Somewhat Delayed Ill-Informed Roundball Wrapup: Georgia Bulldogs 76, Alabama Crimson Tide 70

Although I indicated earlier that I would not be offering a postgame writeup following the Georgia Bulldogs’ crucial basketball game against the Alabama Crimson Tide, there’s something wonky going on with the baseball game-tracking software, so there is time, after all, to take a gander at this afternoon’s roundball action. That actually works out pretty well, since Mark Fox’s Hoop Dogs registered a win in Stegeman Coliseum this afternoon.

A pretty amazing thing happened . . . the Fox Hounds held a 30-29 lead at intermission and extended their advantage with a 46-41 second half. It wasn’t quite as simple as that, however. Over the course of the contest, the two teams were tied eight times and the lead switched hands on nine occasions. The visitors erased the Red and Black lead by outscoring their hosts 23-9 at the start of the second half.

Alabama, which had not beaten an Eastern Division opponent this season, held a 13-point edge on Georgia, which had not beaten a Western Division opponent this season, when the Bulldogs began to answer the charge by Anthony Grant’s team. Travis Leslie, who accounted for 16 Georgia points, started the comeback with eleven and a half minutes remaining and Trey Thompkins gave the home team a one-point lead with 253 seconds left. The jump shot that put the Red and Black back out in front was part of Thompkins’s 38-minute, 21-point, 17-rebound day.

The two teams turned the ball over fourteen times apiece and Alabama outperformed Georgia at the free throw line while carding a dozen steals. The home team, however, edged the guests in assists (19-8), blocks (7-1), and boards (39-27). The Fox Hounds attempted 53 field goals, just one more than the Tide tried, but Georgia connected at a greater rate, sinking 29 two-pointers to the Alabamians’ 21.

The win gave the Bulldogs their twelfth triumph of the season, matching last year’s victory tally with four games left to play. Georgia is one game under .500 overall and both of today’s combatants exited Stegeman Coliseum sporting 4-8 conference ledgers.

Go ‘Dawgs!