Georgia Bulldogs escape with ugly road win over Kansas State

Pretty was not the best adjective to describe the team’s performance, but the Georgia Bulldogs escaped with a quality road win over the Kansas State Wildcats on New Year’s eve. Mark Fox’s club struggled to score for the duration of the afternoon tilt, but the defense held strong in a 50-46 victory.

Veteran guard Charles Mann was the lone offensive bright spot, scoring 17 points on 5 for 7 shooting, but as a team, the numbers were brutal. Georgia shot just 38.5% from the field and the Dawgs issued 17 turnovers, but the play of Mann and an impressive defensive effort held the key to a win.

Kansas State was equally inept offensively, making just 31.9% of their shot attempts, and that was enough to sink the Wildcats despite a sizable advantage on the boards (39-26). KSU was even worse from beyond the arc, converting just 1 of 14 attempts, and they were incapable of protecting the ball, giving possession away on 19 occasions.

For Mark Fox and his club, this was simply a “taking care of business” win, but those are vital in major conference hoops. The Georgia Bulldogs were seen as a small underdog given the road venue in Lawrence, but this automatically becomes one of UGA’s best wins of the non-conference slate, and that is a big momentum boost with SEC play beginning after the first of the year.