It was a thriller, no doubt about it. However, the Georgia Bulldogs were unable to hold serve and protect their home court vs. the Tennessee Volunteers on Wednesday night. The betting odds coming in suggested Georgia was primed to be upset. Tennessee did just that by winning 86-85 in double overtime at Stegeman. The final possession for Georgia has fans cringing into next week..
UGA's sixth man Marcus Millender scored at the rim down three, not realizing the time on the clock...
I genuinely feel bad for Millender, he had such a great game but man, what in the world is this?pic.twitter.com/QK3PZtORxo
— Random SEC (@therandomsec) January 29, 2026
Millender was the one who even forced overtime for Georgia, scoring the bulk of his 19 points on the evening after halftime. While Georgia is still trying to find its answer for who is the right guy to lead them in hero ball situations late in game because of the deep 11-man rotation head coach Mike White implements, how about teaching the Bulldogs how to box out and hold their own on the glass, please?
Georgia got absolutely slaughtered in the rebounding department 52-27. That is why the Vols won...
Georgia cannot continue to be this laissez-faire on the glass any longer
On paper, Georgia's fifth loss of the year and fourth in SEC play will still go down as a Quad 1 defeat. The Bulldogs have enough pelts on the wall in league play and even in its weak non-conference to still make the tournament, so long as they do not collapse down the stretch vs. SEC opponents. This team is a strong 16-5, but UGA has not been one of the most pleasant watches to get to this point.
While the deep rotation does tend to break down the opposition, as Tennessee looked particularly gassed at the end, the continued recklessness and frenetic play is going to end this talented, but flawed Georgia team's season prematurely. Somehow, some way, White's team needs to play with any semblance of composure during crunch time. They play in a ton of games that go down to the wire.
Beating Tennessee was not going to be easy, but this does bring to light another glaring issue with this team beyond rebounding, pace, careless, and not truly having defined a star. Seemingly any time White has to go up against a coach who is as good as him or better, he tends to get worked. Georgia's five losses so far are to Brad Brownell, Todd Golden, Chris Beard, Sean Miller, and now to Rick Barnes.
Let's not bury Millender for this loss, but instead point to the backboard and suggest any rebounding.