ATHENS -- Trey Thompkins scored 21 points and Georgia led by double digits most of the way to beat No. 8 Tennessee 78-63 on Saturday and end the Vols' seven-game winning streak.
Georgia ended Tennessee's streak of 10 straight wins in the series, including eight straight under coach Bruce Pearl.
Georgia (9-8, 1-3 Southeastern Conference) made 7 of 12 3-point attempts to give first-year coach Mark Fox his first SEC win. The Bulldogs lost each of their first three conference games by no more than four points.
Scotty Hopson led Tennessee (15-3, 3-1 SEC) with 19 points and was the only Tennessee player to make a 3-pointer. The Vols made only 3 of 16 attempts beyond the 3-point line, including 3 of 6 by Hopson. Bobby Maze added 11 points.
Travis Leslie had several jams and 19 points for Georgia, which beat Tennessee for the first time since Feb. 21, 2004.
Senior Wayne Chism, who had only 6 points, launched an air ball on Tennessee's first possession, setting the pace for a poor first half. The Vols led 4-2 before Georgia scored 12 straight points. Leslie had a breakaway reverse jam following a steal, and Jeremy Price added another jam for a 14-4 lead.
Thompkins had 14 points in the first half, including a jam to give Georgia a 40-20 lead. The Bulldogs led 42-27 at the half.
Chism was escorted to the locker room after suffering an apparent left knee injury with 9:22 remaining in the first half. He suffered the injury when fouled by Price. Chism, the team's second-leading scorer, was back in the game at the 7:51 mark.
Tennessee guards Cameron Tatum and Melvin Goins played for the first time since they were reinstated to the team one week ago. Pearl suspended Goins and Tatum, along with forward Tyler Smith and center Brian Williams after the four were arrested on misdemeanor gun, drug and alcohol charges during a traffic stop in Knoxville on Jan. 1.
Goins had 2 points. Tatum had 1 point.
Williams is indefinitely suspended. Smith was dismissed from the team Jan. 8.
The Vols were denied their first 4-0 start in the conference in 21 years.
Thursday
November 28th, 2024
1:51PM
