Georgia’s impressive road win at South Carolina likely clinched a spot in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, according to ESPN expert Joe Lunardi.
“If you see him, hold him to it,” Georgia coach Mike White quipped during his postgame Zoom session after the wire-to-wire 73-64 win over South Carolina. “We just can’t worry about that stuff.
“We can’t control any of that, so we’re going to worry about what we can control and getting a great day of rest.”
Fair enough, but the Bulldogs are now 19-11 and 7-10 in an SEC that ranks among the strongest in college basketball history. Georgia is now riding their first three-game SEC win streak since the 2016-17 season.
That momentum, and the No. 33 “NET” rank UGA brought into Tuesday night’s game, add up to the Bulldogs being invited to the NCAA tourney for the first time in what would be 10 years.
“I think Georgia only needs one more win, whether it’s tonight (Tuesday at South Carolina) or it’s Saturday in the regular-season finale against Vanderbilt, or in the SEC tournament opener,” Lunardi said at halftime of Georgia’s 73-64 win in Columbia.
“The Dawgs have really put themselves in excellent position.”
Lunardi had UGA projected among the “last four to get a bye” in the 68-team field, as an 11 seed matched up with 6 seed UCLA in an East Regional game in Providence, R.I.
As of Wednesday morning, ESPN’s BPI probability gives Georgia 69 percent chance of making the field.
“I think of all the SEC bubble teams, Georgia is in the best position,” Lunardi said at halftime of Tuesday night’s game. “Not just because of this first half (UGA led by 11), but primarily because of what they did last week — that road win at Texas was huge, and even bigger was the home win against Florida.”
White revealed it was a weary group of Bulldogs players headed to the bus after the win over South Carolina.
The locker room after the game was “underwhelming,” White said, adding that “the feeling in the locker room is a little more fatigued — it’s been a long road trip, a long week to 10 days.”
Long, but very focused, and very productive, as Georgia knocked off No. 3-ranked Florida in Athens last Tuesday night (88-83) before traveling to beat Texas on Saturday night (83-67).
The UGA administration arranged for the Bulldogs to skip the trip home and fly directly to South Carolina to prep for Tuesday night’s key battle.
“It gave us the opportunity to skip the bus ride over and get right to Columbia (with UGA students) on spring break,” White said. “We were able to utilize South Carolina’s facilities the last couple day days, really lock in on the scouting report …
“More so than since the Bahamas … we had a lot of time with one another, and I think it showed a little bit with our connection tonight and hopefully you’ll continue to see signs of a team that’s really connected.”
Georgia is certainly showing it more on the court, as the Bulldogs’ guards combined for just one turnover, showing growth in the area of efficient ball movement since the start of the season.
“Think about how far we’ve come since November,” White said. “To have one turnover in your backcourt is pretty strong, it gives us a chance.”
Next up, Georgia closes its Stegeman Coliseum appearance in a regular-season finale against Vanderbilt. The Commodores are coming off a loss to fellow SEC bubble team Arkansas on Tuesday night.
“We have a long bus ride home,” White said before leaving Columbia on Tuesday night. “We’ll lock in and learn as much about Vanderbilt as we can and relay that to our team.”