trying to get done defensively."
On what he can take away from the numbers of tonight's game and in his coaching...
"It's very, very rare, it's never going to sink in when it happens immediately, but it's also a very profound thing to have somebody accomplish that at such a young age, in such a prestigious league against a really good opponent like that. I think it's just part of the experience whether you're coming back from your deficit with your hold in a lead. Whatever it is, every experience you go through should help prepare you for the next one. When he [Wheeler] has shown, he had seven rebounds against Missouri last week, when we understand that we have to get guard rebounds because we are not going to be overly physical with the majority of these frontlines that we, see so we have to be physical with them, and that may mean that we don't get the board, but we have to have a guard slide in there to do it, Sahvir understood that. I think the way you get it in a win, the way he did it defensively in his activity too, that says a lot."
On how big lead at halftime catapulted the team…
"I think it did a ton. It's the way we did it, and they did it on the defensive end, and we stayed locked in. The baskets they were making, for the most part, they had to earn them. We were not giving them baskets, they had to earn the baskets. A lot of times we were getting a defensive board, and we were making the next pass, getting behind the defense. We got our running game going, we got some easy buckets, some dunks, some lay-ups which I think were really, really important. The threes build confidence, but the dunks, the layups, the getting behind the defense – that builds leads and that's what you have to get. I thought we took a few too many threes early on, so I wanted to make sure we were getting the thing established to go through the paint because we know we are going to need that bonus. We've got to be there. That's a number I do know, I know all the time where we are at in conjunction with how we've got to go to get to the bonus. I know we are successful if we get to it early now. Those kind of numbers I pay attention to during a game. I don't study the numbers until after the game really. But bottom-line, momentum is always up for grabs, and these guys did a really good job of grabbing momentum and not letting it go."
On Wheeler's aggressiveness…
"I think it says a lot, and he had 11 [rebounds]. I am just looking at it now, he had three offensive boards. I think it says a lot about being in position. Right, like you are guarding, and you are in position. He is a tough kid; I mean he is a tough man. He has an incredibly bright future, there is no doubt about it. So, when you do—when you play that way and show your level of toughness—when a point guard gets a rebound, it skips a whole step in the break, there is no outlet anymore. Now, you are going, you are speeding up the floor, now you are throwing the ball ahead to someone in scoring position or someone who can make one more pass. That makes all the difference in the world, and when you can skip that step of getting the outlet passed to your point guard because the point guard grabbed the ball, it is a big deal."
On adding another game this regular season…
"That's not up to us. That will be up to the league, and we'll learn from them. We'll play another game next week. We'll learn later in the week who that is going to be, but certainly we play to play. I don't think there is any reason that we wouldn't, unless something happened with COVID[-19] with somebody else. We will wait for the league to tell us, and we'll go, whether it's here, on the road, we'll be ready to roll."
#10 Toumani Camara | Sophomore
On Wheeler's first triple double in school history…
"It's amazing, Sahvir [Wheeler] is a great leader, a great point guard—somebody who is a lot of fun to be around. It's something I knew he was capable of. When I saw he had, I think it was the first five minutes of the game, he had five rebounds. I knew that's the signal he's going to get going so I thought about it. I didn't know it was the first one in school history. It's a great moment and a big moment for him for sure."
On the big offensive performance tonight…
"It's something I said from the beginning of the year. It's something we can do. Everyone on this team can get the night going. Maybe one day it's going to be Sahvir. Another day it's going to be Justin [Kier], other nights it's going to be me. Another night it's going to be Tye Fagan, P.J.[Horne], and Andrew [Garcia]. It can be anyone really. I think it's a big advantage for our team. When the ball is moving like that it's really hard to beat us. It's a great feeling. I can't complain, it's a lot of fun to play with these guys."
On how this game builds confidence…
"It's a great win. We learn a lot about how we can play defense. I believe our pressure can be great like that every game. We just got to keep it going. Like I said every time, 'We learn how to get better after every game.' This game we really learned how strong we can be on defense and how well the ball can move and how everybody can participate. We had a lot of people in double-figures today, so that means a lot to our game and how well the ball moves."
On changing the narrative of UGA basketball…
"We just want to be great. People who say that are not with us in the locker room, not with us between the four lines. It's something we think about. The goal is to win games and be great at getting better every day. It's always been the objective to bring this team to a better reputation. Like I said, 'It's getting better every day.'"
On the youth of the team…
"It's very encouraging for us. K.D. [Johnson] is a great player. He's very aggressive—that's something he can do every night—that something we can all do every night. Sometimes it's not going to be our night, sometimes it's going to be somebody else's night. We just need to be able to figure that out and keep playing as a team. That's what I believe is most important is keep playing. If it's not going to be my night, then it's going to be somebody else. We just need to keep that mentality that everyone can play and trust each other."
On beating his career high in points…
"It's something—I don't know if it means a lot to me as long as we got the win. I will say it's something I wanted to do—feel like I am capable of more often than this time. It's just something that had to happen at some point, I guess—keep working on my game every day, everybody keeps working on their game every day. Today was just my day more than theirs."
On only having one personal foul…
"It's just something I need to stay smart about. Sometimes just maintain instead of trying to make a play. Just be more in control of my defensive stands, and like I said—just control of my plays and be smart about it. Sometimes I want to be too aggressive and make a play that's not there and the team, I felt like needs me. It's something I'm trying to get better at and learn from."
#2 Sahvir Wheeler | Sophomore
On if him having the first triple-double in school history tonight has really sunken in yet…
"It's a great feeling, but it's an even better feeling for it to come out of a win. The biggest thing was the rebounding because Coach Crean, my dad, and some of my other AAU coaches have been telling me that guard-rebounding is a big thing, especially in the league. We can't always depend on Andrew [Garcia] and those guys because those guys are fighting some monsters down there, so it's going to be hard for them to fight and then go get the rebounds. That's something we've been emphasizing, so I'm trying to help in there and get as many rebounds as I can. With the rebounds, that makes our break faster because that's one less pass and one less second that we're wasting if we're already in our lanes and in our rhythm. Guys also made shots; guys made shots today, and that's always a good thing for a win—a confidence-boosting win against a good team. It was a good day."
On if he aims for triple-doubles, and when tonight it seemed possible…
"I knew the double-double was definitely possible, with the eight rebounds at halftime so I was trying to get to 10 rebounds to secure the double-double. Then we went on a run and those guys started hitting some shots, guys like P.J. [Horne], Toumani [Camara] made some nice cuts, and even K.D. [Johnson] got himself involved in early offense. So, that's when I thought there might be a little chance here. Like I say when it comes to the assists, the credit is always to my teammates. Those are the guys who finish the plays and make the shots, so if it wasn't for them, I obviously wouldn't be in this position. I was just hoping it [the 10thassist to K.D. Johnson] would go in, and they wouldn't call offensive goaltending or interference, but they let it play out. "
On how this game can boost both the team's and his confidence...
"Having a good win like this at home is definitely a confidence booster against a quality opponent. LSU is a tournament team, they're consistently good, and they got us the first time earlier this year, so we wanted to come home and protect home court and get the win. After a five-game stretch of some really tough competition in the SEC, we've played some really good games and some good halves. We finally wanted to put together two good halves of basketball, especially at home, so that was the main focus. Definitely, a confidence booster going into South Carolina, that's a team that I don't think we've beaten yet since I've been here or since Coach Crean has been here, so we're really focusing on winning that game. We don't know what's going to happen next, as far as the postseason, because this has never happened before having a pandemic in the postseason. If we continue to win games and take it one day at a time and get better each day, I think that good things will happen."
On leaving his mark on this program in such a short time…
"I think it's just a testament to the work that I put in, as well as a testament to the coaching staff. With how much they believed in me and had a vision for me when I de-committed from Texas A&M. Coach Crean and his staff showed a lot of faith, a lot of heart, and they wanted me here. They wanted me to come to be a part of something big and they wanted me to come in and lead this team and the program. All that is to them."
On the joy that he plays with on the court…
"At the end of the day, obviously basketball is a business, but it's a basketball game. Games are meant to be fun and you're meant to enjoy them. This is something that I hope to be playing for all of my life, so I want to enjoy it while I can. As far as teammates, our camaraderie over the past month or so has been on a great level, and we knew that at some point there was going to be a big breakthrough. Like I said, in the last couple of games we've played some really good halves and learned a lot about ourselves. We learned about what a happy brand of basketball is and for us to put these two halves together and win this game was big for us and a great confidence booster going into Saturday and beyond."
On how much of an influence Anthony Edwards had on the program and him…
"Obviously playing with a number one pick is intriguing in any sport, just to get that firsthand experience of what it's like to be at that level and what comes with the work ethic. I met Anthony [Edwards] previously at the NBA Top 100 Camp, and I knew he was cool; he was a personable guy with a great personality. Like you said, having fun is something that I've always done. I've always personally played the best when I was loose with a smile on my face, even when things weren't going my way. Him starting it because he was the biggest thing coming out of Georgia, he led the way and created that path, and I want to keep that going. Hopefully, my infectious personality can spread to others until that's just the culture of Georgia: we're playing fast, defending, we have a grit and grind team, but we're also having fun."
On how his father will coach him after a great night like tonight…
"My dad is going to tell me I'm the best in the world as any other father should. He's going to congratulate me and praise me, but I know in two days or so we're going to watch the game and he's going to tell me some things that I could have done better. He's been coaching me since I was in third grade, I remember when I decided to take basketball seriously, and he told me that he could make me into a player if I buy into him. From then on, we've been rocking out together all the way through AAU until my last summer in 11th grade. Even in high school, he was the head assistant coach at my high school. We won a lot of games together, lost very few games together, but the games we lost we learned a lot and I wouldn't be here today without him, for sure."
LSU Head Coach Will Wade
Opening Statement
"It was an embarrassing performance, we got whipped every way we could get whipped. Poor habits came out. They gave us a bunch of resistance, give Georgia a ton of credit. Coach [Tom] Crean, their staff, they had a great game plan. They beat us to loose balls, they played with better spirit than we did and just an all systems breakdown and as disappointing a night, a bad a night as we've had."
On how the team could allow Georgia to get so many offensive rebounds…
"We weren't as quick to the ball. They were long and loose, they chased them down, and we weren't just as quick to the ball. They beat us to almost every loose ball. We fumbled a bunch of balls out of bounds. Like I said, it was just a total embarrassment. I feel bad for all of our fans, I feel bad for everybody who follows our program. It was laughable, our effort. It starts with me."
On whether making shots would have gotten the energy up…
"We missed some, we gave up some transition baskets, we couldn't get going at the free throw line so it's just… everything just compounded on us tonight."
On Wheeler's night…
"Wheeler, first off, is a great player. He's extremely quick and he did a great job exploiting us. He was able to get into the paint. I thought [K.D.] Johnson, who didn't play against us the first time, he was physical. He finished a ton of stuff around the rim. We were fading away at the rim and he's just driving right through us. [Toumani] Camara killed us. He had a double-double again. I think he had 21-10, 25-10, something like that, I don't have it in front of me. He absolutely whipped us. Their guys played great. They were more prepared tonight and played with great energy and great spirit. Camara whipped us, Wheeler absolutely controlled the game, and Johnson was a difference maker."
On whether his team is hard to figure out…
"There are some matchups that are tougher for us. There's a reason why we struggled with them the first time too. [Sahvir] Wheeler is a very difficult matchup for us and he controls things. When he's able to control a game like he did tonight, it's going to be tough for us. We just didn't have it tonight. It's on me, not the players. We just didn't have it tonight. It's my job as the coach to have it every game."
On why there wasn't enough "snap" on the ball tonight…
"Yeah, we were casual, we were laissez-faire. Snap is a good word for it. I'd use the word pop. We just didn't have a lot of pop. Even some passes we completed almost got picked off, we just didn't have a lot of pop to us. We didn't cut hard, we didn't move. We just reverted back all of our bad offensive stuff we've done in certain games, all of our bad defensive stuff. It was just an awful, all of it reverted back."
On how frustrating it is to come out and play like he did…
"I can't say I saw it coming. I would have tried to prevent it if I saw it coming. It was a shorter turn around, I didn't think we prepared quite as well as we did for some of the other games, but I thought we were going to be a lot better than this but we didn't have that pop. Snap, pop, snap-crackle-pop, whatever. We just didn't have it. It's disappointing. We're too late into the season to be having this crap."
#1 Javonte Smart | Junior | Guard
On how the game got out of control…
"The beginning of the first half, we came out slow. The recent games, we have been trying to come out fast, the first five minutes, bring good energy. This game, somehow, I guess we just did not come out to fight. We tried to come back in the second half, but it was too comfortable, and they just had an edge on us."
On Georgia's early blocked shots…
"We wanted to attack them, but we came out sluggish. Coach [Wade] said we were moving in slow motion. It starts with defense, and we could not really get any stops, and our offense was not going, so that was hard to do."
On missing open shots…
"Our team is surrounded by offense. When shots are not falling, some nights like this, it is hard. We just have to pick it up on defense and try to fight on defense, and our offense will come to us."
On the slow defensive play…
"Our offense was not at its best, so our defense was lacking a little. Once our offense gets going, our defense will take us to what we want to do, but our offense was not where it was supposed to be."
On Coach Wade's message after the game…
"I would not want to say what he said at halftime. He gave a good message. He told us we have to play harder, but that is all I want to say about halftime. At the end of the game, he just said we have to come back and practice and get ready for Arkansas on Saturday."
On the frustrating loss after winning the previous three games…
"It is pretty frustrating after the few games we had been winning. We were playing as a team, and tonight was a rough one. We could not really come together and come out with the win, so it was pretty frustrating."
Team Stats
LSU
UGa
FG%
.403
.464
3FG%
.267
.290
FT%
.593
.643
RB
40
47
TO
11
11
STL
7
6
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
22
FGM
9
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
21
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
9
Pts
14
FGM
6
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Basketball
/ Men's Basketball
/ Men's Basketball
/ Men's Basketball
/ Men's Basketball
/ Men's Basketball
/ Men's Basketball
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