By Ron Wynn
Difficult seasons for Tennessee and Vanderbilt got tougher Wednesday night as each was defeated in SEC play. UT has been very good at home, but ran into the red-hot Georgia Bulldogs and were beaten 68-62. It was Georgia’s fifth win in its past six games. The Bulldogs are now 5-4 in conference play. Tennessee has lost six of nine SEC games and are only 11-10 overall.
Vanderbilt had another dismal offensive first half, scoring only 18 points and falling behind by 13. They rallied over the last 20 minutes, but a string of free throws by LSU’s Johnny O’Brien enabled them to hold on for a 57-56 win. It was LSU’s third straight victory (13-7 overall), though they are only 4-5 in the SEC. Vanderbilt dropped to 2-7 in the conference (8-13 overall).
Defense has been Tennessee’s strong suit, but they were unable to stop either Kentavious Caldwell-Pope or the Bulldogs’ three-point shooting. Caldwell-Pope has averaged nearly 22 points (21.8) in Georgia’s current winning streak, and he scorched UT Wednesday, making nine of 12 shots and scoring 24 points. It didn’t matter what type of defense Tennessee played, man-to-man, box-and-one, matchup zones, Caldwell-Pope scored with ease.
Georgia was 11 for 20 from three point. Caldwell-Pope was five for seven, while Vincent Williams was three of five. “Early in the year, we were probably not taking the right three-point shots, but we always felt like we had a really good three-point shooting team,” Georgia coach Mark Fox told the Associated Press. “Early in the year, we were very impatient in every way. every part of the game, so we didn’t complete as many early. but it’s something where we’ve finally matured a little bit and settled down.”
Turnovers also hurt Tennessee again, as they had 11 in the first half. But the Vols put together a solid second half floor wise, with only three turnovers. they tied the score at 43 with 13:28 left, but then went into a six-minute drought. Over that time Georgia put together a 9-0 run that cemented the game.
UT coach Cuonzo Martin was quite unhappy about his team’s failure to either stop Caldwell-Pope or defend the three-pointer. “That’s more (about) pride on the defense’s part, not allowing their best player to beat you,” Martin said. “Put the ball in somebody else’s hand and let somebody else beat you. Don’t allow their best player to beat you.”
After being almost invisible the first half, Jarnell Stokes got his game together. He ended with 16 points and 11 rebounds. while also having his best free-throw shooting game (eight of 10). Jordan McRae returned to form with 17 points despite not shotting well from the floor (only four of 10). Tennessee also didn’t have the services of Trae Golden for a second straight game.
Vanderbilt’s loss to LSU wasn’t on TV, so area fans were spared seeing them suffer another defeat. They were outscored 18-2 in the final minutes of the first half, and shot a meager 31.5 percent (17 of 54) for the game. LSU wasn’t much better at 36 percent (18 of 50).
Rod Odom was back in the starting lineup, and led all scorers with 20 points. The only other Commodore in double figures was Dai-Jon Parker with 11 (he also had nine rebounds). Anthony Hickey had 14 for LSU, and O’Bryant added 11.
The Commodores try to break a four-game losing streak Saturday against Arkansas in Nashville. The 12:30 game will air on WUXP-30. Tennessee has a Sunday game against South Carolina at 12 noon. Fox Tennessee will carry that one.