Vanderbilt at Georgia
WHEN: Tuesday, 9 p.m.
WHERE: Stegeman Coliseum
RECORDS: Georgia 11-6, 3-2; Vanderbilt 8-9, 2-3
TV/RADIO: ESPNU (Mike Cousins, Brooke Weisbrod); Georgia Bulldog Radio Network (Scott Howard, Chuck Dowdle, Tony Schiavone); SIRIUS/XM 134/192
When Georgia hosts Vanderbilt Tuesday night at Stegeman Coliseum, Mark Fox hopes his Bulldogs can avoid the same issues they experienced following their loss to South Carolina.
After dropping a tough 67-61 decision to the Gamecocks, Georgia struggled for the first 20 minutes against Missouri three nights later, when it trailed by six points at halftime before pulling out a 71-66 win.
A similar challenge awaits the Bulldogs against Vanderbilt.
Georgia dropped a tough 80-76 decision to Florida in overtime on Saturday, and Fox is counting on his team not letting that loss affect their effort against the Commodores.
“I thought the South Carolina game was so hard fought and so physical and so emotional that we drug it into the Missouri game the first half,” Fox said. “Obviously, the ending and the physicality of the Florida game, it’s one of the first things I told the team after the game – we’ve got to put this one behind and move on. Hopefully, we’ve learned from that earlier situation to be better.”
Vanderbilt (8-9, 2-3) poses an interesting challenge for the Bulldogs (11-6, 3-2).
Although the Commodores bring the SEC’s best three-point shooting team to Athens (a league-best 9.8 three-pointers per game), Vanderbilt is next-to-last in field goal defense, something head coach Bryce Drew hopes can change.
“I want us to try and be more aggressive,” Drew said. “I want us to be more aggressive and play harder on defense.”
Obviously, Fox has some concerns of his own.
Along with leading the SEC in three-point shooting, Vanderbilt has made 10 or more treys in seven games this year, and is averaging 10.8 made three’s per game in league play thus far.
“They are a great three-point shooting team and have some great percentages, a lot of guys who make it from different spots on the floor,” Fox said. “They’ve got a very good system, so it’s one of the challenges in the game, certainly. It’s not something as a coach where you think you can shut them out, you just hope you can slow them down. We’ll have to try a number of different things to do that.”
Fox is quick to discount the ‘Dores 8-9 overall record as well.
Although Vandy comes in losers of three straight, the Commodores played Kentucky tough before falling, 87-81.
“I think anytime there’s a new staff, it takes time to really hit your groove. And, they didn’t win the game against Kentucky but they gave Kentucky all that they could handle,” Fox said. “I think they’re playing very well. We have to understand that Vanderbilt has a lot of guys who understand how to win that are back off of last year’s tournament team, and any team that can shoot the three like they shoot it is extremely dangerous.”
NOTES: J.J. Frazier and Yante Maten are the nation’s sixth-best inside-outside scoring combination – and the only one in the Top 10 from a Power 5 league – among teams with two of their top-250 scorers in the country. … The Bulldogs were No. 42 in the Jan. 15 edition of the NCAA RPI.
