Georgia basketball topples No. 3 Florida, keeps NCAA Tournament hopes alive
Georgia basketball needed something good to happen in a hurry to save their season. The Bulldogs entered Tuesday night’s matchup with rival Florida needing a win if they wanted any chance at keeping their NCAA Tournament hopes alive, but that was going to be no easy task.
The problem facing Mike White and Georgia was that Florida is the No. 3 team in the country who already beat Georgia earlier this season by 30 points.
UGA entered this game with just four SEC wins, and the Bulldogs have had one glaring problem all season. Georgia has always started games well and most of the time they were still in the game at halftime, but it was the second half adjustments (or lack thereof) that always came back to haunt Georgia. As we all saw, this trend continued Tuesday night.
Georgia hangs on in dramatic fashion
Everything that could go right for Georgia did go right for them in the first half. The Bulldogs shot nearly 70 percent from the field in the first half, and scored a whopping 51 first half points. Georgia had a 26 point lead at one point which Florida did chip away at, but the Bulldogs had a more than solid 51-35 lead at the half.
That lead however slowly went away throughout the second half, with Florida even taking an 80-78 lead with one minute to play. But that is when Blue Cain came to the rescue and knocked down a massive 3-pointer to give Georgia a one point lead, a lead they would not give up for the rest of the game.
An Asa Newell steal on the following possession followed by a few free throws iced the game for Georgia who held on to win 88-83.
What’s next for Georgia?
This win for Georgia will put them squarly on the NCAA Tournament bubble. It’s anybody’s guess if their resume is strong enough to get in as of now or not, but this win put Georgia back in position to have a chance to get into the Big Dance.
Up next for Georgia is a road date with Texas on Saturday who has had a rough season this year as well. The Longhorns are just 16-11 on the season, so this is a game Georgia must win if they want to keep their NCAA Tournament hopes alive. But if UGA plays as well as they did in the first half tonight, then they are capable of beating anyone.
