Frazier ignites rally to snap 3-game skid

Senior fires in 29 points as Bulldogs pull out key win.

With Yante Maten in foul trouble, Georgia basketball needed someone to step up. And of course it was the senior, J.J. Frazier, who snapped the Bulldogs’ three-game losing streak.

Frazier finished with a season-high 29 points, including 20 in the second half, to snap the Bulldogs’ SEC woes for a 76-75 road win over Tennessee. The Bulldogs’ past three losses had come against ranked teams — Kentucky, South Carolina and Florida. The win also snaps a fivegame losing streak against SEC foes.

Georgia moves to 14-11 (5-7 SEC) while Tennessee goes to 14-11 (6-6) on the season. The Bulldogs are now tied with Vanderbilt and Texas A&M in the SEC standings.

The Bulldogs trailed 36-34 at halftime. In an effort to change things, Mark Fox went with a starting lineup of Frazier, Tyree Crump, Derek Ogbeide, Mike Edwards and Maten. The start for Crump was the first for the freshman guard.

Tennessee’s Grant Williams helped the Volunteers jump to a big lead to open the second half. The freshman got Maten to pick up two quick fouls, leaving him with four at the 16:25 mark.

The Volunteers began the half on a 13-2 run and at one point held a 53-39 lead. Williams finished with a gamehigh 30 points.

But Frazier began to chip away at the lead. Whether with his sharpshooting and his playmaking, the senior guard rallied the Bulldogs to tie the score at 58-58 thanks to a 19-5 run.

After sitting out for more than 10 minutes, Maten returned only to foul out. But as Frazier had done all game, he saved the Bulldogs. After a free throw, he made a high-arcing floater to give Georgia its first lead of the second half with 4:09 to play.

The Bulldogs used a 10-2 run down the stretch to take a 70-64 lead with 2:26 remaining.

After a Tennessee 3-pointer cut the lead to 73-71, Frazier danced his way to the basket and made a layup to give Georgia a 76-71 lead.

It proved to be the winning basket.

Player of the game: Last year Frazier had 28 points against the Volunteers. This time he finished with a season-high 29 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists. And he did it all with just seven points and 17 minutes from Maten. Frazier played 39 minutes in the game.

Crump proved to be a huge lift, as he added an SEC-high 13 points, including three 3-pointers. Juwan Parker added 11 points off the bench.

Stat line of the game: The Bulldogs normally are not a great offensive team, but Georgia made 52 percent of its shots. Frazier, who hasn’t been super efficient during Georgia’s recent skid, made 11 of 19 field-goal attempts.

Tennessee shot just 42 percent from the floor.

Turning point: With the Bulldogs down 62-60, Georgia went on a 10-2 run and turned around the game, thanks to a Frazier free throw and bucket, an Edwards basket, two free throws from Crump and then Crump’s 3-pointer.

The Bulldogs were up 70-64 after the run and never relinquished the lead.