Kenny Gaines beat the shot clock with a 3-pointer from the corner with 42 seconds to play and Georgia pulled away at the end to score a huge SEC road victory, 62-53 over Texas A&M here at Reed Arena.
Gaines’ 3-point bomb was one of many the Bulldogs tried while not making a lot. They shot just 25 percent behind the arc for the game (6-of-24) but made two huge ones down the stretch. Taylor Echols, filling in for the foul-strapped Gaines, knocked one down at the 7:36 mark that gave Georgia a six-point lead with 7:36 to play.
Gaines led the Bulldogs with 15 points and backcourt mate Charles Mann added 14. Nemanja Djurisic added 11.
Georgia overcame major foul trouble all night. Gaines was limited to 26 minutes after sitting much of the second half with four fouls. He did not re-enter the game until four minutes were remaining with Georgia clinging to a 53-48 lead. J.J. Frazier and Marcus Thornton also sat for long stretches due to fouls.
But the Bulldogs’ bench picked them up, out-scoring Texas A&M’s 12-2. Forward Yante Maten led the way with six points and Echols and Cameron Forte also scored.
The Aggies (16-7, 7-4 SEC) were one of four SEC teams ahead of the Bulldogs (16-7, 7-4) in the SEC standings. Georgia improves to 3-3 on the SEC road and 4-4 overall.
Georgia had missed its last nine 3-point attempts when Echols finally broke the drought at the 7:36 mark of the second half. His jumper from the corner was followed by a lay-up from bench-mate Forte and gave the Bulldogs an eight-point lead with 6:48 to go.
The Bulldogs led 34-31 at halftime and went to the locker room knowing they should have been up by more. They missed their last six 3-point tries — most of the really open variety — and failed to score over the final 2:21. Georgia was getting good looks from the perimeter but shot 27 percent while missing on 11 of 15 3-point attempts.
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