ATHENS - Tennessee guard Josiah-Jordan James led the Volunteers to a 75-68 win over Georgia scoring a career-high 23 points.
Both teams played a tough game at the start, ending with a score of 35-35 at halftime. But the Volunteers went on a 13-3 run for a 54-44 lead toward the start of the second half. This lead was one the Bulldogs could not surpass.
Despite a lacking defense in the first half, allowing the Bulldogs to shoot 51.7% of their shots from the field, the Volunteers were able to pick it back up and explode into the second half.
Along with James leading the Vols, Kennedy Chandler had 16 points and Santiago Vescovi had 11 points shooting 37.5% from the arch.
Tennessee beat then-No. 3 Auburn 67-62 this past weekend. Their game against the Tigers was one of seven Top 10 upsets that weekend. At the start of the game against Georgia, the Volunteers were ranked No. 13 with the post-season in their sights.
Aaron Cook led Georgia with 17 points during his last home game as a Bulldog. The graduate student celebrated senior night with close peers before tipoff. Georgia will leave this game having a record of 6-24 with one more regular-season game left to go at Mizzou.
Once the regular season and SEC playoffs are over, the Bulldogs will spend their off-season back at the drawing board. Two of their players, Aaron Cook and Jonathan Ned, are graduating from the program this year. Ned hasn’t played this season due to injury, but recruiting will still likely be a priority.
Many fans and spectators are also critical of Georgia’s head coach Tom Crean. This is his 4th season in Athens where he has an overall record of 47-73 with the Bulldogs.
Georgia recently announced possible plans to terminate Crean due to an unrelated incident, where he mishandled a physical altercation between two members of the basketball staff. This is unfortunate timing for Crean, as the misconduct is being discussed during a less than successful season.
Tennessee is now 22-7 after tonight's game against Georgia. The team remains in the AP Top 25 and is looking forward to the SEC playoffs followed by the NCAA Tournament.
The Volunteers have one more regular-season game to play against Arkansas. Then they will head to Florida for the conference playoffs. After that, the countdown to Selection Sunday will begin.
