ATHENS — The Georgia Bulldogs were eager to measure themselves Saturday against the best of best in the SEC in No. 5 Tennessee. What they learned is there remains a gap.
Granted, it’s much smaller. The Bulldogs found themselves up 11 points in the second half before a highly charged sellout crowd of 10,523 at Stegeman Coliseum. But then the Volunteers demonstrated how a championship team reacts to adversity.
First, they need a player like Dalton Knecht. The 6-foot-6 graduate transfer guard from Northern Colorado went off for 36 points, including seven consecutive during the critical stretch when the Vols regained, then expanded, their lead in the final three minutes. Then the Vols also proved they had some other players, too, outscoring Georgia 15-1 over the final 4:49 to score an 85-79 victory.
It was a tough pill for the Bulldogs to swallow, having won the previous 10 games and for a long time looking like they would make it 11 consecutive. Instead, they lost for the first time since mid-November and fell to 12-4 (2-1 SEC). The Vols improved to 12-4 (2-1).
“We’ve handled success the right way over these past 10 (games); let’s see how we handle some adversity,” Georgia’s second-year coach Mike White said. “It’s been a while. But, also, let’s never be thrilled with a loss. We played them close, had a chance. People will say, ‘that’s great effort.’ But we’re trying to win those.”
There was every reason to think the Bulldogs might. They went ahead 69-58 when Noah Thomasson buried a 3-pointer from right of the key with 8:29 remaining in the second half. Georgia had a chance to expand its lead from there after getting another defensive stop. But Thomasson was called for a double-dribble turnover on the other end, sending the game into a media timeout with the Bulldogs still ahead by 11.
The Vols would whittle the margin down to seven and then eight. Each time, Georgia answered with a 3-point basket. Blue Cain’s 3 from the corner at the 6:23 mark made the score 75-64 and nearly brought down the house.
“That’s as loud as I’ve ever heard Stegeman, ever,” White said of that moment. “It was an incredible environment. It was just unfortunate we weren’t able to capitalize for our fans for helping us and being as big of a factor as they were.”
There were many positives to take out of the game. The Bulldogs committed only nine turnovers, though the majority of those came during that critical final stretch. Thar was the second time under White Georgia has had fewer than 10 turnovers against a Top 5 team.
Abdur-Rahim continues to lead the Bulldogs on offense and defense. The senior wing led the team with 21 points, made five 3-pointers and defended seemingly every Tennessee player on the floor. Freshman guard Silas Demary Jr. started and played 29½ minutes – his most in SEC play – and finished with 13 points. The Bulldogs made 14 3-pointers on 33 attempts.
Georgia had 15 offensive rebounds but and out-rebounded the Vols by five in the second half despite losing the ball of the boards 46-38. Tennessee’s Jonas Aidoo had 15 rebounds and 5 blocked shots to go with his 10 points. Zakai Ziegler had 18 points and five assists but also six turnovers.
“We learned that we can play with anybody,” Abdur-Rahim said. “We have a good team and we showed it; we just failed to execute down the stretch. We have a good team and we have talented players and we should be confident in that going forward.”
The Bulldogs have a tough week ahead. After playing South Carolina in Columbia on Tuesday at 9 p.m. -- the Gamecocks improved to 14-2 (2-1) with an overtime win over Missouri -- Georgia will travel to Lexington to face Kentucky at Rupp Arena on Saturday. The No. 6-ranked Wildcats (12-3, 2-1) were knocked off by Texas A&M Saturday in College Station.
It looked like Tennessee was going to run away with the game in the first half, shooting to an early 14-point lead. Georgia used a 15-0 run spanning the first and second halves to turn the burgeoning blowout into a hotly contested SEC game. A 9-0 run to end the first half was followed by unanswered 3-pointers from Abdur-Rahim and Thomasson to start the second, and just like that Georgia was ahead 43-42.
The Bulldogs began to pull away at that point. Thomasson’s baseline drive to the hoop made the score 66-56 at the 9:32 mark. Georgia would lead by as much as 11. But when Knecht missed a second free throw at the 5:40 mark, the Vols rebounded and Santiago Vescovi ended up with the ball on the perimeter, burying a 3-pointer to turn it into a four-point possession.
Another Cain 3 from the corner pushed Georgia’s lead back to 8. But then Tennessee turned up its man-to-man defense, and the Bulldogs wouldn’t score for the next 2:35.
Making 3′s throughout the early portion of the half, Georgia missed two wide-open looks that could have sliced into what was then a six-point deficit. Meanwhile, Knecht and Zakai Ziegler scored at will for the Vols. And that was the difference.
“We just couldn’t get our shots to go, and then our inability to get stops and keep them off the foul line or we could have made it more interesting,” White said. “(Knecht) hit a couple where we had people right there on him. Sometimes good offense beats good defense.”
Said Demary: “It’s definitely part of the process. We’d won 10 or 11 in a row. We’re coming off a good streak. It happens. We had some adversity and now we know what to do in games like this. We’ve got to execute and finish games.”
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