UGA rebounds with big win over Mississippi State

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By Tim Tucker

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

ATHENS -- Trey Thompkins scoured the statistics sheet moments after Georgia's 86-64 victory over Mississippi State here Saturday, his eyes going immediately to the rebounds column.

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Georgia's Trey Thompkins (33) hangs on the basket after dunking the ball in the second half against Mississippi State at Stegeman Coliseum in Athens on Saturday, Jan. 22, 2011.

Hyosub Shin, hshin@ajc.com Georgia's Trey Thompkins (33) hangs on the basket after dunking the ball in the second half against Mississippi State at Stegeman Coliseum in Athens on Saturday, Jan. 22, 2011.

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The Georgia forward liked what he saw.

Four days after being out-rebounded in a bitter, last-second home loss to Tennessee, Georgia dominated Mississippi State on the backboards as well as on the scoreboard.

Coach Mark Fox "got on us a lot" about the uncharacteristic rebounding deficiencies against Tennessee, Thompkins said. "We had to step up to the challenge he gave us," Thompkins added, "and we did."

Georgia outrebounded Mississippi State 48-23, including 17-2 on the offensive boards, and shot well, including 11-of-19 from 3-point range, to bounce back from a controversial, buzzer-beating loss with a blowout victory.

"You fall down; you want to get back up," guard Gerald Robinson said. "It was a tough loss against Tennessee, and our main thing was to bounce back from that adversity."

Georgia took the lead for good 67 seconds into Saturday's game, maintained a double-digit lead throughout the final 34 minutes and led by as many as 19 points in the first half and as many as 25 in the second.

Georgia was out-rebounded 34-28 by Tennessee in Tuesday's 59-57 loss, just the fourth time this season the Bulldogs had been beaten on the boards, and Fox responded with what he called "a very physical rebounding day" at practice Thursday.

"Certainly you saw some results [Saturday]," Fox said.

"We wanted to come out and just play tough," Thompkins said. "Mississippi State is known to play tough, and they played pretty tough. We just came out and gave them everything that we had. We played as a team."

Said Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury: "Georgia outworked us and out-toughed us from the start. ... I'm disappointed we weren't better. We knew that UGA would be good. ... Give Georgia credit. They whipped us on the boards."

The win improved Georgia's record to 14-4 (3-2 SEC) and dropped Mississippi State to 10-8 (2-2). Georgia is 9-1 this season in Stegeman Coliseum, which drew its third consecutive sellout crowd of 10,523. Among those in the stands: a number of prized football recruits, including tailback Isaiah Crowell of Carver-Columbus.

The performance marked the second consecutive Saturday on which the Bulldogs beat a team from Mississippi by 22 points. A week earlier, they won 98-76 at Ole Miss.

"We came out flat, and give them a lot of credit -- they hit a lot of shots," Mississippi State point guard Dee Bost said. "It was bad."

In fact, the only team from Mississippi to challenge Georgia this season was Mississippi Valley State, which lost 72-70 in Athens in the season opener.

Robinson and Travis Leslie led Georgia with 17 points apiece Saturday, while Thompkins had 15. Dustin Ware and Sherrard Brantley scored nine points apiece, all on 3-pointers. Georgia's bench outscored Mississippi State's 27-3.

For Mississippi State, Bost had a game-high 20 points.

Freshman Marcus Thornton came off the bench to lead Georgia in rebounds with nine, while Thompkins had seven and Leslie six.

"Everyone contributed," Thompkins said.

Georgia completes a three-game homestand when Florida visits Tuesday night. Then the Bulldogs go on the road for two games to Kentucky and Arkansas.