Georgia Bulldogs sunk by Vanderbilt Commodores, 80-67
By John Buhler
The Georgia Bulldogs continue to struggle away from Stegeman Coliseum, as the Dawgs drop another road SEC game this time to Vanderbilt Commodores in Nashville, 80-67.
The Georgia Bulldogs dropped both of their SEC games this week by falling on the road in Nashville to an NCAA Tournament hopeful team in the Vanderbilt Commodores, 80-67. Georgia has had a tremendously difficult time winning on the road this season, as they were unable to knock down the ‘Dores on an early Saturday afternoon tipoff.
With that road loss, it probably knocks the Georgia Bulldogs even out of any sort of NCAA Tournament consideration for ESPN’s Joe Lunardi and his Bracketology staff. Since UGA is now 14-11 on the year and 7-7 in SEC play, the Georgia Bulldogs will certainly have to win the SEC Tournament to even dream about getting back to the Big Dance at this point.
As probably expected, the Dawgs came out flat in the first half being that it was an 11:00 AM local start time in Nashville. Georgia was only able to generate 28 first half points, entering halftime down 37-28.
Georgia would battle back in the second half, being only outscored by Vanderbilt 43-39 after halftime. However, another poor shooting nigh from the field and the free throw line ultimately did the Dawgs in. While UGA shot 44.4% from beyond the arc, the Georgia Bulldogs only shot 38.1% from the field and 55.0% at the charity stripe against Vanderbilt.
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Leading the way for the Georgia Bulldogs in scoring was junior guard J.J. Frazier who had 21 points on 7-13 shooting, including a strong 4-7 from the outside. While he was only 3-5 at the line, Frazier carried the UGA offense with three assists, a rebound, and a steal in their losing effort to Vanderbilt.
Yante Maten had a double-double for Georgia in the Dawgs’ defeat. He had 19 points, 10 rebounds, and a steal in what was a tough battle down low with Vanderbilt’s Damian Jones and Luke Kornet. Maten only shot 7-21 from the field, but was 4-6 at the free throw line.
Derek Ogbeide was the only other Dawg in double figures scoring. He continues to progress as a true freshman coming off an early season shoulder injury. Ogbeide had 11 points on 5-9 shooting, four rebounds, and three blocks. He’s becoming a strong low-post player for Mark Fox that can star alongside Yante Maten in 2016-17 as a true sophomore.
Next: Georgia Bulldogs come up short vs. Florida, 57-53
Georgia will look to hopefully stop the road woes when they take on Auburn down on The Plains Wednesday night. Tipoff for that rivalry game is at 7:00 PM ET and the SEC Network will carry that game.