With Georgia’s students still on holiday break and much of the fan base in Orlando, Fla., for Tuesday’s Capital One Bowl, a $5 ticket promotion helped fill Stegeman Coliseum to more than half of its seating capacity Saturday.
The thrifty fans in attendance wound up getting their money’s worth as the Bulldogs staved off Florida A&M 82-73 to improve their record to 5-7.
Perhaps more important for Georgia, the contest marked the first time this season that guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope wasn’t the Bulldogs’ leading scorer.
That honor went to 6-foot-8 forward Nemanja Djurisic of Podgorica, Montenegro, who poured in a career-high 21 points.
“This just helps me a little with confidence since I had a slow start this season,” said Djurisic, who drilled a 3-point shot with 1:59 remaining to put Georgia ahead 76-62.
“I think it’s going to get better now, and I’ll have more confidence going into the SEC.”
All 11 Bulldogs who played managed to score.
“(Kentavious) is not going to be there every night,” Georgia coach Mark Fox said. “We had a lot of guys finish some plays. It’s good to get some more guys scoring with the ball.”
The Rattlers (4-8) trimmed a 15-point deficit to six with 13 minutes remaining by making a pair of free throws. But the Bulldogs’ defense stepped up over the next 60 seconds to push the lead to 10 on the strength of field goals by Donte Williams and Caldwell-Pope.
Georgia appeared to finally gain control with five minutes remaining when forward Brandon Morris blocked a shot attempted by Trey Kellum underneath the basket as the crowd roared its approval. The Bulldogs maintained their 13-point advantage.
But the Rattlers refused to back down as they chiseled Georgia’s lead to six points with 41 seconds to play before the Bulldogs delivered a knockout punch with a series of free throws during the final seconds.
Caldwell-Pope, Georgia’s do-it-all sophomore, displayed a rare blunder when he clanked an uncontested layup off the rim with 8:38 remaining in the first half.
The SEC’s leading scorer entering the game, he atoned for the mistake three minutes later when he brought the 6,149 spectators to their feet with a thunderous dunk.
“If I had (the missed layup) to do over again, I probably would have had two hands on the ball and went up with it,” said Caldwell-Pope, who scored 11 points and pulled down a team-high nine rebounds. “I tried to be casual with it, lay it up with one hand and I just missed it.”
During his postgame news conference, Fox addressed the status of 6-foot-6 Georgia tight end Jay Rome, who has the option of re-joining the basketball team following the bowl game. Rome, a forward, appeared in seven games for Fox’s team last season.
“Jay and I have had some communication about it,” Fox said. “He’s got a difficult decision to make. He’s getting deeper in his football career, and he’s got a chance to play at the next level.
“If basketball will help Jay Rome, we certainly would love to have him. As I told him, he needs to make sure this is the best thing for him. And I’m sure he will sort that out after the bowl game in Orlando.”
The Bulldogs conclude their current five-game homestand at 7 p.m. Friday when they play host to George Washington.
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