Marcus Thornton was back, and while he never left, so was J.J. Frazier. That combination was key in lifting Georgia to a 56-53 win over Tennessee Saturday afternoon at Stegeman Coliseum.
Thornton had been out the past two games with a concussion and helped re-establish an inside presence. Meanwhile, Frazier had been relatively quite since his 37-point performance against Mississippi State two weeks ago. But the sophomore guard rose up to make three huge 3-pointers and a critical free throw in the second half to give the Bulldogs just enough offense for victory.
Frazier made the front end of a one-and-one with 19 seconds to play for a 56-52 lead. That was important as the Volunteers’ Kevin Punter made one foul shot and intentionally missed the second with 7.4 seconds remaining. Tennessee came up with the rebound and Josh Richardson’s desperation 3-pointer bounced off the rim.
Richardson rebounded the miss againn but couldn’t get off another shot as the final horn sounded. Georgia’s Charles Mann crashed head-first into the Vols’ bench and had to be helped off the court after the game had concluded.
Frazier, Mann and Nemi Djurisic all finished with 10 points apiece as the Bulldogs overcame a season-high 20 turnovers.
Richardson, who had 30 points in Tennessee’s last game, finished with two and they came in the last minute.
With the win, Georgia improves to 15-7 overall, 6-4 in the SEC, and snaps a two-game losing streak. The victory was the Bulldogs’ 100th under coach Mark Fox.
Tennessee falls to 13-9 and 5-5.
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