Georgia Bulldogs storm back to beat Texas

Yante Maten scored 21 points and hit a clutch layup in the final minute as Georgia roared back from a 10-point first-half deficit and outlasted Texas 59-57 on Saturday afternoon at Stegeman Coliseum in a SEC/Big 12 Challenge contest in Athens, Ga.

A 3-pointer by Andrew Jones with 1:20 to play brought Texas to within 57-56. But Maten’s layup on the following possession pushed the lead back to three points before Texas’ Eric Davis, Jr. made one of two free throws with 38 seconds remaining.

The Bulldogs suffered a shot-clock violation on the ensuing possession but Texas could not respond as freshman center Jarrett Allen’s hook shot at the buzzer rattled out of the basket, granting Georgia the victory.

J.J Frazier added 14 points for the Bulldogs (13-8), who snapped a two-game losing streak.

Texas (8-13) was led by Jones’ 16 points while Davis added 11 and Kerwin Roach II poured in 10 for the Longhorns, who have lost six of their past seven games.

Texas leapfrogged the Bulldogs midway through the first half by forging a 9-0 run. Cleare hit two short hook shots, Davis added a jumper and Jacob Young poured in a 3-pointer that gave the Longhorns a 16-8 lead at the 9:11 mark.

The Longhorns led 32-23 at halftime despite getting zero points and just three rebounds from star freshman center Jarrett Allen, who also picked up three fouls in the first 20 minutes