It paid off as Przybyszewski and Matt Freije each scored 13 points, and the Commodores went 19-of-20 from the line in a 61-39 victory over Georgia on Wednesday night.
Georgia was playing without senior point guard Rashad Wright, who was on crutches most of the week with a sprained ankle. It was the first SEC start Wright has missed in four-year career at Georgia.
``We all practiced free throws more after our poor performance at Florida. It came back in this game,'' Przybyszewski said. He hit 7-of-8 free throws and Freije finished 8-of-8.
Vanderbilt (15-5, 4-5 Southeastern Conference) was outscored by 24 points at the charity stripe in a 10-point loss to Florida last Saturday. The Commodores were just 11-of-20 in that performance.
``It's got very little to do with practice,'' said Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings, who collected his 200th career victory. ``It's about stepping up and making them, and they did that.''
Georgia (11-10, 3-7) failed to score a field goal in a 14-minute stretch straddling halftime and the Bulldogs went just 13-of-46 from the field (28.3 percent) for the game.
``We lost the game because of the guys who played, not because of anyone who didn't play,'' Georgia coach Dennis Felton said. ``Vanderbilt just beat us.''
The Bulldogs had four players entering the game averaging 10 points or more. None of them scored more than six as freshman Levi Stukes scored nine on three 3-pointers to lead Georgia. But with Stukes running the offense, Georgia committed 18 turnovers.
``We turned it over too much, that's something we've been addressing,'' Felton said. ``Between the turnovers, I thought we got some pretty good quality shots.''
Stukes' basket with 6:29 left in the first half made cut Vanderbilt's lead to 24-14. After 13 straight misses, Steve Newman's layup with 12:02 remaining made it 47-23.
Vanderbilt could have won by much more, but Stallings pulled most of his starters midway through the second half. His team shot 18-of-42 from the field (42.9 percent) for the game.
``We were careless in the second half with turnovers,'' Stallings said.
Julian Terrell added 10 points for the Commodores, who played zone for most of the game and forced Georgia into bad shots.
``We played more zone than we normally do,'' he said. ``We are developing more confidence and more precision in it which is making us a little bit more effective.''
In one particularly poor two-minute stretch in the first half, Georgia committed three consecutive turnovers and Vanderbilt missed six straight shots. That came after the Bulldogs committed six fouls and four turnovers in the first six minutes of the game.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2004/2/163985