Got to think the travel troubles had an affect on Georgia in the first half. Arkansas didn't really take advantage of it, though.
Robbie Neiswanger
Because Seth Emerson vouched for him, I’m not going to give the Arkansas News Bureau’s Robbie Neiswanger too hard a time for not knowing that "affect" is a verb and "effect" is a noun, especially since he was right about the first half. Despite sinking only ten of 33 attempts from the field and failing to drain a single shot from beyond the arc in the first half, the road-weary Georgia Bulldogs only trailed the Arkansas Razorbacks by three points at intermission.
This put the Fox Hounds in a position to take the lead on an 8-1 run early in the second half. The Red and Black’s initial advantage proved short-lived, though, as the Hogs responded by tying the contest at 30 with fifteen minutes remaining to be played. The seesaw battle thereafter remained a tight ballgame, being tied anew at 41 just inside the ten-minute mark, then again at 46 with 7:38 showing on the clock. The two teams continued to trade baskets until Trey Thompkins stepped up to the free throw line with the scoreboard reading 59-59 and the clock showing a single second left. The Georgia forward made one and missed one to provide the visitors their one-point margin of victory.
In a game featuring an abundance of missed shots, both teams ended up shooting slightly better than 40 per cent from the field. The Bulldogs hit 25 of 62 shots inside the arc, while 22 of the Razorbacks’ 52 attempts from the field fell. The two teams drained four three-pointers apiece. Arkansas’s home court advantage was given a generous assist from the officials, who sent the Hoop Dogs to the free throw line a meager nine times while affording the Hoop Hogs a whopping 20 opportunities from the charity stripe.
Twelve months ago, the Georgia men’s basketball team lost to Arkansas on national signing day, and I didn’t care. Now, a year later, it matters greatly that Mark Richt’s successful day of recruiting was capped off by Mark Fox’s successful night of coaching. At times, this evening’s outing was a ghastly exhibition of basketball, but, in the end, it gave the Red and Black the critical conference road win that keeps all their goals for this season in sight. At least for now, that will do quite nicely, thank you.
Go ‘Dawgs!