Georgia Basketball Beats Ole Miss to Complete Tasks of Redemption

The Georgia basketball squad beat Ole Miss in Oxford, sweeping the last two seasons and all but guaranteeing an NCAA Tournament invitation. How sweet it is.

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Senior Marcus Thornton picked up a sagging Georgia basketball team and dragged it to a 76-72 road win over Ole Miss.  The  Professor’s clutch effort and Bulldog win sets up an NCAA clinching opportunity Saturday.

With Georgia leading 60-58 and withering in the face of an Ole Miss comeback, Thornton scored ten of his 18 points in the final four minutes to give Georgia the win.  Kenny Gaines scored 22 in his most consistent effort of the season while defending the Rebels one on one ace Stefan Moody.

The win is Georgia’s fourth consecutive over the Rebels.

The Dawgs out shot the Rebels from behind the arc 47% to 20% and stepped to the free throw line to win the game, shooting 79 percent to the Rebels 74 percent.

With this year’s five SEC road wins and last year’s four SEC road wins, the Dawgs are a lock to the be .500 on the road in the SEC across the last two season. And with a road rematch with a weak Auburn team the season finale, the Bulldogs are on track to win 20 regular season games this year and 20 games in consecutive seasons.

Georgia did not play a flawless game to get this win. All three of Georgia’s regular post players competed in foul trouble the entire night. The Alabama game hero, Cameron Forte, stayed frustrated around the basket scoring only four points on six attempts and Yante Maten scored only two points and claimed only three rebounds. But Gaines, Thornton and Nemi Djurisc – 17 points – and Charles Mann – 10 points – stepped into the breech to score the needed points for the Dawgs . Djurisic also added six rebounds and Mann played his most complete conference game, adding five assists.

This game completes Georgia’s tasks of redemption demanded by the NCAA Destinies for the two bad home losses to Auburn and South Carolina. The next Georgia win will lock down an NCAA berth and, with a poor Missouri team coming into Athens on Saturday, expect the Dawgs to rock and roll to win 19 and finally, at last, get a date to the Big Dance.