Georgia’s victories last week gave the team only its second winning streak of SEC play. If the Bulldogs want to extend that streak, they’ll have to win tonight on the road against a top-25 team.
Georgia (19-8, 7-7 SEC) will play at No. 25 Vanderbilt (21-6, 8-6 SEC) in a 7 p.m. ET game that will be televised by SEC Network. The Bulldogs are fresh off a 91-80 victory over Texas. Vanderbilt, meanwhile, hopes to turn the page after a 69-65 loss to Tennessee.
The Bulldogs returned home on Saturday off a huge win at Kentucky, and they did not disappoint.
Georgia came out firing against a red-hot Texas team, and by the first half’s end the Bulldogs had shot just short of 60% from the field and built a 10-point lead. The Longhorns fought their way back with just under eight minutes to go, but crucial plays by Justin Abson, Blue Cain, and Kanon Catchings sealed the Georgia victory.
Jeremiah Wilkinson scored 19 points off the bench for the second straight game, and Smurf Millender put up 15. Five Bulldogs — Wilkinson, Millender, Catchings (13), Somto Cyril (13), and Blue Cain (12) — ended the afternoon in double figures.
“I just thought we played really hard early, and we were able to sustain it offensively,” Georgia coach Mike White said after the win. “They made plays, tied the game. We responded in a big, big way. Just did enough defensively, but that said, they’re really tough to defend. They draw fouls. They scored from mid-range as well as most teams in the country along with Ole Miss and a couple other teams in our league.”
Georgia’s offense was again powered by Wilkinson and Millender, who have thrived despite Wilkinson no longer starting and Millender being elevated from the bench. The guards shot the ball with confidence from 3, especially early in the game. The duo went 5-of-7 from 3-point range in the first half and was responsible for all but two of the team’s makes from deep during that stretch.
Neither player put up as many 3’s in the second half, but they still wound up shooting 60% from 3-point range.
“We have a lot of guys who can go, and we know how well we shoot the ball. We watch all the reps that our teammates put in. I watch all the reps that everybody puts in. It just comes out of taking the ones we want,” Wilkinson said. “I feel like if we’re taking the 3’s that we want, taking the shots that we want, they’re going to go in. We have a bunch of guys who can shoot the ball really well. Today we all took the shots that we wanted, and we ended up going over 50% from 3 on the game.”
Wilkinson and Millender will have to deliver similar shooting success on the road in order for the Bulldogs to beat the Commodores.
Vanderbilt has fared well in Mark Byington‘s second season as head coach, though the Commodores enter this game on a two-game losing streak. The ‘Dores are among the SEC’s very best in several statistical categories. They are fourth in scoring defense (73.7), fifth in scoring offense (87.2), fourth in field goal percentage (48.0%), fourth in opponent field goal percentage (41.6%), 1st in opponent 3-point percentage (30.2%), fourth in 3-point percentage (36.2%), third in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.71), and fourth in blocked shots (5.11).
Tyler Tanner (18.5 ppg, 47.4 FG%, 141 ast.) enters the game as the fifth-leading scorer in the SEC. Other notable Commodores include Duke Miles (16.4 ppg, 43.8 FG%, 52 stl.), Tyler Nickel (14.3 ppg, 47.8 FG%, 42.9 3PT%), Devin McGlockton (10.3 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 55.8 FG%), and AK Okereke (9.3 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 51.6 FG%).
Georgia strengthened its resume last week as it tries to make the NCAA Tournament in back-to-back years for the first time since 2001-02. Tonight’s game is the best resume booster left on the schedule, but winning means beating a dangerous Commodores team on its home floor.