Georgia rallied from a 10-point deficit midway in the second half to defeat South Carolina 65-61 on Saturday afternoon in Athens. “It was a terrific win for our players,” described Georgia head coach Mark Fox. “We beat a very good basketball team. We beat a well-coached team.
“We had to play our tails off to (win).”
Following a Devan Downey miss, the Dawgs finally took the lead for good on two foul shots by Jeremy Price with 1:09 remaining. South Carolina misfired on several possessions down the stretch, beginning with a Sam Muldrow lay-in at 3:46 and ending when the game was already out of reach on a last second lay-up by Brandis Raley-Ross with two seconds remaining.
By that time, the Dawgs held the 66-61 lead that would be the final score.
Georgia outscored Carolina 13-2 in the final 3:46. The Gamecocks led 59-53 at the start of the Bulldog rally.
“South Carolina helped us, they put us in a hole,” said Fox of the second half deficit. “And maybe what’s pleasing to me is that we just had that look in our eye. Deep downside we had some fight in us and we kept clawing away.”
The Gamecocks suddenly went cold in the final minutes due to a desperate UGA team looking for some defensive stops.
“Our defense stepped up at the end of the game,” explained Trey Thompkins. “We never let ourselves get down if we get down a few points. We just stay positive and keep working.”
The Dawgs were led by Thompkins’ 21 points and 10 rebounds, while Jeremy Price scored a season-high 16 and Travis Leslie added 15.
Price scored five key points in the final 2:09, the first on the three-point play to cut the lead to one and the second on two free throws that gave the Dawgs the lead for good.
“Jeremy Price is a great kid,” said Fox. “He’s a talented player and tonight he was able to sustain some minutes. He didn’t play a perfect game but he finished a lot of plays for us and got some key rebounds and was a big part of the win.”
Both teams shot below average from the three-point line after attempting several. The Gamecocks shot 32 and made just nine while Georgia put up 16 from behind the arc, making only four.
The Dawgs heated up a bit in the second half from the field, making 45.5% of their shots while the Gamecocks were held to just 36.4%.
UGA was a sparkling 20-23 from the free throw line while the Gamecocks shot just six free throws all afternoon, making four.
“We shoot free throws well,” said Fox. “We talked about it before the game. The free throw line had to be to our advantage.”
It was a reasonably well-played game by Georgia, who committed only seven fouls and 10 turnovers in the game. The keys to the game for the Bulldogs were cutting down on turnovers and getting to the free throw line.
Georgia (11-12, 3-7) moves on to face No. 12 Tennessee in Knoxville on Wednesday at 8 p.m.
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