Tennessee’s NASHVILLE (AP) – On Wednesday night, Georgia easily defeated Vanderbilt 76-64 with to 17 points from Noah Thomasson, all of which came in the first half, and 13 more from Jabri Abdur-Rahim.
After Georgia’s 16-point halftime advantage was cut to 11, the Bulldogs surged ahead 63-40 at the 11-minute mark thanks to five points from Justin Hill and a 3-pointer from Blue Cain during a 12-0 run. With almost two minutes remaining, Paul Lewis shot a 3-pointer to pull Vanderbilt within 14 points; however, there would be no more scoring until Ven-Allen Lubin of Vanderbilt made a layup with 23 seconds remaining to seal the victory.
In the last seven minutes, Georgia only made two of nine shots, while Vanderbilt only made three of ten in the same period.
Lewis had 18 points, Ezra Manjon and Tyrin Lawrence added 12 each and Lubin finished with 10 for the Commodores (7-19, 2-11 SEC). Lubin grabbed eight rebounds.
Russel Tchewa had 10 rebounds for Georgia (15-11, 5-8). After their red-hot first half, the Bulldogs cooled off in the second, shooting 46% to finish at 53%. They made 10 of 28 3-point tries and Vanderbilt hit on 11 of 32.
Thomasson hit five 3-pointers in the first half and his 17 points led Georgia to a 44-28 halftime lead. He shot 6 for 11 but the Bulldogs were so hot – 16 of 27 for 59% – that he had nearly half of their misses.
Up next for Georgia is a home game against No. 14 Auburn on Saturday. Vanderbilt visits Florida on Saturday.
