Georgia Basketball enters the SEC home opener riding a 9-game win streak including wins at Florida State and Missouri. The Dawgs are coming off a disappointing 1st year from head coach Mike White where they finished 16-16 overall with a 6-12 conference record. So far the Dawgs have been playing excellent and have been one of the more surprising teams in the SEC thus far.
Georgia came out of the gates hot as they knocked down their 1st 4 field goal attempts led by transfer Noah Thomasson with 4 points early to start the game. Arkansas on the other hand was ice cold. The bulldogs defense shut the razorbacks down as they did not allow them to score until their 9th possession of the ball game which came with 14 minutes left in the 1st half. The shooting struggles continued for the Razorbacks as they started the game 1-6 from the free throw line and fell behind by 12 halfway through the 1st half. Georgia gained their largest lead of 13 when senior guard Justin Hill came off the bench and went 2 for 2 from the 3 point line. Arkansas then ended the half on a 12-2 run that would put them down 10 going into halftime with Georgia leading 34-24.
Georgia stayed hot to start the 2nd half. Thomasson and Hill kept adding to their scoring totals as they both finished in double figures (Thamasson 15, Hill 19). The Razorbacks were consistently trying to make a comeback and play catch up but the closest they ever got was when they brought the game to within 5 points with 5 minutes left in the game. Despite the late push from the Razorbacks the Dawgs kept fighting and eventually won the game by a score of 76-66. This win extends the Dawgs winning streak to 10 games and it is tied for 4th longest winning streak in program history. Arkansas falls to 0-2 in conference play as Georgia goes to 2-0.
Georgia looks to continue their winning streak and extend it to 11 games this Saturday as they take on #5 Tennensee in Athens. Head coach Mike White has started this season red hot and the fans are more engaged as ever. After watching the team struggle these past few seasons it finally seems that things are turning around and heading in the right direction for the program. If the Dawgs can keep up their recent success there is no doubt that the rest of college basketball will take notice and it may even lead to the Dawgs being ranked in the top 25 for the 1st time in many years.
