No. 21 Georgia hosts foul-troubled Texas for first of two matchups
Texas will get another chance to take down another ranked team when it hosts No. 21 Georgia on Saturday in a Southeastern Conference game in Austin, Texas.
The Bulldogs (16-3, 4-2 SEC) travel to the capital of Texas with a two-game winning streak, most recently a 74-72 triumph on the road over Missouri on Tuesday. Marcus Millender's three-point play with 5.5 seconds left proved to be the difference and a part of his team-leading 18 points in the game.
Jeremiah Wilkinson scored 14 points, Kanon Catchings added 12, Somto Cyril had 11 and Blue Cain took 10 rebounds for Georgia, which has captured three of its past four games. The Bulldogs have won two of their first three road games in the SEC's gauntlet of a schedule.
"It's big - these things can be contagious if you get off to a good start with your road opportunities," Georgia coach Mike White said of the win over Missouri. "You can at times gain some confidence, some momentum, some understanding of what it takes to win on the road in this league."
White said his team is showing it can win in different ways.
"We had a good look about ourselves," White said. "I liked our aura throughout the whole game. We've got to defend the glass better in Austin and moving forward. We got some rebounds ourselves, and we got some extra possessions by our threes, fours and fives flying into on the offensive glass."
The Longhorns (11-8, 2-4) head home after an 85-80 loss at Kentucky on Wednesday. Dailyn Swain scored 29 points before fouling out with five seconds remaining while Matas Vokietaitis posted a 15-point, 11-rebound double-double and Chendall Weaver hit for 14 points.
Texas clawed back to within three points on three occasions over the final 1:33 but could not get over the hump as it lost for the fourth time in its past six games. Both of the Longhorns' two wins over that stretch were over ranked teams -- against No. 13 Alabama on the road and at home over previously unbeaten No. 10 Vanderbilt.
The Longhorns were outscored by 12 points at the free throw line, a huge discrepancy in a game decided by just five points. Texas' opponents have shot at least 29 free throws in seven of its eight losses, a huge thorn in the side of Longhorns coach Sean Miller.
"This is a Texas problem - it has plagued us," Miller said about his team's penchant for fouling. "It's not the officials, it's not Kentucky. We will foul the living s--- out of you. You describe the foul, the team I'm coaching will commit it. If we could eliminate some of our fouls, we could break through, for example, in a big game like tonight, because we did some other things really well.
"My charge is to continue to work, to develop it, to teach it, to stay on it, and to demand it, and to be more disciplined as we move forward."
After Saturday's contest Texas will be on the road for the rest of the month against both Auburn (Jan. 28) and Oklahoma (Jan. 31). The Longhorns won't play another ranked team until they meet Georgia again late February.