Georgia basketball makes history in season finale win over Vanderbilt

Georgia basketball entered their season finale in a spot no one is used to. Mike White and the Bulldogs took the court on Senior Day against Vanderbilt firmly in the NCAA Tournament picture, potentially not even needing another win to make it into the tournament field.

But after failing to make the tournament for a decade straight, no one at Georgia wants to leave their NCAA Tournament hopes up to chance. So the Bulldogs season finale against Vanderbilt was a big opportunity for Georgia to guarantee beyond a shadow of a doubt that they will make the NCAA Tournament.

And to everyone's pleasure, they did just that.

Georgia defeats Vanderbilt to clinch their place in NCAA Tournament

The first half of Georgia's contest against Vanderbilt was very back and forth, and the teams enterted the locker room tied at 39. But Georgia came out in the second half and did what they have been unable to do for most of the year.

All season long, Georgia has typically found themselves in a close game at halftime, but the second half was always a disaster. That however was not the case on Saturday as Georgia's defense held Vanderbilt to just 29 points en route to their 79-68 win.

Georgia was led by Asa Newell and Silas Demary Jr., who each added 15 points. Dakota Leffew and Tryin Lawrence also added 14 and 13 points off the bench, respectively.

This win brings Georgia to 20 wins on the season, which is only the sixth time in program history they have accomplished that.

Up next for the Bulldogs is the SEC Tournament which begins on Wednesday. Matchups are not yet set, but it really doesn't matter all that much for UGA. Georgia is safely in the NCAA Tournament field even if they lose their first game at the SEC Tournament, so Georgia fans can rest easy knowing that the Bulldogs will hear their name called on Selection Sunday in one week regardless of what happens in the next week.