Athens, GA – The Georgia Bulldogs fell just short today in a tough battle against the No. 5 Tennessee Volunteers. With the loss today, the Dawgs end their 10-game win streak and are now 12-4 overall and 2-1 in the SEC. Similarly, after the narrow win, the Volunteers are 12-4 overall and 2-1 in the SEC.
UGA put points up on the board first with a 3-pointer by Jarbi Abdur-Rahim, assisted by Russel Tchewa, within the first minute. Thirty seconds later, however, the Volunteers started their first run of a few throughout the first half. Tennessee went up early, outscoring the Dawgs 14-6 until the start of the sixth minute. The Volunteers shot very well throughout the first period, going 45.7% within field goal range and 35.3% from behind the arch. Senior guard Dalton Knecht had the highest offensive output with 16 points, while the next highest score was Zakai Zeigler with 8 points. In comparison, the Dawgs only went 28.6% from field goal range, and their highest scorer was RJ Melendez with 11 points.
Rebounding was a big factor in the first period, with UTK outperforming UGA 30-16. Junior forward Jonas Aidoo had nine rebounds in the first period, and two other Volunteers, Knecht and Zeigler, had three. Meanwhile, graduate center Russel Tchewa led the Dawgs with only three total rebounds.
The Volunteers maintained control and momentum throughout the majority of the first period. They held their lead for 16:22 minutes and peaked at 14 over the Dawgs with 4:01 left. In the last few minutes, however, the Dawgs were able to fight back with a 9-point scoring run with 0:49 left to crawl within 5 of the Volunteers and close out the half down 37-42.
UGA capitalized off the short burst of momentum they had at the end of the half and took their first lead since the first minute of the first half with back-to-back 3-pointers (one by Abdur-Rahim and one by Noah Thomasson). The Volunteers were able to answer back briefly, outsourcing the Dawgs 7-2 for two minutes to bring the score to 49-45, with UTK on top. Abdur-Rahim would tie the game and take the lead 53-49 for the Dawgs with a pair of free throws and a 3-pointer with 16:06 left on the clock. This kicked off the Dawgs taking momentum for most of the second half.
UGA went on a 13-3 run, starting with 14:15 left and ending with 9:33 left, to give UGA their biggest lead the entire game, being up 66-56 on the Volunteers. However, the Vols outscored UGA 15 to 1 for the last 4:50 of the game. Tennessee cut the lead to two at 3:28, then with two made free throws by Dalton Knecht, tied the game with 2:33 left. After a 1-1 free throw attempt from Demary Jr., Knecht made a 3-pointer to give the UTK the lead 81-79 in the last two minutes of the game. Knecht and Zeigler made two more free throws within the last minute to seal the deal for Tennesse and give them the win 85-79.
UGA had four players have double-digit shooting games. Abdur-Rahim put up 21 total, Thomasson had 14, and both Melendez and Silas Demary Jr. had 13. Meanwhile, the second half saw Knecht put up 20 more points for the Vols making him lead the team with 36 total points today. Zeigler followed behind him with 18 total for Tennessee.
Despite the loss, the Dawgs put up a great performance in a close game against a very good and nationally-ranked Tennessee team. Their winning streak has come to an end, and they are now 2-1 in conference, but the Dawgs should not be discouraged going into their game against South Carolina on Tuesday, the 16th.
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