Tyree Crump couldn’t help but crack a joke as he and Rayshaun Hammonds went to take their seats prior to Saturday’s post-game press conference, after Georgia’s 99-89 win over Arkansas.

“It’s been a time since I’ve been in here,” smiled Crump, whose three-pointer with 1:35 left gave the Bulldogs a six-point cushion after the Razorbacks had twice cut a once-18-point Georgia lead to just one with 2:15 to play.

“That’s an everyday shot that he shoots,” junior Rayshaun Hammond said. “He works on that every day, starting in the summer during pickup. He also does it during practice. It’s very comfortable for him. It’s easy.”

It certainly was on this night.

Crump, who finished with 14 points, went 4 of 6 from the three-point line, including the one that gave Georgia (15-14, 5-11) the cushion it would need to close out the win, which put a severe crimp in the postseason plans of Arkansas (18-11, 6-10).

Anthony Edwards would help salt game away the game as the freshman scored the final nine points for the Bulldogs, helping the Bulldogs win the game going away.

Edwards finished with 26 points.

“Anthony played with his head up. He really did. He scored, he passed the ball, he got to the rim—he settled a few times, but that happens,” head coach Tom Crean said. “He played with his eyes up, and I think when you’re doing that—when he adds that consistently, playing with his eyes up, being able to see and make those decisions, that’s another level.”

The win was the third in four games for the Bulldogs, whose only setback during that span was Wednesday’s 94-90 loss in overtime at South Carolina. “We’re just being confident, playing for each other, just being there for each other,” Hammonds said. “Earlier in the year, we kind of got frustrated with each other, and things went down, but we’ve grown up. Those freshmen are sophomores now. They understand now. The other team may make a run, but we can make runs, too.”

Along with Crump and Edwards, Hammonds added 22 points and nine rebounds, with Jordan Harris (11 points), Toumani Camara (10), and Sahvir Wheeler (11 points) also scoring in double-digits for the Bulldogs, who survived the Razorback combo of Isaiah Joe and Mason Jones, each of whom finished with 26.

The Bulldogs couldn’t have envisioned having a better start.

Georgia made 6 of its 8 first shots, jumping out to a 14-0 four minutes into the game before a three-pointer by Jalen Harris put Arkansas on the board for the first time at the 15:52 mark.

Sills followed Harris with back-to-back threes, but Georgia would answer, building an 18-point lead at 36-18 with 8:24 to play in the first half.

But Arkansas would start chipping away, putting together a 12-2 run to draw within seven before Hammonds, who finished with 17 points in the first half, drained his second three-pointer to push the lead to 11, only to have Joe answer with one of his own to bring the Razorbacks back within 47-39 at the half.

“Coach Crean always preaches, you’ve got to have two halves, that’s always been a big thing with him,” Crump said. “It’s winning every four-minute stretch at a time. Win this four-minutes, win that four minutes, then that four minutes, and when there’s two minutes left in the game, take control. Coach Crean always talks about momentum always being up for grabs. Basketball is all about runs, all about momentum. How you handle that is, and when you grab the momentum is the difference and that’s what we did tonight.”

Boxscore

As the former head coach of the Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors, Arkansas’ Eric Musselman knows an NBA player when he sees one.

That’s certainly the case with Anthony Edwards.

“He’s a great player, I don’t know what you want me to say,” Musselman said. “His combination of strength, speed, his pullup jumper off the bounce—he can just rise above people. He’s an incredible player with an incredibly bright future.” According to NBADraft.net, Edwards projects as the top pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. Musselman didn’t seem to disagree.

“Having coached in that league, meaning that level, he’s got an NBA body right now,” Musselman said. “He can dribble, drive in traffic at the NBA level, take contact, finish through contact. You watch a guy on film, and he’s really good, then you watch him live, just the explosiveness he’s got NBA athleticism, and NBA strength.”

• Georgia set a school-record with its 10th crowd of 10,000 fans. The Bulldogs also set a new season-attendance mark. With Saturday’s crowd of 10,017, Georgia has drawn 154,064 fans, breaking last year’s record of 148,700.

• Edwards has tallied 573 points in his freshman season and is the second-highest Georgia freshman in the program’s history. He trails only behind Jack Dorsey (646; 1975) by 73 points.

•This is the 19th time this season Edwards has led the Dogs in scoring. It is the 13th game the standout has scored 20 points or more this season.

• The Bulldogs matched a season-best in first-half scoring against an SEC opponent with 47 points. The last time the Dogs scored 47 in the first frame against a conference foe was against Tennessee on Jan. 15.

• The Dogs put up 50 points in the paint, and only allowed Arkansas 30 paint points.

• Georgia out-performed Arkansas on both ends of the court to total 40 rebounds, compared to Arkansas’ 29.

• The Bulldogs scored more than twice as many second-chance baskets than the Razorbacks • Georgia’s six players with double-digit scores marks the most in SEC play this season and ties the most overall (also The Citadel on Nov. 15).

Georgia returns to action Wednesday with the regular season finale against Florida. The Bulldogs close out the regular season Saturday at LSU before taking part in the SEC Tournament two weeks from now in Nashville.