Georgia Bulldogs vs. South Carolina: Quarterfinal Revenge
The Georgia Bulldogs are scheduled to face the South Carolina Gamecocks in the final game of today’s 2015 SEC Tournament Quarterfinals. Georgia will be looking for revenge!
A team in any tournament gets that coveted double-bye, and then later often wonders whether that was a good thing or not. Let’s face it, the team coming to you is hot, and you’ve been essentially sitting.
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Dawn of the Dawg
That’s what the Georgia Bulldogs will face tonight as the South Carolina Gamecocks, fresh off a win over the Ole Miss Rebels, will stroll onto the court at Bridgestone Arena and look to do the same thing they’ve done to the Bulldogs already twice in the regular season.
That’s right. If you’re a Georgia Bulldog fan, you already painfully know that South Carolina swept the Bulldogs this season.
They did it in Columbia back on January 31st, and won by 17 (67-50), and if that didn’t sting enough, the Gamecocks bullied the Bulldogs again on February 17th in Athens to the tune of 64-58.
The sweep was painful, but when you consider the way that South Carolina won their game with Ole Miss last night, in a last second, barn-burner, hiccup of a foul situation, then you know they’ll be quite pumped to play Georgia again.
Of course you also know there’s a flip-side to that coin! Georgia may have been sitting, but they’re sitting, waiting, brooding, and thinking in a quite focused manner about those two losses to the Gamecocks.
Underneath that restive contemplation is a burning desire to avenge the regular season sweep! Can the Bulldogs get it done?
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The Dawgs certainly ought to have the drive and desire. This is the first time in four years that the Georgia Bulldogs have had a berth in the NCAA Tournament, but the mentality of this team is not to look ahead, but to look only at the game in front of you.
Alright, everyone says that. Let’s move on and look at some things the Georgia Bulldogs need to do to get that revenge they seek.
Three Keys To Bulldog Revenge
Key #1: South Carolina hasn’t exactly impressed anyone on the offensive side of the court, but then these have been relatively low-scoring, tight affairs throughout the SEC Tournament so far.
Defensively though, the Gamecocks are playing as a fairly well-oiled unit, limiting opponents in their last three games to just less than 54 ppg. Missouri only scored 54 against them in the first round, and Ole Miss only 58 last night.
It will be important for the Georgia Bulldogs to move the ball around effectively, patiently looking for good, high% shots, keeping an eye out for switches, weak points, and taking advantage of mismatches when they come.
Key #2: It’s all about healthy players! The Bulldogs were able to pull out a victory against the Auburn Tigers in their final, regular season game. They did that without the benefit of Kenny Gaines, Georgia’s leading scorer.
Juwan Parker is also dinged up with an Achilles problem. He missed nearly a dozen games with the injury, and saw limited play against Auburn. Hopefully both Gaines and Parker will be as fully healthy as possible and able to contribute tonight. That will be key against a tough Gamecock defense!
Key #3: Play a little defense as well! As I said, South Carolina hasn’t exactly killed it on offense, but they have some weapons. First among them is forward Michael Carrera. Carrera has put up double-digit scores in the Gamecock’s last four games.
While that’s not exactly normal for Carrera, he’s clearly hot, pumped, and Georgia will need to shut him down as South Carolina will be hoping for more of the same from him.
Conclusion
Georgia has the chops to pull off revenge of the earlier South Carolina sweep, but they’ll need to quickly send a message to the pumped up Gamecocks that this game won’t be business as usual for them.
Don’t let it being Friday the 13th get into your collective unconscious!
Game Info and Prediction
- Date: Friday, March 13, 2015
- Tip Off: Approx. 9:30 PM EST
- Location: Nashville, TN.
- Arena: Bridgestone Arena
- Broadcast: SEC Network
- Updated SEC Tournament Bracket
My Prediction?
This won’t be an easy game for either team, but I think Georgia is fresher, focused, and despite South Carolina’s adrenaline, Georgia wins and advances with a 63-58 score.