Athens, GA – J.J. Frazier hit two big free throws with 1.6 seconds to give Georgia an 82-80 victory over LSU. It was LSU’s 15th consecutive loss (a school record). Frazier, the team’s leading scorer this season, led the team once again with 29 points, shooting 10-of-11 from the free throw line. LSU was led by their stellar guard, Antonio Blakeney, who scored 20 inefficient (7-of-18 from the field) points.
The diminutive (5-8, 155 pounds) Frazier used his quickness and handle to create space for his jumper from all areas of the court. Unafraid of contact, Frazier showed the willingness and ability to drive against bigger defenders and create space for a pull-up jumper. The concern with Frazier is his ability to consistently create for teammates. In UGA’s offense, he is often asked to play off the ball and score via cuts and coming off screens. To his credit, he moves very well without the ball and displays good awareness when doing so. He did show a few nice flashes of penetrating and finding the open man.
Derek Ogbeide, a 6-8, 245 pound forward, showed impressive mobility and footwork for his size. This stood out on the offensive end, where he displayed the ability to snatch an offensive rebound and quickly put it back in. His strength in the post was effective, as he established great position down low, sealed off the defender, caught and finished with a nice lefty jump hook.
For LSU, sophomore guard, Brandon Sampson displayed a sweet stroke from 3, nailing a 25-footer early in the first half. He showed nice patience, pump-faking to let the defender fly by, taking one dribble and pulling up for a 3. He looked very good on catch-and-shoot 3’s as well. He’s shooting 34 percent from 3 this season, up from 27 percent last season. Defensively, he showed himself to be a quick leaper, using his athleticism to emphatically swat a quick turnaround hook into the stands. Blakeney, a sophomore 2-guard, has a long, athletic body, and shows impressive athleticism. He gets great elevation on his jumper, but he has a slight hitch at the top of the motion. His shot selection left a lot to be desired at times. He shot 2-of-8 from the 3-point line in this game, but is shooting 39 percent on the season. He showed his explosion in driving past defenders and getting to the rim with ease. Defensively, Blakeney has all of the tools to be a lockdown defender—length, athleticism, lateral quickness—but found himself out of position on several instances.
This article was written by Akash Chaudhry, a correspondent and scout for NetScouts Basketball. You can subscribe to our RSS feed from the upper right corner of our home page, follow us on Facebook, or on twitter.
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