Real Dawgs Win

BASKETBALL

The Georgia men’s basketball team started its Saturday matinee on an 11-2 clip and never looked back in an 86-64 win over Mississippi State inside Stegeman Coliseum.

Georgia got balanced scoring in 17 points apiece from Travis Leslie and Gerald Robinson, 15 from Trey Thompkins, and 11 from Jeremy Price. MSU guard Dee Bost led all scorers with 20 points, but the most telling stat of the game was rebounding, as Georgia more than doubled up the other Bulldogs, 48-23, on the glass.

Georgia improves to 14-4 (3-2 SEC) and Mississippi State falls to 10-8 (2-2). Today was Georgia’s sixth outing scoring 80 or more points this season, and their second-highest output of the season behind last week’s 98 scored on Ole Miss.

“I’m certainly happy to win and am pleased with the end results today,” said head coach Mark Fox. “We didn’t show any tape of the last game against Tennessee, we just moved onto this one and were fortunate to play well and get the win.”

“I think we are a pretty efficient offensive team. I think everyone on our starting five has had at least 20 points or more at some point this season. One of the things that was important to us is to have balance. Thompkins and Price needed to make some shots to start league play because they have been so surrounded. Gerald, Dustin Ware and Sherrard Brantley have shot the three well, especially today. We have had some threes open up because our inside play was so effective in December. January has opened up some three point shooting and fortunately for us, those kids have made some.”

The host Dawgs got out to its 11-2 run early on, capped by a three for Ware with 17:09 on the clock in the first half. That set the tone as Georgia was 6-of-10 from long range in the opening period, including a trey from Brantley that put UGA up by 16, 24-8, with 12:31 left.

Georgia continued to stay hot from three, as Ware sank another one with 4:25 to play in the first to give the Dawgs their largest lead of the half at 19, 38-19. Following a lay-up for Bost that brought MSU to within 11, Robinson ended the period with a lay-up that gave Georgia a 13-point lead, 42-29, at the break.

A 7-0 run for the red and black Dawgs put Georgia in front by 21, 59-38, with 12:49 remaining on a Robinson lay-up, and after Bost hit a three with 11:21 on the clock Georgia scored the next five points to make it another 21-point advantage.

Back-to-back threes from Ware and Marcus Thornton made it 25, 70-45, with 8:26 left.

The closest Mississippi State would get from there on out would be 16, at 76-60, with 4:52 to play as Renardo Sidney was good from the free throw line, and Georgia pushed it back to a 20-point margin when and kept it there as Leslie hit a late lay-up through the lane in traffic and Barnes made one from the stripe with 1:33 to go to cap it at 22, where it remained.

Georgia ended shooting 11-of-19 from beyond the arc for a 58 percent shooting day there. The Dawgs shot 49 percent overall.

Georgia brought itself closer in the all-time series vs. MSU, now 50-52 vs. the maroon Bulldogs.

The Dawgs today continued their three-game home-stand, which will end Tuesday night as Florida makes the trip to Stegeman for a 7 p.m. tip on ESPN.