ATHENS – Georgia is not the only basketball program to undergo a remarkable transformation in Year 2 under a new coach. The Bulldogs need look no farther than across the border to South Carolina to witness a similar revival.
In many ways the Gamecocks’ renaissance under coach Lamont Paris has been even more extraordinary. Halfway through the 2023-24 campaign, South Carolina (14-2, 2-1 SEC) has the second-best record in the SEC. That’s after being picked to finish last in the league in preseason polls. The Gamecocks were 11-21 (4-14) in their first season under Paris.
With this, the Bulldogs can well identify. Picked 13th in the 14-team league, coach Mike White’s second Georgia team (11-4, 2-1) was on a 10-game win streak before seeing an 11-point lead over No. 5 Tennessee evaporate in the second half on the way to an 85-79 loss this past Saturday at Stegeman Coliseum.
The late-game collapse was a sudden and stark reminder that, though significantly improved, the Bulldogs have yet to master the art of winning in the clutch. The Vols (12-4, 2-1) outscored them 15-1 over the final five minutes.
These two upstarts will collide Tuesday night at 9 p.m. in Columbia (ESPNU). Both teams are desperate to sustain the momentum they’ve built early in conference play and prove themselves a legitimate contender for postseason play.
“We were right there with them, all the way up until the end,” said Georgia’s Jabri Abdur-Rahim, who had a team-high 21 points against Tennessee. “I feel like we can ride some of that positive momentum into this next game and have a better result.”
Georgia did so much so well for the first 35 minutes of Saturday’s game, but the final five all went the Vols’ way. It’s on those last five minutes that the Bulldogs are focused as they try to get another streak started.
Closing out games with more poise now is a clear objective. Even though Georgia won its first two conference games against Missouri and Arkansas, it let substantial leads dissipate to become uncomfortably close down the stretch.
On Saturday, the Bulldogs committed just nine turnovers in the game, but three of them occurred in the final four minutes when they still held a narrow lead. And once Tennessee forged ahead, Georgia missed its last seven shots. Four of them were open 3-pointers on a night the Bulldogs made 14.
“I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you I’m disappointed,” White said afterward. “If you’re down 15 and you close it to five or six at the end, they were supposed to win. That’s one scenario. We’re up, what, nine or 10 pretty late and just got outexecuted down the stretch offensively and defensively by a team that’s better than we are right now.
“We hope to continue to improve, but we wish we could’ve finished the 40 because we played a pretty good 35 — a really good 35, the best we’ve played.”
It has been in the closing moments of games that the Gamecocks have seemed most effective. That certainly was the case this past Saturday as reserve guard Jacobi Wright made a fadeaway jump shot over the outstretched arms of 7-foot-5 center Connor Vanover to score a 71-69 win in overtime.
Wright finished with 11 points, but transfers Meechie Johnson and B.J. Mack have proved the biggest difference-makers for the Gamecocks. Johnson, who transferred from Ohio State last year, leads South Carolina and is sixth in the SEC with a 17.1 points per game scoring average. But it is Mack, a 6-8, 260-pound forward grad transfer from Wofford, who has made the Gamecocks so much harder to handle. He’ll present a match-up problem for the Bulldogs, who have size but are much more lithesome inside with the exception of 7-foot, 280-pound center Russel Tchewa.
Georgia is 2-0 on the road this season, with wins against Florida State and Missouri. On the other side of South Carolina awaits Kentucky at Rupp. The Wildcats (12-3, 2-1) were ranked No. 6 before falling to Texas A&M in College Station this past weekend.
As ever, the SEC road is rough. Stealing one from the Gamecocks at Colonial Life Arena, where Georgia has lost seven straight and hasn’t won since 2016 could be huge.
“What we take from that loss is we can be in those kind of games,” freshman guard Silas Demary said. “We believe in ourselves. We practice hard every day. I feel like if we can learn to execute better down the stretch and learn how to not get comfortable at times, we can complete games.”
Said White: “It’s a long process. We’ve got to flush (the loss to Tennessee) because the next one will be equally as difficult. But it’s a great opportunity as well. This is the SEC.”
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