Bulldogs upset No. 18 Vols
Georgia 73, No. 18 Tennessee 62
ATHENS — Tennessee coach Rick Barnes says the homestretch of the regular season is a time to either improve or lose ground.
Barnes said Georgia is improving. He wasn’t as generous in his appraisal of his Volunteers. Yante Maten scored 19 points and Georgia held off No. 18 Tennessee for a 73-62 victory Saturday night that denied the Volunteers an opportunity to pull within a game of the SEC lead.
“This time of year, if you’re not getting better, you’re getting worse,” Barnes said. “Georgia is better than they were two weeks ago. The question is are we going to get better?”
Derek Ogbeide had 16 points and 11 rebounds and Georgia (15-11, 6-8 Southeastern Conference) won its second straight in a late attempt to return to NCAA Tournament consideration.
Tennessee (19-7, 9-5) remained two games behind No. 10 Auburn, the SEC leader, which lost to South Carolina 8475 on Saturday. The Vols, who have lost two of their last three, were outrebounded 40-33.
“We were just out-toughed,” said Admiral Schofield, who had 11 points. “We went out there and competed tonight, but when it mattered, we weren’t there.”
Lamonte Turner led Tennessee with 14 points. Jordan Bowden had 13.
Georgia had been considered an NCAA bubble team before losing six of seven games, prompting coach Mark Fox to say some players had lost confidence. The Bulldogs still have more ground to make up in their final four regular season games, including a visit to Tennessee on March 3, but confidence should be restored following wins over Florida and Tennessee this week.
“This league is a monster,” Fox said. “You’re going to have ups and downs and we had a couple of games where we didn’t play well. They stuck together and just kept trying to get better and play the right way.”