ATHENS, Ga. - Rick Barnes wanted Tennessee to be intentional about working the basketball to post players on the block early in offensive possessions against Georgia.
The Volunteers certainly tried, but it was the resurgent Bulldogs who dominated inside on the way to a 73-62 Southeastern Conference win at Stegeman Coliseum on Saturday night.
A chant of "Just like Football" rang out from the crowd of 10,028 in the game's final minute. However, this game was much closer than Georgia's 41-0 win over Tennessee on the gridiron in 2017.
The 18th-ranked Vols (19-7, 9-5) had three chances to take the lead between the 7:03 and 5:53 marks, but 3-point attempts from James Daniel, Jordan Bowden and Admiral Schofield missed. Then Derek Ogbeide scored an and-one basket to give Georgia a two-possession lead again with 5:32 remaining. The play reinvigorated the Bulldogs (15-11, 6-8) for the stretch run.
"The biggest thing," Schofield said, "is they just really out-toughed us in the end."
Ogbeide scored 16 points off the bench. Fellow post player Yante Maten set the tone with 11 of Georgia's first 13 points and scored a game-high 19 as the Bulldogs finished with a 28-20 edge in the paint.
Tennessee's leading scorer and primary post presence Grant Williams fouled out with 1:41 remaining after scoring five points on 1-of-8 shooting.
Coach Rick Barnes said "there's nothing wrong" with Williams, who was wearing a back brace as the Vols returned to the court after halftime, trailing 28-26. The sophomore has been managing a nagging hip and back injury.
"He wasn't very good with his defensive coverage," Barnes said. "We didn't execute that the way we wanted to. He has to stop talking, is what he has to do. He has to produce. He has to quit talking about it and do it."
Williams scored 22 points in Tennessee's win over South Carolina on Tuesday, and Barnes wanted the offense to play through Williams against the Bulldogs. Barnes also wanted Jordan Bone to push the tempo on offense. The Vols did both early while taking a 6-5 lead into the first media timeout. Williams scored the first basket of the game, courtesy of a Bone assist.
Then Maten took over.
The SEC's leading scorer sustained the Bulldogs' offense early before passing the baton to Ogbeide, who had 11 rebounds to go with his season-high point total.
"Ogbeide, he's a physical big with a lot of energy," Tennessee junior center Kyle Alexander said. "We needed to match that, and I don't think we did that tonight."
Alexander's 10 points and 13 rebounds were Tennessee's primary form of resistance to the physical play of Maten and Ogbeide. Schofield finished with 11 points, Bowden had 13 and Lamonte Turner had a team-high 14 points, including 11 in the second half as the Vols grew increasingly reliant on 3-point attempts while the inside game struggled.
Turner's 3 from the left wing with 4:46 to go in the first half was Tennessee's first make from beyond the arc. Junior walk-on Lucas Campbell stood up from his seat on the bench and flashed three fingers in the air while looking skyward as if to say, "Thank goodness." The Vols had been shooting less than 30 percent from the field before the shot.
Tennessee made six field goals in the final five minutes of the half after going the first 15 minutes with just five. With Maten out of the game with two fouls, Tennessee closed its deficit from seven points to two points by halftime.
Georgia went on a 10-2 run to start the second half and Tennessee never evened the score - it's best opportunity to do so lost in a barrage of 3-point bricks while trailing 51-49.
"We're down two, and even though you could probably say those 3s were open, that's not what you wanted," Barnes said. "We had the momentum there and we should have put a little bit more pressure on them."
Georgia shot 38 free throws to Tennessee's 15, indicating to Barnes that the Vols were not aggressive enough offensively.
The win was key for Georgia and embattled coach Mark Fox, who is in his ninth season with the Bulldogs. It capped a 2-o week that also included an overtime victory on the road at Florida. Tennessee and Georgia play again in Knoxville on March 3 in the regular-season finale for both.
"You've got to be aggressive," Schofield said. "At the end of the day, if you're not getting calls, it doesn't matter if you are aggressive or not. If you are getting fouled and no one sees it and calls it or if they're getting most of the calls, that's just how basketball is. They got a lot of calls. They are the home team.
"I can't wait to see them in Knoxville, though. It's going to be a good game."
Contact David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DavidWCobb and on Facebook at facebook.com/volsupdate.