Georgia competes, can't close upset attempt against Tennessee
ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia Basketball did more than hold its own on Saturday against No. 5 Tennessee, but the Bulldogs couldn’t quite pull out the upset over the Volunteers.
Leading with 2:00 to go, Georgia head coach Mike White was forced to watch as potential SEC Player of the Year Dalton Knecht took over to lead Tennessee to the 85-79 win, scoring seven of the game’s last 10 points.
Knecht led all scorers in the game with 36, one of three Tennessee players to hit double-digits. He was joined by Zakai Zeigler (18) and Jonas Aidoo (10). Meanwhile, Jabri Abdur-Rahim led the way for Georgia with 21, joined in double figures by Noah Thomasson (14), Silas Demary (13) and RJ Melendez (13).
How It Happened…
The Bulldogs held their won in the first half, trailing by just five when they entered the locker room. That came thanks in part to 10 forced turnovers and a strong showing from RJ Melendez off the bench. He was the only Georgia player to make multiple shots from the field including two from 3-point range. Melendez entered the locker room already in double figures with 11 points.
On the flip side of things, Tennessee had one of the best first halves of a UGA opponent this season, making six 3-pointers on 44.4% shooting from the field. Knecht led the way for the Vols with 16 before the break. That contributed in large part to a 42-37 UT lead.
Georgia couldn’t have asked for a better start to the second half than the one it got as the team’s two leading scorers on the season hit consecutive 3-pointers. The first fell for Jabri Abdur-Rahim and was followed by one from Noah Thomasson, giving UGA the lead and prompting a Tennessee timeout less than a minute in. Including the 9-0 run to end the first half, the makes from deep made it 13 straight points for the Bulldogs.
Things kept trending in the right direction as Georgia had Tennessee doubled up for the second half by the under-12 media timeout. The stretch included five straight points from Abdur-Rahim after a flagrant foul as he made both free throws and a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession. After a Silas Demary dunk made it 61-54, the Bulldogs had scored eight of the last nine and 24 of the second half’s 36.
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Georgia extended its lead to as many as 11 by the next break in action with Demary and Thomasson each hitting clutch shots while helping on the defensive end as well.
Tennessee inched back in with six straight points, cutting its deficit to five before a Blue Cain 3-pointer with just over 5:00 to go in the game, his third.
A 6-0 Tennessee got got the Vols to within two with under 3:00 to go before Knecht tied it at 78 on a pair of free throws. Then, after UGA re-took the lead on a Demary free throw with 2:07 to go, Knecht nailed a 3-pointer that put the Vols back on top for good. Georgia went the final 5:02 without a made field goal, ultimately allowing Tennessee to go from down eight to up six in the end with a 15-1 run.
After two straight games at home, Georgia goes on the road twice next week with trips to Columbia, S.C. and Lexington, Kent. to take on the Gamecocks and Wildcats. Tip time against South Carolina on Tuesday is set for 9:00 p.m. ET on ESPNU, while Saturday’s showdown with Kentucky is set for 6:00 p.m. ET on the SEC Network.
