Georgia falls to Vanderbilt in Nashville, 88-80

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Georgia had enough offense to compete Wednesday night at Memorial Gymnasium.

What the Bulldogs didn’t have was enough stops.

Vanderbilt capitalized at the foul line and pulled away late to hand Georgia an 88-80 loss, dropping the Bulldogs to 19-9 overall and 7-8 in SEC play.

Sophomore Jeremiah Wilkinson led Georgia with 28 points, marking his third straight game in double figures and finishing just four points shy of his season high. Kanon Catchings added 15 points, while Blue Cain chipped in 10 as the Bulldogs placed three players in double figures.

Georgia showed resilience in the second half.

A 3-point jumper from Wilkinson sparked a 10-0 run at the 12:03 mark, and Cain capped the surge with a 3-pointer that tied the game at 62-62 — the first deadlock since early in the contest.

But Vanderbilt (22-6, 9-6 SEC) answered by attacking the rim and living at the free-throw line.

Georgia struggled to defend without fouling down the stretch, a point head coach Mike White emphasized afterward.

“We had a bunch of fouls in the second half, playing from behind,” White said. “When you exert that much energy, at times, young people have a tendency to make some errant decisions.”

White pointed specifically to Georgia’s defensive execution — or lack thereof — in key moments.

“It was probably our worst wall-up game in terms of being the first jumper off the floor with regard to falling for shot fakes,” White said. “Our focus level there wasn’t good enough to come on the road and win in the SEC. They lived at the foul line.”

Despite the loss, Georgia’s offense found success against one of the league’s top defensive units. The Bulldogs scored 80 points and received a significant boost from their bench, which accounted for 41 points compared to Vanderbilt’s 21.

“You come into Vandy against a top-25 defense, and you score 80, you’re doing some good things,” White said. “The biggest problem was just being able to generate stops defensively and keep them off the foul line.”

Georgia returns home Saturday to Stegeman Coliseum to face South Carolina at 3:30 p.m. on the SEC Network, looking to regain momentum in the final stretch of conference play.