Sports

Final UT-59 UGA-57

Great game, it was point for point most of the game, with neither team leading by more than 6. Tennessee out rebounded Georgia 34-28, the last one being the most fatal. What looked like a clear over the back foul call on Tennessee center Brian Williams over Georgia Center Chris Barnes, resulted in a put back at the buzzer to lift the Volunteers (12-6, 2-2) over the Bulldogs (13-4, 2-1) at the Stegeman Coliseum. When I asked Barnes about the final play, he responded “I didn’t believe the game was over.  I just saw the flashing lights going off.  It’s heart breaking to lose in front of the home crowd.”  Brian Williams who made the game winner said, “I knew we’d have time left because we were moving with 10 seconds left.  So I had to grab the rebound and that was it.”  After the game when asked about the final play, Coach Fox raised an eyebrow and just sat there looking exhausted and emotionally drained, responding, “No, I have to watch the tape.”  Tobias Harris and Scotty Hopson led the Volunteers with 15 apiece while Gerald Robinson and Travis Leslie led the Bulldogs with 14 apiece. A clear problem with Bulldogs seems to be their lack of depth and size off the bench. While Barnes played an OK game filling in for the foul-plagued starter Jeremy Price, who had only 2 rebounds during his 9 minutes of playing time, it was clear that the Bulldog frontline was outmatched on the boards. Especially in the last minute of game, when the Vols had the ball for the last 57 seconds before Williams’  last second bucket. Coach Fox spoke about the final seconds of the game saying “we know they are going to take the last shot and we wanted to play defense without fouling like we are taught.”  Coach Fox also went on to say about the team, ” we didn’t have the right energy, but that is not the reason we lose.  We are tired coming of a win, but it’s a grind.”

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The Atlanta Falcons and Green Bay Packers will play for an NFC Championship Game berth Saturday night in the Georgia Dome.

2^nd Half

0:00 Kentucky 70, Georgia 77

Doron Lamb fouls out. Thompkins makes both free throws. Knight misses a three. Darius Miller fouls out. Thompkins makes two more free throws. Jones makes the layup and is fouled by Thompkins. Jones makes the free throw. Harrellson blocks a shot. Jones for three. Bulldogs win.

1:05 Kentucky 64, Georgia 73

Doron Lamb is called for a foul. Robinson makes both free throws. Jones air balls a three and everybody is yelling at him for it. Leslie is fouled and makes both free throws. Lamb misses a three point shot. Lamb fouls Gerald Robinson. Robinson makes both free throws. Miller misses the three twice in a row. Terrence Jones with layup. Wildcats are down by nine.

2:13 Kentucky 62, Georgia 67

The Georgia is ecstatic here as DeAndre Liggins fouls out for Kentucky. Thompkins makes both free throws. Terrence Jones for three. Kentucky living on a prayer right now.

2:37 Kentucky 59, Georgia 66

Gerald Robinson makes both free throws. Terrence Jones shot bounces off the rim. Trey Thompkins with the mid range jumper. Georgia is up by 7.

3:14 Kentucky 59, Georgia 62

Liggins misses the three. Robinson misses the three. Kentucky turnover. Thompkins sinks both of his free throws. Georgia up by three. Lamb is fouled as he misses the shot. Lamb makes the 1^st free throw. Lamb misses the 2^nd free throw. Liggins is called for his 4^th foul of the night. Chris Barnes makes the 1^st free throw and misses the 2^nd free throw. Miller misses the layup. Robinson misses the layup and is fouled by Darius Miller. Timeout.

6:47 Kentucky 58, Georgia 59

Rocky Balboa just made an appearance at Stegeman Coliseum and both sides of the crowd are cheering for him. Ware misses the three. Lamb misses the layup. Out of bounds, Georgia’s ball. Jeremy Price seems to be all right after falling out of bounds. Brandon Knight for two. Knight is playing a great 2^nd half so far. Liggins fouls Travis Leslie. Leslie makes his first free throw.

7:53 Kentucky 56, Georgia 58

Gerald Robinson for two. Price called for the foul as Jones scores. Terrence Jones makes the free throw. Price called for another foul. Lamb misses the open three. Lamb misses the layup. Terrence Jones is called for a foul. Timeout. Dustin Ware for three. Price with the rebound.

10:33 Kentucky 53, Georgia 53

Lamb called for a foul. Gerald Robinson called for a foul. John Harrellson called for the foul. Chris Barnes makes both shots. Brandon Knight with the layup. Travis Leslie scores to tie it up. Harrelson scores of his own offensive rebound. Thompkins with the dunk.  Doron Lamb with the layup. He know has 17 points today. Darius Miller tips the ball out of bounds. Official timeout.

13:21 Kentucky 45, Georgia 47

Doron Lamb misses the three. Out of bounds Kentucky. Brandon Knight scores. Kentucky is within seven points now. Jones misses the baseline shot and is called for his third foul. Georgia misses another scoring chance. Doron Lamb for three. Kentucky within in four. Doron Lamb scores again. Lamb has five points on back to back shots. Timeout called by Georgia.

15:30 Kentucky 38, Georgia 47

Thompkins called for the foul. Terrene Jones makes both foul shots. Robinson misses the outside jumper. Lamb misses the two pointer. Travis Leslie with the monster jam the Bulldog fans have been waiting for. Terrence Jones for two. Jeremy Price with his first basket of the night. Knight misses the three. DeAndre Liggins with the layup. Terrence Jones scores again. He’s heating up right now. Jones with the rebound. Jeremy Price with the rejection.

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MEMPHIS-The Liberty Bowl was not much fun for any fan of good football. The game saw a lone touchdown and plenty of turnovers. It was a sloppy postseason affair. However, it was the Knights of UCF that could smile and celebrate on Beale Street last night. Georgia’s offense never generated the production it needed to beat the Conference USA champion. The Dawgs only needed 11 points and failed to get there.

A stunned Justin Houston watching Georgia's last drive

Here is the stat line for the game:

Aaron Murray: 21-38, 198 yards, two interceptions

Washaun Ealey: 16 carries, 60 yards

A.J. Green: Eight catches, 77 yards

Kris Durham: three catches, 47 yards

Brandon Boykin and Branden Smith both had an interception.

Here are some quotes from coaches and players:

Coach Mark Richt: “The only thing you can do at this point is congratulate Coach O’Leary and Central Florida…UCF, I think they would like to be called UCF and they certainly earned that tonight. They did a great job. They certainly played great defense. They made plays when they had to make plays offensively. Their special teams were very outstanding. It was a hard fought game and a very good football game if you like defense. I think the turnovers were pretty much a loss. Both teams had a couple. They just did what they needed to do when it counted most. It wasn’t a lack of fight or effort on our guys part.

Richt on Murray wearing gloves: “The glove decision:he’s been practicing in them when its been wet. He’s been throwing the ball really well with the gloves. I don’t think that was a factor. It was really more windy than wet. But I don’t think the wind was a factor. He just misfired and tried to force it a few times. Alot of it had to do with the defense being played”

Richt on if he would go for the touchdown instead of a field goal in the first quarter if he had a do over: “Well if I’d known what the final score was, yeah. But I think it was the right thing to do at the time. I think a couple players were upset that I didn’t go for it at that time. But I was like, if you wanna make it, make it on third-and-one, don’t tell me you wanna go for it on fourth-and-one. I don’t think it was a bad decision”

Richt on season: “We’re all disappointed. We didn’t want to finish with a loss. We didn’t want to finish with a losing record. Nobody could have probably predicted that. It is what it is. There are reasons why we ended the way we did. We have got to make changes. We gotta make sure that doesn’t happen again in the future. We’re going to improve. We’re going to get Georgia where it belongs.”

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