``It is our house,'' said guard Billy Humphrey, who equaled his career high with 24 points in leading Georgia to an 82-69 win over Southeastern Conference foe Arkansas Saturday night.
The Bulldogs improved to 10-0 in Stegeman Coliseum, compared to 1-5 elsewhere.
``We are not supposed to lose at home,'' Humphrey added. ``We play here every day. There is no reason we should lose here.''
Sundiata Gaines and Jeremy Price each scored 14 for Georgia (11-5, 2-1 SEC).
Charles Thomas with 13 points and Sonny Weems with 12 led Arkansas (13-5, 2-2 SEC).
``I thought Georgia played outstanding,'' said Arkansas coach John Pelphrey. ``We didn't play very well. We struggled at times with the turnover bug. There were six or seven times we had it, and the ball just popped out of our hands. Georgia was better tonight. We have to regroup.''
``We are maturing, and we are improving,'' said Georgia coach Dennis Felton. ``We have to find a way to keep doing it.
``Arkansas is about three times older than us in terms of their experience, and they were picked to win the West for a reason. That is a very high quality team we just beat and a lot to feel good about.''
Gaines credited Georgia's aggressive defense for the victory.
``All season we have been playing aggressive, especially at home,'' said Gaines. ``Our big problem has been on the road. We play great defense at home, but when we go on the road we let the crowd determine how the game is going to go.''
Arkansas led six times in the first half, but never by more than two points. The Razorbacks' last lead of the half came at 6:21 after Darian Townes scored on an alley-oop to put Arkansas up 22-21.
The Bulldogs answered with a 9-2 run, the first run by either team. Humphrey hit a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws during the streak, and Albert Jackson capped it with a hook at 1:57 to make it 30-24. Humphrey hit a short jumper with 30 seconds to go in the half, giving him 10 points at intermission and boosting the Bulldogs to a 34-27 halftime lead.
Arkansas missed all six of its 3-point attempts in the first half.
The Razorbacks were never closer than seven in the second half. A 3-pointer by Terrence Woodbury, who scored 12, and a 3-point play on a dunk by Price gave Georgia a 65-49 lead with 8:16 to play, putting the Razorbacks in catch-up mode. Georgia's biggest lead was 74-55 after a steal and layup by Gaines with 4:44 to play.
``We never really gave them anything to be confident about,'' Felton said. ``When you are shooting 58 percent from the field and 67 percent from 3-point line, then the game flows pretty good. The crowd was into it and enjoyed it. We all had a good time tonight.''
``I was surprised we didn't handle the zone defense very well,'' said Pelphrey of Georgia's 1-3-1. ``We handled it well against Auburn. We knew what we wanted to do. Our guards struggled passing it back and forth. We just didn't execute well tonight. I'm very surprised by that.''
Humphrey hit six of 10 field goals, including four of six from behind the 3-point line and eight of nine free throws to equal the 24 points he scored in a loss at Gonzaga earlier year.
Felton said he is at a loss to explain Georgia's road woes.
``We are not unique in that regard,'' he said. ``In the game of basketball, historically and statistically, it is harder to win on the road than at home. We don't buy into that notion. We expect to win wherever we go.''
Players from both teams advanced on their schools' respective career charts.
Gaines was credited with four assists to move past Vern Fleming into fourth on the career assist list. Gaines has 404 for his career.
Townes scored eight points to pass James Eldridge and tie Alvin Robertson for 24th in Razorback career scoring. Townes now has 1,097 points.
Attendance was announced as 8,322 but was probably half of that because of snow in the area that probably discouraged some ticket holders.
Billy Humphrey had a career-high to help Georgia beat Arkansas and stay perfect at Stegeman Coliseum this season.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2008/1/205992