Georgia Bulldogs chomp Florida Gators, 73-61

The Georgia Bulldogs got a big win at Stegeman Coliseum on Saturday afternoon, defeating the Florida Gators by a final of 73-61. Mark Fox’s team ended Florida’s 24-game SEC winning streak as the Bulldogs improve to 2-2 in conference play and 11-5 overall on the season.

The Bulldogs got off to a fast start against Florida opening up the game with a 12-0 run. Georgia hit their first seven shots from the floor and was firmly in control early on and led by as many as 15 points. The Gators used full court pressure to claw back into the game as Georgia took a 36-31 advantage into halftime. Forward Marcus Thornton led the Dawgs with 10 points and 5 rebounds before the intermission.

Georgia got the ball rolling again in the second half early on by forcing the Gators into 4 turnovers on their first 6 possessions after halftime. They continued that pressure all game collecting 11 steals from Florida and forcing a season high 19 turnovers for Billy Donovan’s team. The Dawgs had good afternoon shooting the ball as they were 56% from the floor and  a sharp 53% from behind the arc.

The Georgia Bulldogs had four players to score in double figures, led by guard Kenny Gaines and Marcus Thornton who both had 16 points. Gaines was hot from outside, shooting 4 of 5 from 3 point range.  Georgia also got a efficient game from guard JJ Frazier as he had 11 points and 5 assist.

Florida was led by forwards Devin Robinson and Dorian Finny-Smith who each had 11 points. The Gators are usually a good 3-point shooting team, but they finished the day at only 5 of 16 today from outside.  The Bulldogs also turned 19 Florida personal fouls into 29 free throw attempts, which was double chances the Gators had from the charity stripe.

Next up for the Georgia Bulldogs is a home game against the University of Mississippi at Stegeman Coliseum at 7:00 pm on January 20. Stay tuned.