[su_spacer size=”40″] Guards Kenny Gaines and J.J. Frazier combined for 51 total points in the Georgia men’s basketball team’s 81-72 victory against Southeastern Conference foe Tennessee Wednesday night at Stegeman Coliseum.
[su_spacer size=”40″] With the win, Georgia improves to 9-5 overall and 2-2 in the SEC while Tennessee drops to 8-8 overall and 1-3 in conference play. The Volunteers own a 94-57 all-time record vs. the Bulldogs, but UGA holds 38-33 advantage in games played in Athens.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Trailing 47-43 with 13:38 to go the Bulldogs went a 16-2 run to open things up in the game. Each of the 16 points scored were by either Gaines or  Frazier.  Frazier finished the night leading the Bulldogs with 28 points, while Gaines added 23 of his own.
[su_spacer size=”40″] [su_spacer size=”40″] “That was a really hard fought SEC game like most of them are going to be,” head coach Mark Fox said. “I think that coach Barnes has done a phenomenal job with his team. I did not think that we started the game with the mentality we were hoping for. I was extremely concerned on how we would respond following last game and I said eventually we have to show our character and fight back. That’s all we talked about and eventually we got back to being ourselves.”
[su_spacer size=”40″] [foogallery id=”74920″] [su_spacer size=”40″] Each of Georgia’s first three possession resulted in three-point baskets with Kenny Gaines, J.J. Frazier and Charles Mann sharing the wealth. The Volunteers answered with a 7-0 run tying things up at 9-9. The remainder of the half was a back and forth affair with Tennessee taking a 35-28 lead into the break.  Georgia finished the half shooting 47.4-percent, but was limited on the offensive end committing 16 turnovers. The Bulldogs were all over the Volunteers on the defensive end holding Tennessee to just 36.7-percent shooting from the field.
[su_spacer size=”40″] After a slow start to the second half, UGA eventually turned things around over the course of the next five minutes. Solid defense combined with a 9-0 run led to a Bulldog lead with 11:42 left in the half. Gaines hit back-to-back three-pointers to give Georgia its first lead of the half at 49-47.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Georgia held off everything the Volunteers had to offer for the remaining ten minutes of the contest. Frazier finished with nine of his total 28 points in that final stretch. UGA finished the half shooting 51.4-percent from the floor, but cleaned things up committing only four turnovers. The Bulldogs played another 20 minutes of solid defense holding the Volunteers to just 39.3-percent shooting from the half.
[su_spacer size=”40″] The Bulldogs return home on Saturday to host No. 15 Texas A&M at 2 p.m. ET in Stegeman Coliseum. The game will be shown on ESPNU.