Tuesday evening hoops at Stegeman Coliseum, home of the Georgia Bulldogs, have seen their fair share of wild games this year. The Bulldogs, entered Tuesday’s game 16-11 (4-10 in conference play) hanging onto their NCAA tournament hopes by a thread, meaning they were in must-win mode ahead of a crucial showdown with third ranked Florida Gators.
The Dawgs came out firing on all cylinders right after opening tip, with Silas Demary Jr. draining three threes in the first half and Georgia jumping out to an massive 39-13 lead over the Gators midway through the opening half. Georgia dominated every single facet of the game at first, but as the half progressed, the Gators showed why they are contending for a number one seed in March Madness. Despite the Dawgs’ scorching hot start, the Gators were able to reduce the once 26-point deficit to just 16 at the half, 51-35. Florida continued their momentum into the second half, slowly chipping away at the Georgia lead. Florida guard Will Richard, who is coming off of an unfortunate zero-point game against LSU, could not miss throughout the entire game; he ended up scoring 30 and was a major reason the Gators got within striking distance late in the game.
With just over five minutes to go, the Dawgs held an 11-point lead, 78-67, yet the gritty Gators took the lead just two and a half minutes later after forward Thomas Haugh, capped off a 12-0 Gator run to put Florida up by one. After a successful free throw, Florida owned a two-point lead with one minute to go. After being up 26 at one point, the Bulldogs now saw their season hanging in the balance. With their tourney hopes on the line, the Dawgs turned to sophomore guard, Blue Cain, and with 50 seconds on the clock the sharpshooter knocked down a game-changing three-pointer to put Georgia up by one. The Dawgs would not look back, winning 88-83, pulling off their first victory against an AP top-five opponent in over 20 years.
With this result, the Gators, though a March Madness lock, will undoubtedly fall in the polls. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs pulled off their biggest win of the season that could perhaps catapult them to their first NCAA Tournament berth in 10 years.