Georgia Basketball: Maten and Frazier Drag Dawgs into SEC Tourney Semis (Video)
The Georgia basketball team beat an inspired South Carolina squad 74-63 to claim a spot in the SEC Tournament semi-finals for the second consecutive year.
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In the blink of an eye, Marcus Thornton Kenny Gaines and Charles Mann all went to the Georgia sideline. Certainly it was curtains for Coach Mark Fox’s Bulldogs.
Instead of the curtain falling on the Bulldog’s SEC Tourney appearance, the curtain raised on a Georgia Glory Glory story.
Yante Maten scored six of his 13 points in the last five minutes and J. J. Frazier made the games two biggest offensive plays for five points, one after creating a steal and one an NBA catch and shoot with the shot clock winding down.
Maten also claimed 10 rebounds to go with his 13 points for the double double. Frazier finished sixth nine points.
The Dawgs overcame 75 percent three point shooting by South Carolina with a 79% shooting effort from the free throw line and a seven rebound advantage. Georgia ended the game on an 11-2 run, including four of four on free throws, two each by Mann and Djurisic..
Thornton left the game with 15 points and 8 rebounds. Gaines and Mann exemplified the team’s grit, returning from the bench despite being hobbled by injury to engineer the win. Mann scored 12 points and Gaines 9. Nemi Djurisic scored 11.
While the bottom seeds came alive and provided drama, only Auburn was able to displace one of the top four seeds in the semi-finals. Georgia faces Arkansas tomorrow afternoon in one semi-final match up. Arkansas defeated Tennessee to earn its place in the semi-finals.
In the opposite bracket, Auburn will challenge the unbeaten Kentucky Wildcats for a Cinderella trip to the SEC Tourney finals. Auburn defeated LSU for the privilege of stepping in the ring with the Wildcats.
Kenny Gaines availability for the semi-final game is unknown at this time.