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Georgia Bests Arkansas

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Trey Thompkins had 23 points and 14 rebounds, and Georgia beat Arkansas 77-64 in the opening round of the Southeastern Conference tournament on Thursday night.

Travis Leslie scored 21 for the Bulldogs (14-16), the No. 6 seed in the SEC East Division. Georgia took a 43-32 lead immediately after halftime on a 3-point play by Jeremy Price.

Arkansas' Mike Washington made all four free throws on back-to-back trips to the charity stripe to cut the Bulldogs' lead to 52-49 with 10:22 left. The Razorbacks (14-18) continued to threaten in the second half but never pulled any closer.

The Bulldogs grabbed 16 offensive rebounds, nine more than Arkansas, and turned them into 19 second-chance points. Washington finished with 20 points and Courtney Fortson added 16.

The Bulldogs will face the East's No. 2 seed, No. 20 Vanderbilt, on Friday.

SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament Notes
Georgia (#6 Seed-East) vs. Arkansas (#3 Seed-West)
Game 4, Thursday, March 11, 2010, Tipoff: 8:45 CT

Georgia 77 – Arkansas 64

With the win, Georgia moves to 14-16 overall. The Bulldogs will advance to Round 2 of the SEC Tourney, and face Vanderbilt (#2 Seed-East) Friday at 8:45 p.m., CT.

With the loss, Arkansas concludes its season 14-18 overall.

Georgia Notes:
With the win, Georgia moves to 38-48 all-time in SEC tournament play. The Bulldogs also are 5-3 all-time against Arkansas in SEC tourney play. Georgia also captured their first win in an SEC tourney game played in Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena; they are now 1-2 in the arena.

The victory also gives Georgia a split in the season series with Arkansas. On Feb. 3, Arkansas defeated Georgia 72-68 in Athens.

    • The 13-point margin of victory was the highest by Georgia against an SEC foe since they defeated Tennessee 78-63 on Jan. 23.
    • This marks the third time this season that Georgia standouts Trey Thompkins and Travis Leslie have surpassed 20 points in the same game. Thompkins and Leslie had 23 and 21 points, respectively.
    • Thompkins also posted his 10th double-double of the year. He finished with 14 rebounds to go with the 23 points.
    • Georgia owned a 45-28 advantage in rebounds and a 19-9 advantage in second-chance points.
    • Georgia jumps out to an early 10-point lead (18-8 at 12:43 mark) behind 3-pointers by Ricky McPhee and Trey Thompkins and layups by Travis Leslie and Jeremy Price. Eight rebounds help the Bulldogs to 12 points in the paint and four second-chance points.
    • By the 10:00 mark of the first half, Georgia was 11-of-19 (58%) from the field. The Bulldogs used the hot shooting to take a 24-15 lead with 9:08 left before intermission.
    • With 3:56 left before the half, Georgia is hitting 59% from the field (13 of 22), but leads by only three points at 33-30.
    • Georgia closed the first half on a 7-0 run, keyed by a 3-pointer by McPhee at the buzzer, to go into intermission with a 40-32 lead.
    • Georgia shot 51.6% from the field in the first half (16 of 31).
    • The Bulldogs’ forward duo of Leslie and Thompkins were solid in the opening half, combining for 24 points and 10 rebounds.
    • Ahead by three with 10:22 left, Georgia pushed the margin to nine (58-49) on two Thompkins free throws, a hook shot by Albert Jackson and a Thompkins’ jumper at the 9:00 mark.
    • Thompkins registered his 10th double-double with a rebound at the 8:00 mark.

Arkansas Notes:

With the loss, Arkansas falls to 20-18 all-time in SEC tournament play. The Razorbacks also go to 5-3 all-time against Georgia in SEC tourney play. Arkansas also moves to 2-3 in SEC tourney games played in Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena.

The loss gives Arkansas and Georgia a split in the season series. On Feb. 3, Arkansas topped the Bulldogs 72-68 in Athens, Ga.

    • Arkansas was paced by a 20-point effort by senior forward Mike Washington. Point guard Courtney Fortson added 16 points.
    • The Razorbacks experienced their worst 3-point shooting performance of the year in the loss. They hit 1-of-12 from beyond the arc. The team’s previous single-game low was two 3-pointers in a 70-47 loss to Baylor on Dec. 31. Sharpshooter Rotnei Clarke missed on all four 3-point tries.
    • Arkansas finished the game hitting just 38.8% of its field goals (19-of-49).
   
    • At 8:18 left before intermission, Arkansas made their first 3-pointer after four misses (by Courtney Fortson), then added a quick steal and basket by Julysses Nobles to close the margin to three at 25-22 at the 8:07 mark.
    • The Razorbacks used a 10-1 run to close the margin to one (25-24) with 7:30 left.
    • Arkansas hit on 38.5% of its first half field goals (10 of 26), but were just 1-of-7 from three-point range. The Razorbacks were aided by six steals.
    • With 10:22 left, Mike Washington’s two free throws cut the Georgia lead to three at 52-49, the closest Arkansas has been since 2:55 before halftime.
    • Ten straight points by Fortson, the last coming on a layup with 4:47 left, kept Arkansas close to the Bulldogs.
    • Needing points after closing to 67-61 with 4:48 left, the Razorbacks went cold, going scoreless for 4:03 until a Marshawn Powell free throw.