Georgia brings more confidence to rematch with South Carolina
What a difference two weeks can make.
On Feb. 12 at home against South Carolina, Georgia suffered one of its worst losses of the season, a 75-59 defeat that wasn’t as close as the final score indicated.
The Bulldogs travel to Columbia for a rematch Wednesday night with the Gamecocks. They bring with them a two-game winning streak, increased confidence and some long-awaited signs of maturity from one of the youngest teams in America.
Two weeks ago, however, Georgia still played like a team that was completely lost. The Bulldogs were outscored 38-20 in the first half, lost the rebounding battle 45-33 and gave up a 40-22 advantage in points in the paint.
“There’s really nobody that played well against South Carolina the first time in the sense of getting into the fight and being in the mix,” Georgia head coach Tom Crean said Tuesday. “They took advantage of it.”
A loss to Texas A&M followed the South Carolina game. The Bulldogs then put together their best week of the season.
They first upset No. 13 Auburn 65-55 in Athens on Feb. 19. Three days later, Georgia used a buzzer-beating 3-point heave from senior guard Tyree Crump to top Vanderbilt 80-78, giving the program back-to-back conference wins for the first time under Crean.
It’s not just the wins; it’s how they came. The Bulldogs have struggled with holding leads all year, but they maintained a lead against Auburn for the entire second half. Against Vanderbilt, they fought an uphill battle the entire second half before stealing the win at the end.
But that thievery wouldn’t have been possible without a sign of the team’s growing maturity.
With under 15 seconds to play, freshman guard Sahvir Wheeler raced up the floor with the ball, his team trailing by three points. Instead of looking for a 3-pointer to tie, Wheeler drove to the rim. He drew a foul and made both free throws, setting the Bulldogs up for the game-winner after two missed free throws by the Commodores on the next possession.
Crean has talked all year about how tough it is getting a young team to understand time and score situations, about extending the game when the opportunity presents itself. On Saturday night in Nashville, his team did just that.
“They missed some free throws, but the bottom line is we were in position to win when that time came because other guys did their job leading up to that, even in a short period of time,” Crean said.
With maturity also comes confidence. Georgia has had a handful of games this year decided by just a possession or two, but actually getting into the win column can work wonders with a young squad.
Now the Bulldogs take an improved mindset to Columbia to face a team that dominated them just 14 days ago. Crean said his team played hard in that first matchup, but not nearly tough or physical enough to come out with a win.
Increased confidence and maturity by no means equates to a sure-fire win against South Carolina. It does give the Bulldogs a better chance than they had two weeks ago.
“We’ve had two different wins,” Crean said, “one that we had to come from behind on, one that we continued to keep the lead on, but two SEC wins. We should feel good about getting better, but we should be even hungrier about what we have a chance to go do.”
NEXT
What: Georgia at South Carolina
When: 6:30 p.m. Wednesday
Where: Colonial Life Arena
TV: SEC Network
Radio: 107.5 The Game in Columbia area