ATHENS – Vanderbilt had John Jenkins; Georgia did not.
Jenkins was the difference as the Commodores rode his white-hot 3-point shooting to a 61-52 victory over the Bulldogs Sunday afternoon at Stegeman Coliseum.
Jenkins poured in 28 points on 8-of-11 shooting – including 6-of-8 shooting from behind the arc – and did not miss a shot of any kind in the second half. He also made all six of his free throw attempts after being fouled in the act of shooting.
Conversely, Georgia shot 13 percent from 3-point range (3-for-23) with guards Dustin Ware and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope combining at 1-for-16. The Bulldogs went 1-for-17 as a team from long range in the second half as they saw a five-point lead turn into a 12-point deficit in about seven minutes.
Jenkins accounted for 14 points during that span.
"He's the best shooter I've ever coached against," Georgia coach Mark Fox said of the 6-foot-4 junior guard from Hendersonville, Tenn. "He's phenomenal. . . . You can't give John Jenkins a crack in the clouds. He's just a great, great shooter."
That was the sentiment of pretty much everyone involved in Sunday's proceedings.
"The guy can shoot; no if, ands or buts about it," said Georgia senior Gerald Robinson, who led the Bulldogs with 19 points. "He's one of the top shooters I've seen in college basketball.
Said senior Dustin Ware: "He's in a class of his own. He's a guy who really knows how to do it. You give him an inch and he'll take a mile and that's what he did tonight."
Said Georgia freshman Kentavious Caldwell-Pope: "He hit every shot he threw up. He's one of the best shooters I've seen in college ball so far."
The loss was the second straight for the Bulldogs (12-14, 3-9 SEC). Heading into Wednesday's game at LSU (16-10, 6-6), they remain a scant game ahead of South Carolina (10-16, 2-10).
Vanderbilt, a preseason Top 10 team, improves to 19-8 and 8-4 heading into Wednesday's game against the Gamecocks.
The game turned in a span of 5:16 midway through the second half. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who played just four minutes in the first half due to foul trouble, put the Bulldogs' ahead 40-35 on a fall-away, baseline jumper at the 13:38 mark. That would be Georgia's last basket for more than six minutes.
Jenkins' 22-foot trey from right of the key began a 15-0 run for the Commodores in which they went 3-for-4 from 3-point range. Jeff Taylor's 3-pointer at the 8:03 mark put Vandy ahead 50-40. During that span, Georgia missed eight consecutive shots and committed two turnovers in 10 possessions.
Even after Georgia finally broke its scoring drought on back-to-back layups by Robinson, Vanderbilt expanded its lead to 12 points as Jenkins' made consecutive baskets on tightly-contested 3s. His second one, when he hauled in a long rebound off of Taylor's missed 3-pointer, made it 56-44 with 6:00 to play.
"We got a long offensive rebound and, if it had bounced to anybody else, I would have been telling them to run clock," Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings said. "But he got it, I knew he was going to shoot it, I thought he'd probably make it and he did."
Said Jenkins: "I was lucky on the second one. I was off to the side and the ball came right to me at the perimeter. I grabbed an easy rebound and was able to hit another one there."
It looked good for the Bulldogs early on. A 9-0 run put them ahead by four and they led 19-13 11:29 into the contest. But close-in misses, missed free throws and ill-advised fouls kept Vanderbilt in it. Jenkins was fouled by Sherrard Brantley on a 3-point attempt with 42 seconds remaining and Jenkins made all three to pull within 29-28 at halftime.
Robinson was as impressed as anyone with Jenkins' play. But he said that didn't mean Georgia was destined to lose.
"You know you're not going to shut anybody down in basketball," he said. "People are going to make baskets. The main thing today, when they were scoring, we weren't scoring, so we should have been defending even harder."
