Marcus Thornton got slammed to the court on a flagrant foul and bounced right back up and the Georgia Bulldogs followed his lead Tuesday night. They withstood another furious rally from Vanderbilt to win 70-62 at Stegeman Coliseum.
The win was the Bulldogs’ fifth in a row and keeps them in a tie for second-place in the SEC. It’s the first time Georgia (13-5, 5-2 SEC) has won five league games in a row since February of 2013.
It was the second loss to UGA in two weeks for the Commodores (11-9, 1-6), who fell 70-67 on Jan. 14 in Nashville.
Thornton, Georgia’s leading scorer, was heading to up for a dunk on a fast break when Vanderbilt’s Josh Henderson rose up and knocked Thornton hard to the floor. Thornton was upturned on the play, with his head, neck and shoulders hitting the court first.
But Thornton popped up immediately and headed toward the top of the key. After an official review, it was determined to be a flagrant foul. Thornton went to the line and knocked them both down, then left the game to be checked out by trainers on the ensuing possession.
He was fine. Thornton finished with 14 points and six rebounds to lead the Bulldogs to victory. Georgia made 11 of its final 12 free throws to put the game away at the foul line.
Nemi Djurisic (4-4) and J.J. Frazier (7-7) were perfect from the charity stripe and had 15 and 12 points, respectively. Kenny Gaines added 13.
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