Georgia basketball: What went right and wrong in the Bulldogs’ dramatic win over Vanderbilt
Georgia basketball stunned Vanderbilt on the road Saturday night. Tyree Crump drained a three-pointer at the buzzer to defeat the Commodores 80-78.
The Bulldogs were beaten Saturday night. The trip to Vanderbilt was a disaster and Georgia basketball was on its way back to Athens with a gut punch of a loss to Vanderbilt.
Then, the clock dwindled down to the final 20 seconds and Georgia (14-13, 4-10 SEC) battled back from 78-73 deficit. Vanderbilt (9-18, 1-13 SEC) helped by missing all its free throws, but freshman Sahvir Wheeler made them pay by sinking a layup and a pair of free throws.
The Commodores missed another pair of free throws with five seconds left and tried to keep the ball away from Georgia. Tyree Crump scooped it up, sprinted the floor and sunk a straight-away three-pointer at the buzzer to complete the comeback. Georgia left Nashville with an 80-78 victory, its first pair of back-to-back SEC wins this season.
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How was Georgia able to come back? And why were the Dawgs losing to the lowly Commodores in the first place? What exactly went right and wrong for Georgia to defeat the Commodores?
What went wrong
Why did Georgia trail for most of the game? The Bulldogs took a 3-1 lead early, but were behind the rest of the first half besides a brief 7-7 tie. Georgia had short 52-51 in the middle of the second half, but it wouldn’t lead until Crump’s buzzer-beater.
Wrong: Carelessness on offense
With 50 seconds on the clock, Georgia trailed 76-73. Moments earlier, Jordan Harris drained a three-pointer to cut the lead to 74-71. He had the hot hand in the second half, scoring 10 of his 17 points in the last 20 minutes, he also had a pair of assists. With 50 seconds left, he was open again. Instead, Rayshaun Hammonds took an off-balance three pointer. He missed, Vanderbilt went the other way and made a pair of free throws to extend its lead to 78-73.
That play was indicative of a lot of the issues that plagued Georgia through its skid of eight losses in nine outings. Thoughtless shot selection, poor ball movement and overall carelessness. Georgia committed 10 turnovers in the first half, though it committed just three in the second half. Georgia’s carelessness was a big reason why it trailed for all but a few minutes Saturday night.
Wrong: Georgia allowed itself to get overwhelmed
Georgia typically has moments where it looks overwhelmed, Saturday wasn’t any different. The Bulldogs still let one successful play by an opponent snowball into a huge run. Vanderbilt led by multiple scores throughout the night and had its lead around 10 points several times. If not for the Commodores crumbling at the free throw line, Georgia likely wouldn’t have won.