It turns out that I am still capable of loathing the Florida Gators as a general proposition, even when they are not decked out in that hideous orange and blue, and even when they are bringing attention to a very worthy cause. Sunday the Lady Gators donned pink uniforms in support of breast cancer awareness, then made Bulldog Coach Andy Landers acutely aware of some of his team's shortcomings in a 61-57 Gator victory in Gainesville.
Outside obligations kept me away from this afternoon’s basketball game, but I was in the company of fellow Georgia fans, because, hey, I have good taste, and one of them paused momentarily to check the score, which, frankly, I figured would have gotten completely out of hand by that point, and I was pleasantly surprised to learn it was competitive. In the end, though, Mark Fox’s Georgia Bulldogs fell to the Vanderbilt Commodores, 61-52.
Frankly, when I saw before I left the house that John Jenkins had made a bucket from downtown to give the Music City Mariners a 3-0 lead 38 seconds into the first half, I thought the game was over, but a Dustin Ware trey tied the game at five per side with 17 and a half minutes to play before intermission. Thanks to a Vincent Williams three-pointer and a Gerald Robinson jump shot, the Classic City Canines held a football-like 14-10 lead inside the twelve-minute mark.
Following last night's debacle by the boys, the girls came to South Carolina to face a 25th ranked Lady Gamecocks squad that was, like the boys, on a similar level of performance. The similarities certainly showed, as the two teams that entered the contest with the exact same 19-6, 8-4 records went back and forth until Landers' ladies came away victorious.
The win marked the 4th straight for the Georgia women's hoops team following a rough stretch in late January beset by injuries. The girls still aren't 100% and may not be the rest of the way, but they do appear to be getting hot at the right time as we approach the all important month of March.
Numbers wise, congratulations to Jasmine James, as the junior guard from Memphis surpassed the 1,000 point total for her career. Fellow junior from the Volunteer State, F Jasmine Hassell, led the way with 18 points and 7 rebounds. Senior G Meredith Mitchell was second on the team scoring 15, followed by sophomore PG Khaalidah Miller who finished with 11 points and 6 assists. Anne Marie Armstrong had had a strong all around game with 10 points, 7 boards, and a career-best 5 blocked shots, capped off by hitting the game winning free throws with under 5 seconds remaining. Depth issues continue to be a lingering hurdle for the Lady Dawgs, as they only got 7 minutes total from their bench, as Armstrong, James, Miller, and Mitchell played the full 40 minutes.
Mark Fox’s Georgia Bulldogs entered Wednesday evening’s SEC road outing against the South Carolina Gamecocks with all their hopes of securing a postseason invitation of any sort riding on the weeknight outcome in Columbia’s Colonial Life Arena. The Red and Black came away smarting from a 57-56 defeat that may have been the most embarrassing of the season, and perhaps even of Coach Fox’s tenure.
The teams were tied at two after one minute, at four after three minutes, and at nine after nine minutes. A Gerald Robinson layup, a Donte` Williams dunk, and a Dustin Ware trey made it 16-9 in favor of the Hoop Dogs with nine minutes remaining until halftime, but the Garnet and Black went on a 7-0 run of their own to snarl the score anew with just under seven minutes showing on the game clock. It was 18-all with five minutes to play, but the Gamecocks surged ahead, taking a 28-26 lead into the locker room despite Ware’s three-point jumper to close out the first half.
Landers' Ladies have won three in a row after their home victory against Vanderbilt Sunday afternoon. The Lady Commodores came in to the game ranked 25th in the country, but the game was never close.
via grfx.cstv.com
More after the jump....
When the Georgia Bulldogs traveled to Starkville to take on the Mississippi St. Bulldogs, the Red and Black were effective offensively yet suspect on defense, as usual. Wait, what?
Let’s try that again: Georgia went on the road to face a ranked conference opponent and played toe-to-toe with Mississippi State, trailing by three at the half before forging a 59-59 tie to send the game to overtime. For much of the back-and-forth battle, the hometown Bulldogs did not outplay the visiting Bulldogs so much as the former’s Dee Bost outplayed the latter’s Gerald Robinson.
The latest edition of the SEC Hoops Power Poll is up over at Garnet & Black Attack and it bears unfortunate news for Bulldog basketball fans. The Fox Hounds have now fallen to dead last in the league on the um . . .strength? . . . of recent losses to Ole Miss and Auburn amidst a four game slide.
Remember that the voting for this week's edition of the poll closed on Monday night, before whatever that was that happened at the Stege last night. And while it remains to be seen whether that was the beginnng of a turnaround or a mere aberration, the fact remains that the Hoop 'Dawgs are a gosh-awful 2-7 in conference play. I'm frustrated about it. You're frustrated about it. Mark Fox is frustrated about it. But (he said, filling his tired cliche quota for the post) it is what it is right now.
Further up the ladder, there appears to be no question that the Kentucky Wildcats are the class of the conference. They've beaten all comers enroute to a 24-1 overall record, a pristine 10-0 conference ledger and a #1 national ranking. If anyone believes there's a better team in college basketball right now I would love to hear that person's argument. I would then dismiss it as the ramblings of a mad man or the delusions of an Ohio State fan.
Florida's only fault at this point is that they're not Kentucky. Assuming a strong finish to the conference slate, a good performance in the SEC tournament, and a slip by one or two other squads, the Gators are a decent bet for a top seed in the NCAA tournament, and should be no worse than a #3 barring some sort of collapse.
Speaking of the tournament, SB Nation's own Blogging The Bracket currently has 5 SEC teams making it into the field: Kentucky, Florida, Mississippi State, Vandy and Alabama. I can't really quibble with that, as there appears to be a large gulf between those teams and the Ole Misses and Arkansases* of the world. It's just not a very deep conference this year, which can largely be chalked up to the likes of Georgia and Arkansas rebuilding and acclimating to new systems. It's just one of those seasons.
Until later . . .
Go 'Dawgs!
*The next time I pluralize "Arkansas" will be the second time. So cut me some slack here.
Huge game for Razorbacks tonight at Georgia. Must-win. Period.
Josh Bertaccini (February 8, 2012)
On a Wednesday evening that featured some top-tier college basketball around the country, Mark Fox’s Georgia Bulldogs limped into their home date with an Arkansas Razorbacks squad that had yet to card the season’s first road win. Everything about what followed was shocking, as the Classic City Canines carded an 81-59 triumph. No, seriously.
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