Georgia’s (10-12, 1-7 SEC) ineptitude to score late in the game kept them from securing a win Saturday night, as they fell to the Tennessee Volunteers (11-12, 3-5 SEC) 73-62.
The team that took the court in the first half was different from the team that usually takes the court for Mark Fox. The Dawgs started off the game on a 6-0 run and led for 18 minutes of the first half. The fast start was aided by senior Dustin Ware, who scored 10 of the team’s first 16 points. Ware made three three-point shots in the first half, and his performance seemed to spark that of this teammates. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had 8 points in the first half, 6 of which game from the three-point line. Tennessee took the lead with two minutes to go in the half but the Dawgs went to intermission only down two points.
Mark Fox’s team regained the lead early in the second half thanks to a Gerald Robinson three-point jumper. The Dawgs would build a 41-37 lead on the Volunteers but that’s when things soured for the team. One of Georgia’s many problems has been the inability to score in the second half and that trait reared its ugly head once again. Through a combination of missed shots and turnovers, the Volunteers were able to keep the Dawgs from regaining the lead. Tennessee out-rebounded the Dawgs, 19-15 in the second half (32-28 overall), another reason why Fox’s team could not regain the lead.
After seeing his team struggle to score for most of the second half, coach Mark Fox had seen enough. Fox seemed to enter into a confrontation with a referee with a minute left in the game, receiving a double technical foul and was also ejected.
Caldwell-Pope led the team with 16 points, followed by Ware’s 15 and Robinson’s 13. While the team had three players in double figures, low field goal percentage and inefficient rebounding led to a loss in Knoxville. The Dawgs will seek to end their losing streak against the Arkansas Razorbacks, when they return home on Wednesday night.