Georgia upsets No. 3 Florida following wild finish, shakes up NCAA Tournament picture

In a year replete with top-five upsets we have another one on Tuesday night, as Georgia used the home floor to beat up rival No. 3 Florida 88-83.

The Bulldogs wasted little time jumping all over the Gators, building as much as a 26-point lead in the first half. Then they watched it all disappear before taking charge once more in the final minute.

Guard Silas Demary helped lead the charge, on fire from the perimeter in the early going. He teamed with Tyrin Lawrence and Asa Newell to help Georgia go 10-for-18 from 3-point range.

From there, it was just a matter of hanging on. And despite a heroic effort from Florida guard Will Richard (30 points), the Gators couldn’t make the clutch play after coming all the way back and overturning the deficit.

A 12-0 Florida run late in the second half helped overturn the rest of the deficit after the Gators had worked through much of the first half and all of the second half to cut into the lead.

Florida took the lead inside the final minute, coming all the way back from 26 points down, before Blue Cain delivered a dagger of a 3-pointer for Georgia to take an 81-80 lead. A couple defensive stops and a few trips to the free throw line and it was over.

For the Bulldogs, it was a well-rounded effort. Five players finished in double figures scoring, led by Demary’s 21. Also breaking the double-digit mark were Newell (15), Lawrence (14), Cain (12) and RJ Godfrey (10).

It was a huge win for coach Mike White and company, and it came with Georgia football coach Kirby Smart in the house.

Georgia has been projected right around the cut line for the NCAA Tournament in many recent bracketology projections; a win over the No. 3 team in the country in a definite Quad 1 game is a huge start.

ESPN’s Joe Lunardi had Georgia moving closer to the NCAA Tournament field with the win. He had Georgia as the third team among his “First Four Out” category, per an SEC Network broadcast.