Georgia Bulldogs sink Vanderbilt Commodores

Traditionally, Vanderbilt is a basketball contender in the SEC. In the past, they’ve won the SEC three times, been to thirteen NCAA tournaments, and been to the sweet sixteen six times. Georgia can’t boast to be better than any of those records. However, in 2015? Georgia is the superior team, and Vanderbilt struggled to find shots all night on the way to a 70-62 Georgia victory.

The game was really a match of hot and cold runs for both teams. The Commodores and the Dawgs both only had 5 points each in the first four and half minutes of the game. It was frustrating to watch them clank iron early, thinking that neither team would be able to find a stroke. Then in the next five minutes, they exploded with a combined 26 points. It was as if somebody suddenly turned on the light switch in Stegeman, and battle was joined.

Georgia led by four points at the half, but the game was very much in doubt. The first half was a see-saw affair that saw several lead changes leading up to the closing buzzer, but the second half saw Georgia really pull away thanks to Marcus Thornton and Nemanja Djurisic. Both of those Georgia forwards combined for 29 points total, 15 rebounds, and 3 blocks. It was a huge performance from the big men on a team that’s really been dominated by guard play of late.

But really, Georgia didn’t have to do much to beat a Vanderbilt team that couldn’t sink a bucket late with any regularity. Vanderbilt shot 36% from the field, while Georgia managed a respectable 44% and 53% from three-point land. Why wasn’t the game a bigger blowout then? Because Georgia kept turning the ball over 16 times to 7 by Vanderbilt. In the normal course of business, that could be a big problem for the Dawgs. But not on a night when the opposing team was frosty from the floor.

So the Dawgs manage another victory and extend their winning streak to five games. Next up, they take on South Carolina on Saturday in Columbia. It’s the last bad team the Dawgs will face before they take on the undefeated Kentucky juggernaut. Stay tuned to hopefully extend the winning streak to six!