Georgia basketball seniors deliver a Christmas dream
In 112 years of Georgia basketball, only four Bulldogs went undefeated against Georgia Tech. In 113 years, make it nine.
On Saturday afternoon, the Georgia basketball team not only beat Tech on the road, the Georgia seniors joined that most exclusive of Bulldog basketball clubs. The Bulldog seniors became the fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth Georgia men’s players to go undefeated against Georgia Tech.
The moment of sweetness was a long time coming, as things have been tough for this Georgia basketball senior class. After three years with head coach Mark Fox – the man who recruited them and the man they came to Athens to play for (and the man who led them to their first three wins against the Jackets) – they were thrown into the regime of Tom Crean. After, struggling into the Christmas break, they and their Bulldog teammates had to go on the road to face their most hated foe.
Ho ho ho Mike Edwards, Turtle Jackson, Derek Ogbeide, Connor O’Neil and E’Torrion Wilridge. It’s the merriest of Christmases, and you earned it.
But wait, there’s more. In each victory over Tech that included this year’s seniors, the Bulldogs won by double digits.
The gift that will never stop giving
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It’s a gift all Dawgs can enjoy forever. And it’s just about been forever since it last happened. Vern Fleming, James Banks, Richard Corhen, and Gerald Crosby are the only other Georgia basketball players to go undefeated against Tech. All four also played pivotal roles in Georgia’s only Final Four appearance. Take off your socks and shoes, and that comes up to something over 30 years ago – and never in the nearly 80 years prior.
Santa’s Georgia basketball helpers
Of course, this senior class had help. Last year, Yante Maten played 35 minutes and scored 24 of the Bulldogs 80 points in a 80 – 59 blowout. The year before, Maten scored 16 and senior JJ Frazier scored 15 as the Dawgs won 60 – 43.
During the 2015-16 season, when this year’s Dawg seniors were freshman, JJ Frazier scored 22 of his 35 points in the second half against Tech. Yante Maten scored 15. With Georgia floundering, down one to the Jackets coming out of halftime, Senior Houston Kessler grabbed two offensive rebounds, a defensive rebound, deflected a pass into a fast break basket, and scored himself to give Georgia a six point lead before the second half was a minute and a half old.
Desperate Dawgs planted historic seeds
Every good Christmas story has some irony, and this one does too. The seniors in 2015-16 had never beaten Tech, yet it was their December 2015 win that began the four-year run that gave Jackson, Edwards, Ogbeide, Wilridge, and O‘Neal the record held by few.
Next. Stetson Bennett risks everything for Georgia football. dark
No doubt, Bulldog basketball juniors Tyree Crump and Jordan Harris enjoyed the moment as well, and with one more win, they can push the Bee Keepers membership to double digits. And, being cousins, if they can pull it off, they can make it a family affair.