Georgia basketball sparks NCAA tourney hopes with gritty road finish, ends Carolina curse
By Mike Griffith, Dawgnation Staff
ATHENS — Mike White is still working on making Georgia an NCAA tourney team, but the one thing he has accomplished is ending South Carolina’s run on the Bulldogs.
Georgia scored a gritty 74-69 win over the Gamecocks in Columbia on Tuesday night, the teams battling well past 11 o’clock after their 9 p.m. tip.
The teams shot 32 free throws apiece, their marksmanship a key difference in the game with UGA making 25 of its attempts (78.1 percent) while South Carolina made only 17 (53.1 percent).
The Bulldogs improved to 13-4 and 3-1 in SEC play in handing South Carolina its first home loss of the season, while White moved to 2-1 against a program that had curiously beaten UGA 12 of 13 times dating back to the 2016-17 season.
“Huge, our biggest win of the year,” White said. “South Carolina is an NCAA tournament team.”
The question is, is Georgia an NCAA tournament team?
The Bulldogs can take a big step toward reaching that goal if they can somehow pull out yet another road win at Kentucky on Saturday, where they will tip against the No. 8-ranked Wildcats at 6 p.m. in Rupp Arena.
But first, some recognition for the win over the Gamecocks, who CBS Sports tourney expert Joe Lunardi had projected in his NCAA field “bracketology.”
Granted, South Carolina was merely projected as a fringe team, a No. 8 seed with a KenPom.com ranking of 64 while UGA entered ranked 74th.
But a win like this builds more confidence for this group of Bulldogs, who failed to close out a home game against SEC heavyweight Tennessee on Saturday.
White and his players lamented that missed opportunity, and many wondered how Georgia would respond on the road against a program that had beaten them seven times in a row in Colonial Life Arena.
The Gamecocks were up by 9 points at 48-39 with 14:05 left, and things weren’t looking good for Georgia.
That’s when senior Justin Hill heated up, sparking a decisive 19-3 run with a 6-0 run of his own.
South Carolina wasn’t done, it’s wild Tuesday night home crowd cheering the Gamecocks on as they closed back to within 68-64 with 1:23 left.
The game had reached the micro-management stage: timeouts after baskets, officials reviewing seemingly every loose ball, with very bump and box out scrutinized.
White knows better than anyone a knock had been how his teams closed out games at Florida and early in his Georgia tenure.
But this UGA team does indeed appear to be built different, and the proof was in the clutch play down the stretch:
• Justin Hill struck again with a fadeaway jumper with 42.1 seconds left as the shot clock expired, extending the lead to 70-64
• Illinois transfer RJ Melendez calmly sank two free throws with 17 seconds left to make it 72-67 after a South Carolina 3 cut the lead to three
• Silas Demary Jr. blocked a 3-point attempt and then nailed two more free throws with 11.6 seconds left to seal the game and match his career-high with 15 points in the game
“After that Tennessee loss, we went back to the drawing board, we want to be built off rock, not sand,” said Demary Jr., a fearless freshman and one of the league’s fast-rising stars.
“We’re one of the teams in the SEC to be reckoned with.”
Georgia started last season under White 3-1 in league play, but this team could have staying power. It has already become the first UGA team in nine years to win three consecutive SEC road games.
The Bulldogs were a 7-point underdog at South Carolina, but their odds may be shifting.
Georgia moved up to No. 67 in the KenPom.com computer rankings with the win over the Gamecocks, which could put them on the fringe for NCAA tourney consideration if the season were to end today.
Alas, it does not, and there is much more basketball to be played.
But also, much momentum as the Bulldogs head to Kentucky to face the SEC’s traditional gold standard.
