Georgia Bulldogs Football Forum Message Board and Blog > Sports > Georgia Bulldog Basketball > Georgia Bulldogs Defeat Florida Gators, 78-76 |
Georgia Bulldogs Football Forum Message Board and Blog > Sports > Georgia Bulldog Basketball > Georgia Bulldogs Defeat Florida Gators, 78-76 |
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Bonjax Administrator
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ATHENS, Ga.----- The Georgia Bulldogs men’s basketball team hung on to defeat the visiting Florida Gators 78-76 on Saturday, in front of a packed Stegeman Coliseum with 9,262 raucous Bulldog fans. The win lifts the Bulldogs’ season mark to 13-14, with a 5-9 Southeastern Conference standing. All five of Georgia’s SEC wins have come at Stegeman Coliseum, a statistic nearly rendered irrelevant on Thursday as Georgia narrowly fell to 16th ranked Vanderbilt 96-94 in overtime from Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville, Tenn. Florida’s loss drops their record to 20-9 with a 9-5 SEC mark. The win marks just the second time in the last 14 meetings between these two teams that has seen the Bulldogs come out victorious, with the last coming last season in Athens by a score of 88-86. “That was a hard fought SEC game,” said Georgia head coach Mark Fox. “We beat an excellent basketball team who coming into today was playing as well if not better than anybody in the league. They made a hard charge in the second half and we were fortunate to have a big cushion because they came at us really strong. We feel fortunate to win and we are going to enjoy it.” Leading Georgia’s offensive charge tonight was sophomore forward Trey Thompkins, who scored 20 points. Thompkins’s contributions were not limited to the offensive output however, as he grabbed seven rebounds and doled out five assists. Junior forward Jeremy Price added 13 points and five rebounds off of the bench, while starting sophomore guards Travis Leslie and Dustin Ware contributed with 12 and 10 points, respectively. Senior guard Ricky McPhee was limited to just three points, but made his contribution felt with four rebounds and a team-high six assists. Redshirt freshman guard Ebuka Anyaorah and freshman guard Demario Mayfield each had career-highs with nine and five points, respectively. “Our bench has been criticized and I have been one of the guys criticizing it”, said Fox. “I told them after the game that they really helped us. I told them at the half, with Ricky [McPhee] and Travis [Leslie] both with two fouls that it was important they contribute. Demario Mayfield has patiently worked and waited his turn and he gave us a big boost in the first half. Ebuka [Anyaorah] made some nice plays. Drazen [Zlovaric] gave us some minutes. Vincent [Williams] is growing steadily and took a big charge at one point in the game. Our bench really helped us tonight and they should be credited for that.” Georgia certainly needed all of its bench’s contributions tonight, as the Bulldogs, who held a 45-30 halftime lead, were outscored 46-33 in the second half and nearly sacrificed what looked like a controlling lead. Georgia held a 15 point lead with 9:45 remaining in the game, but Florida junior forward Chandler Parsons paced a Gator comeback on his way to scoring a game-high 29 points. Florida cut the deficit to two points with 5:46 but Georgia managed to fend off every Gator charge en route to victory. Florida found themselves down by the final score of 78-76 with 14 seconds remaining, but could not find a suitable look amind Georgia’s staunch closing defense as Bulldog senior center Albert Jackson swatted a Florida pass out of bounds which sealed the game for the home team. “I told the team that it’s important to be tough enough to come back and pick yourself up when you’re down”, said Fox. “Getting close is not what we came here to do. As hard as we competed at Vanderbilt, we didn’t get the job done and it is our responsibility to play a little bit better. I think our players are starting to expect to win and believe that they are a lot better than maybe people expected them to be.” Next up for Georgia are the number two nationally ranked Kentucky Wildcats, who visit Stegeman Coliseum for the 2009-2010 season’s home finale on Wednesday, March 3rd. The game tips at 8 PM EST and all the action can be seen on the SEC network, as well as heard on the Georgia Bulldogs Radio Network.
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| Georgia Bulldogs Football Forum Message Board and Blog > Sports > Georgia Bulldog Basketball > Georgia Bulldogs Defeat Florida Gators, 78-76 | |
