The secret is officially out. As many fans and people within the program have been proclaiming for some time, the University of Georgia can play basketball. After defeating a second straight top 25 opponent, Georgia basketball Head Coach Mike White and the Bulldogs could be in for a change in their national notoriety, standing and respect as a basketball program for the first time in over a decade.
On Saturday night, in front of a raucous home crowd at Stegeman Coliseum in Athens, GA, the Georgia Bulldogs defeated the No. 17 Oklahoma Sooners 72-62. The Bulldogs defense shined as they held Oklahoma leading scorer Jalon Moore to 17 points. Freshman sensation Jeremiah Fears also only had 2 points, which is 14 points off his season average.
Atlanta Hawks superstar and Oklahoma alum Trae Young was in attendance to witness this takedown as Dakota Leffew and Asa Newell each scored 15 points to pace the Bulldogs.
Georgia (14-2 Overall, 2-1 SEC) have been making noise all season with wins versus quality oppenents such as St. John's and Notre Dame, but after defeating the likes of No. 6 Kentucky and now No. 17 Oklahoma, you can hear that noise starting to swell from the UGA faithful. So much in fact, that it is becoming much harder for voters to ignore as the Bulldogs entered the AP Poll top 25 for the first team in over a decade.
While Georgia's current trajectory is trending upwards, Oklahoma (13-3, 0-3 SEC) on the other hand is headed in an entirely different direction after having dropped their third consecutive game to open up conference play. Both Georgia and Oklahoma return to action on Wednesday night as the Bulldogs hit the road to face No. 6 Tennessee in Knoxville while Oklahoma will head home to play heated rival Texas.