Georgia upset Illinois 70-67 at the Arena at Gwinnett Center tonight in front of a split crowd of Bulldog and Illini fans. The Dawgs used 21 points from Trey Thompkins including four clutch free throws down the stretch in the win. The victory is by far the best win of the season for Mark Fox’s Bulldogs (5-4), who had not played since a 66-56 loss to St. John’s 10 days ago. The Illini are considered sleepers by most in the Big Ten and were even labeled the most talented team in the conference according to some.
“I didn’t even give my pre-game speech,” said the first-year UGA coach. “I just talked to them about the fact that ‘It may seem like a road game, you have to play together.’ l didn’t even cover the things on the board. We played as a unit, we played for Georgia.”
It is the first win ever over Illinois for the Bulldogs, who improved to 1-5 in the series. The Illini walloped Georgia last year in Chicago to the tune of a 76-42 whitewashing. Illinois had won four games in a row prior to tonight including a road win at No. 18 Clemson and had also defeated Vanderbilt.
The Bulldogs looked like they were going to let another slip away as Bruce Weber’s troops rallied from a nine-point deficit with under five minutes remaining to take a one-point lead with about 30 seconds left on a three-point play by freshman Demetri McCarney. To that point, the game resembled several UGA basketball games over the years when an inspired Bulldog squad played well all night only to stumble down the stretch and allow a more poised opponent to come back and snatch a victory from the Bulldogs.
But not tonight.
Fox’s squad hit back after losing the lead when Thompkins was fouled in the paint. The play came after a timeout as the new coach from Nevada made the right call by getting the ball to the Dawgs’ star.
Georgia out-scored Illinois 38-35 in the second half after entering the locker room at halftime tied at 32. Travis Leslie poured in 17 while Ricky McPhee added 12 more including two three-pointers. McPhee also had three steals on the night while Albert Jackson led the team with eight rebounds.
If there is a negative from this game for the Bulldogs, it is the poor outside shooting. The Dawgs were an awful 3-13 from three-point land.
But the win gives UGA hoops fans excitement and has to make the team more confident in new coach Mark Fox’s system. The Triangle offense was effective against a solid Big Ten club which is good news for Georgia.
The Dawgs are now 3-0 at the Gwinnett Center.
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