Sports

Tonight the Georgia Bulldogs Mens Basketball team resumes play against the 17th ranked Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. The Bulldogs went 7-1 during their first eight home games and look to beat their first ranked opponent of the season. UGA lost their last game on January 2nd at the University of Missouri and look to rebound tonight against the Yellow Jackets. Georgia Tech has received a lot of attention for their famed freshman forward Derrick Favors, a player who could be the top pick in this year’s NBA draft. However, another freshman to keep an eye on is Mfon Udofia. He’s been a big time scorer for the Yellow Jackets so far, but he’s very prone to turning the ball over. The Dawgs will need a big game form Trey Thompkins tonight against the dominant Tech frontcourt, after he only scored nine points in his last game. The arena is nowhere near full capacity and I see very little gold and blue, I guess a lot of Tech fans are more concerned about the Orange Bowl tonight.

Final Score: Georgia Tech 66, Georgia 73: Ricky McPhee makes the lay up to put to Dawgs back up by six. Leslie earns his fourth foul as Shumbert goes to the line. Shumbert makes both of his attempts from the line. Dustin Ware is fouled, but makes only one free throw. Thompkins steals the ball and Dustin Ware is fouled again. Ware makes both of his shots. Dawgs are up by seven. Shumbert misses a three and Ware recovers the ball, but is given a hard foul by Zach Peacock. Ware makes two more free throws and has scored the Dawgs last five points.  Shumbert makes two free throws and then he makes his fourth foul of the game. Ware gets two free throw attempts and makes one of them. Shumbert makes a layup and Tech calls a timeout. Peacock makes a three. Ware makes two free throws, a common sight in the last 10 minutes or so. Game over.

1:15 Peacock sinks a three and the Jackets cuts the Bulldogs lead down to only four. Gt 57, UGA 61

1:23 Peacock steals the ball and barely makes it in the hoop, but is fouled. He makes the free throw. Georgia time out. Thompkins makes another field goal as he’s fouled by the Yellow Jackets and sinks another free throw for another three point play. Lawal misses the layup and Ware drives out down the court. Bell fouls Thompkins, who makes two more free throws. Thompkins offensive play has really picked up this half . Lawal sinks two free throws. Ricky McPhee scores his first three of the half. The UGA chants can now be heard all over the building. Gt 54, UGA 61.

3:48 Thompkins makes the layup as the shot clock almost expires and is fouled by Lawal. Thompkins makes the free throw. Georgia Tech misses three straight shot attempts on their next possession. The crowd is roaring here at the Stegeman Coliseum as the Dawgs look to close out this game with a win in the final four minutes. GT 48, UGA 53

5:12 Brian Oliver makes a three, a first for Georgia Tech tonight. Oliver misses his next field goal attempt. Thompkins makes the slam dunk after Ware sets up the easy basket. Albert Jackson is called for a third foul and Zach Peacock makes his free throws.  GT 48, UGA 50

7:44 Jeremy Price sinks a basket to increase the Dawgs lead. D’Andre Bell air balls a three, Tech has not scored a three yet. UGA has not had a three in the 2nd half yet, after scoring six of them in the first half. Bell rebounds the ball and drives it down the lane for an easy field goal. Leslie sinks two free throws and has reached double digit scoring territory. Favors leaps for the rebound and the ball is ruled of out bounds. Leslie steals the ball and is fouled by Bell while attempting the layup, and makes one of his free throws. Favors is called for his fourth foul after Thompkins rebounds the missed free throw. Thompkins makes both free throws. Shumpert throws the ball out of bounds. Price grabs the rebound, but UGA is unable to score on the possession. Shumpert loses the the ball again. Official time out. At the moment Georgia Tech is losing in this game and down in Miami. Gt 43, UGA 48.

11:55 Travis Leslie is called for his third foul. Lawal goes to the line and only makes one free throw.  GT 39, UGA 41.

12:09 Favors makes the layup and is nearly fouled on the play. McPhee has the ball stolen and Favors lays in the ball for back to back baskets. Dustin Ware sinks a three to tie the game.  Gani Lawal makes his 2nd basket of the half. Travis Leslie makes the alley oop for 2. Favors is called for a foul, Tech’s third of the half. Travis Leslie makes a powerful block that sends the ball out of bounds. Dustin Ware sinks a three and the Dawgs are back on top for now. Chris Barnes is called for a foul. GT 38, UGA 41.

15: 31Vincent Williams misses a shot and passes it back to Price who misses the slam dunk. McPhee is called for a foul. Time out for a fan contest. GT 34, UGA 33

16:30 Gani Lawal makes a two for the first points of the half. Udofia sinks his second basket of the night. Tech regains the lead. Trey Thompkins makes a field goal and is off to a good start in the 2nd half. Derrick Favors sinks two free throws after struggling in the first half offensively. Udofia makes his 2nd half of the night. Shumpert makes his first foul of the game. Zach Peacock and Vincent Williams return to the game. Time out.  GT 34, UGA 33

Halftime Thoughts: For a guy with a lot of hype and attention, Favors was a dud in the first half for the Yellow Jackets. He only played 11 minutes and was limited to 2 points and 3 rebounds. The most impressive player for Georgia Tech has been Gani Lawal who is the game’s leading scorer so far with 12 points.  Overall both teams have not shot well, but what has kept the Dawgs ahead has been their success at the three point line.  Travis Leslie and Ricky McPhee have each made 3 three pointers, which has accounted for all but 7 of the Dawg’s 31 points in the first half. The game will resume in about 6 minutes.

First Half

15:12: Trey Thompkins sink two free throws. Gani Lawal is 2-4 so far and has scored 5 points.  Ricky McPhee is already 2 for 3 from the 3 point line. First official time out. GT 8, UGA 7

11:47: Jeremy Price scores on a spinning a lay up. Iman Shumpert launches a terrible three point attempt. Vincent Williams comes into the game for the Dawgs. Thompkins inbounds the ball out of bounds.  Lawal misses a layup. Price is called for a foul as Lawal misses one of his free throws. Chris Barnes and Dustin Ware are coming into the game for the Dawgs. Thompkins throws down a slam dunk after catching a deep pass from Travis Leslie. 3 second violation called on Tech. Leslie scores back to back baskets for the Dawgs as the crowd goes wild. UGA is on an 8 point run. So far Udofa hasn’t taken a shot and Favors has been limited to only 2 points. GT 8, UGA 16

7:36: Brian Oliver ends the Tech scoring drought with a bucket. Leslie misses a field goal attempt. Zachary Peacock steps out of bounds and its UGA ball. Shumpert gets fouled an a shot attempt, but makes both free throws. Jeremy Price is fouled by D’Andre Bell and makes one of his two free throws. Gani Lawal misses two field goal shots and Leslie returns the ball for an unsuccessful monstrous slam dunk. Shumpert misses a three, but Lawal rebounds it and scores.  Ebuka Anyaorah gets the Dawgs back on track with a three pointer. Lawal is the game’s leading scorer so far with 8 points and McPhee hasn’t scored since making two threes early on in the game. GT 14, UGA 20

5:16 Lawal sinks two free throws for Tech. Ricky McPhee makes a three to end his scoring drought. Peacock scores for the Jackets. Derrick Favors returns for the Yellow Jackets. McPhee makes a long shot that is way off balance and nowhere near the net. Derrick Favors is called for his 2nd foul tonight. Travis Leslie makes a field goal and his six points tonight. Udofa makes a three for his first points of the night. Leslie is called for a foul.  Gani Lawal makes a field goal and is fouled, but misses his free throw attempt. GT 22, UGA 25

3:33 Udofa makes a turnover driving the ball down the lane. The crowd is upset after Peacock isn’t called for a foul and is yelling stuff I will not repeat. Peacock hesitates to take a three, but makes a long field goal after stepping in front of the three line. Lawal is called for his first foul of the night and the game stops as t-shirts are being shot into the crowd.

GT 24, UGA 25

Halftime: Thompkins misses his shot at the free throw line. McPhee passes the ball to Anyaorah, but it is out of bounds. Zach Peacock scores another basket and has six points tonight. McPhee misses a three point attempt. Zach Peacock misses another long field goal attempt. Anyaorah makes both of his free throw attempts. Albert Jackson puts one in the hoop for his first points of the night. Tech turns the ball over and Thompkins scores his 2nd basket of the night, but is only 2-8 in shooting so far. Its halftime now and the crowd is cheering the Bulldogs off the court. Your score after the first half is

GT 26, UGA 31