Mark WiedmerNASHVILLE – Appearing to favor somewhat his injured right knee, the one covered by a balky brace and a bag of ice, Georgia forward Yante Maten gamely trudged up the short ladder to begin a winners’ news conference Thursday afternoon at Bridgestone Arena.
Only moments earlier, Maten – a serious contender for Southeastern Conference player of the year before he badly sprained the knee against visiting Kentucky on Feb. 18 – had helped the Bulldogs defeat Tennessee 59-57 in their second-round Southeastern Conference tourney tussle. A third meeting with regular-season champ UK awaits the Dawgs at 1 p.m. today in the tournament quarterfinals.
“I’m pretty excited,” Maten said of his 12 points, five rebounds and two blocked shots, which were 12 more points, five more rebounds and two more blocks than anyone had expected from him 48 hours earlier.
“I always try to do my best to play within myself. I try not to do too much that I normally don’t do. So I just tried to stick to the paint in this game.”
The plan worked. Georgia outrebounded the shorter Vols by 10 (39-29). UGA shot it noticeably better from the field despite hitting four fewer 3-pointers. On a day when senior guard J.J. Frazier scored 17 points despite hitting just four of 13 field-goal tries, the Bulldogs survived and advanced, which is always Job One this time of year.