Georgia picked up its second straight victory when the Bulldogs (5-3) took down in state rival Georgia Tech (7-3) 75-61 on Saturday. J.J. Frazier scored 35 points, two short of his career-high, and Yante Maten added 17.
Here are three other things to know:
Seniors go out in style:
For seniors Charles Mann and Kenny Gaines, it hasn’t been the best of times against Georgia Tech. The duo entered 0-3 against the Yellow Jackets.
The pair struggled in their final game against the Yellow Jackets, as Mann finished with four points and three turnovers and Gaines finished with eight points and spent much of the first half in foul trouble. But the pair finally got a win against the in-state rival.
“I really wanted it for our seniors because they’ve done a lot for this program,” Frazier said. “Of course everyone makes mistakes but they played hard and led us to victory.”
The win ends Georgia’s four game losing streak against the Yellow Jackets and was the first time coach Mark Fox beat Georgia Tech since coach Brian Gregory took over.
“It’s not about me and Brian. It’s about Georgia and Georgia Tech,” Fox said. “We gotta saddled up whenever we play them. I think they have a really good team. A postseason team quite honestly. But it was important that we win a rivalry game.”
Georgia Tech leads the all-time series against the Bulldogs 105-87.
Frontcourt on fire:
As Derek Ogbeide works his way into playing shape, the once maligned Georgia front court continues to improve.
Yante Maten scored 17 points, Houston Kessler hauled in a team-high eight rebounds and Ogbeide added a basket and four rebounds.
The Bulldogs held Georgia Tech’s Charles Mitchell scoreless.
Mitchell had a double-double, at least 10 points and 10 rebounds, in each of Tech’s first nine games.
“Now that we have a full complement of front line players, we can run,” Georgia head coach Mark Fox said. “So we got a couple easy ones running the floor.”
Fox was pleased that his team was able to tie Georgia Tech on the boards — both teams finished with 34 rebounds.
As Ogbeide continues to adjust to the college game — this was only his third game and he has logged only 16 total minutes due to an early season shoulder injury — he has become more excited at his teammate’s possibilities.
“We can only keep getting stronger,” Ogbeide said. “So to know that I can keep impacting the game inside defensively. When the four of us are healthy we’re hard team to come up against.”
Freshman working toward fine:
As touted as the group of Georgia freshman was, it hasn’t been an easy go around for Ogbeide, Mike Edwards, Turtle Jackson and E’Torrion Wilridge. Other than Edward’s 14-point, six-rebound performance against Oakland, there hadn’t been a lot of great moments.
But Ogbeide netted his first career basket and Wilridge and Jackson provided strong defense off the bench.
“I think our freshman, Turtle, E’Torrion and Derek gave us significant minutes,” Fox said. “And their defense probably cost us dearly early in the year. But they were more stable today.”
Ogbeide noted how tough the past couple of practices were since Georgia last gamed on Dec. 8.
“It has been a tough week,” Ogbeide said. “We’ve been pushing and clawing and crying and screaming and whining but you can see the payoff with the win. So it was definitely worth it.”
The freshmen scored four points, with Wilridge and Ogbeide being the contributing two. But Ogbeide’s basket, a thunderous dunk, was big for his confidence and his game.
“It felt really good. It felt like a real weight had been lifted off my shoulders. It was a real opener and I feel like it opened a lot more for me,” he said.
• View more photos from the game in our slideshow.