Bulldogs beat Arkansas for 10th win in a row

Georgia improves to 12-3 (2-0 SEC) ahead of Saturday’s visit from the SEC’s highest-ranked team, No. 5 Tennessee. The Vols (11-4, 1-1) fell to Mississippi State 77-72 Wednesday night in Starkville.

Arkansas is 9-6 (0-2).

The Bulldogs were able to extend the nation’s fourth-longest active winning streak – and longest among “power conference” teams this season – because of superior backcourt play. While there were indications that the Razorbacks might’ve had the best overall player in Tramon Mark, who scored a game-high 24 points, it was Georgia’s diversified group of guards that ruled the day. Senior Justin Hill, who’s coming off the bench for the Bulldogs this season, led the way with 19 points. Graduate transfer guard Noah Thomasson added 15 and they split six 3-pointers and 4 assists between them.

Meanwhile, 6-foot-8 wing player Jabri Abdur-Rahim, on a rough night shooting the ball, made the biggest one of the night, making a 3-ball from the right corner after Arkansas got within three with 4:40 to play. Silas Demary Jr., a freshman starter, helped put the game away with a dribble-drive basket with 2:55 to play.

Georgia’s perimeter players spent a lot of time going to the foul line. The Bulldogs were 17-of-22 for the game.

“We didn’t really flinch,” second-year coach Mike White said. “This is the fifth or sixth game like that where games can go the other way if your body language is a little bit different and you’ve got guys looking at each other like ‘Oh my goodness.’ … But this team has been pretty good in that regard. I don’t know where we finish or how good this team will ultimately be, but we’re getting better.”

Georgia never trailed and led by as many as 13 points. But the Razorbacks never let up and continued to apply pressure. At the 5:03 mark, Mark’s free throws made it 62-59.

That’s when Abdur-Rahim rose up from the right corner and buried the 3-pointer to let Arkansas know the home team wasn’t wavering. It was Abdur-Rahim’s first make after seven previous misses in the game.

“That was a huge shot,” White said. “That was a loud shot. Jabri’s confidence never wavers. You know, he’s one of the best shooters in the league. We needed that one to go down.”

The Razorbacks continued to push the issue and got back to within 65-62 inside three minutes to go. That’s when Demary decided to drive the basket from the right side of the lane and converted a highly-contested layup.

“It’s good to have that mixture, me and Justin being older guards and Blue (Cain) and Silas being younger guards,” Thomasson said. “We can help them and show them ways to improve on their game. We compete against each other every day and it’s showing up in the games.”

Georgia was up 10 at halftime, but it felt it should have been more. The Bulldogs were ahead by 13 before a late dry spell saw them go scoreless for more than two minutes. But RJ Melendez broke the drought with a pair of free throws for the last points of the half and a 34-24 Georgia lead.

A 12-0 run that started at the 10-minute mark put Georgia in control. It started with a Thomasson 3 and ended with a thunderous fast-break dunk from Cain following an Arkansas miss. The Bulldogs had a chance to push ahead two more, but Dylan James’ pirouette in the lane was deemed to have been a double-dribble and thus a turnover.

Georgia has wiped out opponents’ huge margins for victory and twice has seen big margins whittled down to almost nothing. In all cases, they’ve emerged victorious.

The Bulldogs are excited to keep that going when the Vols show up on Saturday.

“We’ve got to keep a narrow mind and just play basketball,” Hill said. “Next play, next play. Don’t focus on anything in the future or the past, just be in the moment.”