Bulldogs lose on Senior Day

Athens — It wasn’t the way Corey Butler and Terrance Woodbury wanted to go out. But, truthfully, they ought to be used to it by now.

Georgia’s two senior players, honored before the game as part of Senior Day, fought like mad but to no avail as the Bulldogs fell for the 19th time this season, 68-51 to South Carolina.

Terrance Woodbury, three days after scoring 30 points in a 90-85 victory at Kentucky, was 4-for-21 against the Gamecocks and finished with nine points in 35 minutes. Corey Butler had to leave the game in the second half with severe cramping in both legs. He had seven points and eight rebounds.

“Four-for-21? Really? Man,” said Woodbury, who was 7-of-13 at Kentucky and 4-of-4 on 3-point shots. “But I wasn’t stressing because it was Senior Night. … I got a lot of wide-open shots, and they just wouldn’t go down.”

The defeat completed a tumultuous regular season for the Bulldogs, who finish 12-19 overall and in last place in the SEC’s East Division at 3-13. It was the third time this decade Georgia has won three or fewer SEC games.

The Bulldogs will resume play at 3:15 p.m. Thursday in Tampa as defending SEC Tournament champions. They’ll face Mississippi State.

They will have to shoot better to have any hope of pulling a first-round upset. The Bulldogs shot only 27.3 percent from the field and 18.2 percent from 3-point range (4 of 22).

“Can we expand the basket or something?” interim coach Pete Herrmann said. “We couldn’t make any shots. We had some good ones, and I kept encouraging them, but we just couldn’t get them to do down.”

Conversely, South Carolina was 9-of-16 on 3-pointers and got 23 points and eight assists from point guard Devan Downey. Zam Fredrick added 15 points, and Mike Holmes had 10 points and 11 rebounds.

The Gamecocks (21-8, 10-6) already were assured of the No. 2 seed from the East and a first-round bye in the tournament.

“Devan controlled the game. He took time off the clock, managed the game and got himself in deep where he had the option of shooting it or giving it to other guys. Devan Downey really played terrific.”

Georgia’s efforts on Downey were hindered by Dustin Ware’s foul trouble. The freshman point guard played his fewest minutes (18) since Jan. 6 because of foul trouble. He had three in first half and drew his fourth 2:15 into the second half.

The Bulldogs had a season-high 21 offensive rebounds and nearly got double-doubles from both Trey Thompkins (10 points, 9 rebounds) and Chris Barnes (10, 8).

Georgia hung with South Carolina except for a pair of 10-0 runs, one in the first half and another in the second. The Dogs, who trailed 27-23 at halftime, were still within six points when Downey started a 10-0 spur with 12:47 to play. The spurt ended with Zam Fredrick’s 3-pointer making the score 48-32 in favor of the Gamecocks at the 10:41 mark. South Carolina would expand the lead to 20 with two minutes to go.

“I think me and Wood had some jitters,” said Barnes, who shares captain duties with Woodbury. “But it actually felt good to get out there and play knowing it was our last game in Stegeman. I just tried to go out and have some fun. And win of course.”