Georgia beats Arkansas to advance in SEC tourney

It was the Dogs' first win all season outside the state of Georgia, and it puts them in a Friday night quarterfinal game against Vanderbilt, the nation's 20th-rated team. Georgia split two regular-season games with the Commodores, winning by 14 points at home and losing in overtime on the road.

Until Thursday night, Georgia's only win all season away from Athens was a December victory over Illinois in Gwinnett Arena.

But Trey Thompkins and Travis Leslie combined for 44 points -- 23 and 21, respectively -- as the Bulldogs beat Arkansas in a grueling game that ended after midnight. Thompkins led his team in points,  rebounds (14) and assists (six).

Arkansas' last lead was 4-2 barely a minute into the game, and Georgia took the lead for good at 6-4 two minutes into the action.  The Bulldogs led by as many as 10 points in the first half and by 11 early in the second half, but Arkansas was within five points, 64-59, with just over five minutes to play. The Dogs answered by scoring 13 of the next 15 points to take a 16-point lead, 77-61, on a Dustin Ware 3-pointer with just under a minute to play.

"When they made their run, we stuck with it and understood that, OK, they made their run and now it's time for us to make ours," Thompkins said.

Said Ware: "We knew that at home we were up by 15 and they came back, and this time we didn't want to let that happen. Usually when we get ahead, we become too passive and stop going after [the opponent]. But not tonight."

The Bulldogs outrebounded the Razorbacks 45-28 and outscored them on second-chance points 19-9 -- edges that helped Georgia overcome 17 turnovers, including several that resulted in easy Arkansas baskets.

"We had three or four guys that got their pockets picked or just gave them the ball," Fox said. "Those are careless mistakes that we should not make in March. We talked about that with our team, even after the game, and that's an area hopefully we'll be much better with tomorrow."

Ah, tomorrow.  The Bulldogs, the No. 6 (last) seed from the SEC East, play another day.

Georgia started strong Thursday,  dominating on the boards (claiming seven of the game's first nine rebounds) and aggressively attacking the Arkansas press. A 9-0 run, including a Ricky McPhee 3-pointer and a Chris Barnes dunk, gave the Bulldogs an 11-4 lead. Georgia stretched the lead to 10 points, 18-8, on a Jeremy Price layup off a long McPhee pass against the press.

Arkansas twice got within a point before halftime, but a 27-foot 3-pointer by McPhee at the end of the half sent Georgia into intermission with a 40-32 lead.

"It felt good when I let it go," McPhee said. "It was a broken-down play, and I was lucky I made it. But to get three [points] on that definitely was a momentum booster."

Georgia pushed the lead to double digits, 43-32,  when Price scored the first basket of the second half, was fouled and converted the free throw.  After Arkansas quickly whittled the lead from 11 to four,  Dustin Ware -- a 1-for-7 shooter in the first half -- made a 3-pointer to put the Bulldogs up by seven.

The lead fluctuated from three points to nine for a long while. Then, driving baskets by Leslie on consecutive possessions put Georgia ahead by 11, 72-61, with just under two minutes to play.  Ware's 3-pointer with 54 seconds left gave the Dogs their biggest lead, 77-61.

A big difference between this game and the Dogs' regular-season loss to Arkansas was containing Courtney Fortson, the Razorbacks' high-scoring guard. He had 27 points in the regular-season game, including 19 in the Razorbacks' second-half comeback.  But he was held to 16 this time.

"We made some key stops on him," McPhee said. "We were able to contain him and make him take some tough shots."

Georgia's win completed the tournament's opening day and night. In other games, Alabama rallied from an 18-point second-half deficit to beat South Carolina 68-63, Tennessee got past LSU 59-49 and Florida defeated Auburn 78-69.

In Friday's quarterfinals,  Alabama plays Kentucky at 1 p.m., Tennessee faces Ole Miss at 3:15 p.m., Florida takes on Mississippi State at 7:30 p.m., and Georgia plays Vanderbilt at 9:45 p.m.