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.
Nevertheless, it was Robinson who, after having done little all afternoon long, made the game-tying layup with 30 seconds remaining in regulation to force an extra period. Robinson followed that up with the overtime layup that staked the Fox Hounds to a 61-59 advantage, then with the free throws that tied the game anew at 63, then with the dunk that put the Red and Black back out in front by two, then with the free throws that put the Classic City Canines up by four.
Ironically, with nine seconds to play and Georgia clinging to a 70-68 lead, Robinson missed the front end of the one-and-one that could’ve put the game away, but, when Bost missed the ensuing three-pointer in a game that previously had been topheavy with treys, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope pulled down the rebound, and the right set of Bulldogs had pulled off an improbable win.
Is a young Georgia team finally starting to mature? Caldwell-Pope’s 20 points, eight rebounds, three assists, and six-of-twelve three-point shooting suggest that the heralded underclassman is coming of age, but, son of a gun, the Red and Black have looked good in a couple of consecutive victories, and two in a row is a trend. There may be life in the Athenians yet.
Go ‘Dawgs!