ATHENS, Ga. -- The smallest player on the court made the biggest difference.
With Tennessee hanging around despite its leading scorer struggling to find his shot, Georgia needed on J.J. Frazier to ensure the Bulldogs wouldn't lose a third straight game.
The 5-foot-10 guard hit a trio of 3-pointers during the key stretch of the second half, and Georgia held on from there to send the Volunteers to fourth loss in five games in a 56-53 win at Stegeman Coliseum on Saturday afternoon.
Coming off a career-high 30-point performance against Mississippi State on Tuesday, Josh Richardson, Tennessee's best player, scored just two points and missed all but one of his 13 shots attempts, his lone make coming on a tough drive with 30 seconds left in the game.
Armani Moore (16 points), Robert Hubbs (15) and Kevin Punter (10) picked up the slack for Tennessee (13-9, 5-5 SEC), but Frazier's big shots were enough for Georgia (15-7, 6-4).
The sophomore's third 3 made it 51-42 with more than six minutes left, but Tennessee, coming off a home loss to Mississippi State, chipped away at the deficit.
Hubbs tipped in Moore's 3-point miss to make it 53-50 with 1:39 to go.
After Marcus Thornton's miss, Tennessee had a chance to tie the game, but Moore slipped in the lane on his way to the basket.
Georgia's Charles Mann then threw a long pass out of a trap near midcourt to a wide open Nemanja Djurisic standing beneath the basket, and the forward from Montenegro slammed the Bulldogs into a two-possession lead.
The Vols got a contested look at a tying basket after Derek Reese emerged from a scramble with the rebound from Kevin Punter's missed free throws, but Richardson's double-clutch effort was off.
Tennessee scored the first six points of the game and led 8-1 when Georgia went on a 10-2 run to take its first lead of the afternoon. Thornton scored in the post to give the Bulldogs a lead it did not relinquish the rest of the first half. The teams were tied three times and swapped the lead three more times in the first half.
Georgia pushed its lead to six on baskets at the rim by Thornton, Djurisic and Kenny Gaines, and after Tennessee battled back to with a basket, the Bulldogs scored the last five points of the half on a Djurisic 3 and two Thornton free throws. The 29-22 halftime lead was Georgia's largest of the game to that point.
After allowing Mississippi State to shoot 56 percent from the field in a loss on Tuesday, the Vols let Georgia make 11 of its 18 shots in the first half, but Tennessee stayed the game close by scoring 13 points off 11 Georgia turnovers to overcome shooting just 32 percent.
Moore scored the first seven points of the second half for Tennessee, which tied the game at 31 on a pull-up jumper from Hubbs, but Georgia forward Yante Maten to give the hosts a lead they would not give up.
After Moore scored in the post to make it 39-36, J.J. Frazier hit back-to-back 3s to give the Bulldogs their largest lead of the game with 10:19 to go.
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.