With the entire state of Georgia in a deep freeze, perhaps it’s not surprise the Bulldogs were ice-cold shooting the basketball Wednesday night.
Playing before a surprisingly-good crowd considering the conditions outdoors, the Bulldogs couldn’t find the basket and got a flurry of good looks. Georgia shot a 27 percent from the field and an abyssmal 17 percent from 3-point range. They were 1-for-18 on 3-pointers before making three in desperation playing from behind in the game’s final minute.
Sharp-shooting Vanderbilt was the wrong team to do that against. The long-range specialists made eight 3-pointers and iced the game easily from the foul line, 59-54.
It was ghastly loss for the Bulldogs (10-9, 4-3 SEC). It broke what had been an eight-game, home-court winning streak and came against a Vanderbilt team playing with just seven scholarship players due to suspensions and injuries. The Commodores improve to 11-8 and 3-4 in league play.
The Bulldogs were hurt by the absence of starting shooting guard Kenny Gaines, who missed his second straight game with a bruised thigh. His fill-in, Juwan Parker, didn’t do much filling in. He was 0-for-10 from the floor and 0-for-5 from 3-point range.
Charles Mann led the Bulldogs with 20 points and Brandon Morris added 12. Walkon Taylor Echols made two 3-pointers in the last minute of the game when the outcomes was essentially decided.
Rod Odom led Vanderbilt with 16 and Atlanta native Dai-jon Parker added 15.
Georgia travels to Auburn on Saturday.
The Bulldogs shot just 20 percent from the floor — and 8 percent from 3-point range — in the first half against Vanderbilt. As a result, they fell behind by 10 at one point and went into intermission trailing 27-21.
That followed a fairly encouraging start for Georgia. It came out quick and hot, with Brandon Morris hitting the game’s first 3-point attempt and the Bulldogs building an 8-2 lead primarily from the foul line.
But then the sharp-shooting Commodores found their mark. Kyle Fuller’s 3-pointer at the 14:26 mark started a streak in which they made 4-of-6 from behind the arc. Rod Odom was filed on the last of those and made the foul shot to complete a four-point play and give Vandy a 19-14 lead at the 8:50 mark.
Dai-jon Parker’s third 3-pointer of the half at the 5:41 mark had swung the game into Vandy’s favor 25-15.
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