Saturday, March 8

11:00 AM CST

Stegeman Coliseum

ESPNU/ESPN App

102.5 FM Locally

SiriusXM 382 for Vandy Broadcast

AP: Both Unranked

Kenpom: Georgia 33, Vanderbilt 43

NET: Georgia 32, Vanderbilt 44

Bracketmatrix: Georgia 10, Vanderbilt 9 (we didn’t even drop a spot. . .to those of you

who think Wednesday ended our season)

Unavailable at the time of publishing

For the first time this season, the Georgia Bulldogs will face off against the new look of Vanderbilt Commodores. Georgia enters this game 19-11 looking to get that ‘one more win’ to get to 20 in the regular season, a number that has, for years, been tagged as the “magic number” to make the NCAA tournament. The Bulldogs’ resume boasts some big-time wins including St Johns, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Florida. Leading the Bulldogs is 6’11 Freshman Forward Asa Newell, who is averaging 15 points per game on 54% shooting. Vanderbilt fans saw what a matchup nightmare Arkansas’ Zvonimir Ivisic was on Tuesday night and hopefully Vanderbilt can do a better job containing Newell on Saturday morning.

This is our last regular season look at awesome first-year coach Mark Byington leading our beloved Commodores, but luckily not the last time this season. Vanderbilt has locked up an NCAA Tournament berth, so we are guaranteed at least two more games this season. Hopefully, we get to watch more!

Last Tuesday night’s game was a match-up of nothing going right for Vanderbilt and a Razorback team desperate for a win. It was the first time this year we have seen a game like this where the ‘Dores were just outclassed, but this isn’t the end of the road for this team. Look for them to learn from Wednesday and come back stronger as a team in this final stretch. Most of all, let’s just enjoy what we are getting to watch. Nobody realistically believed this team would be in the situation we find ourselves in at this point, and we just need to appreciate the joy and excitement that Byington and this squad have given Vandy fans this year.

Entering the final game of the regular season on the right side of the bubble, the Georgia Bulldogs try to lock themselves into the Big Dance with a win over a surging Commodore squad Saturday morning. This Georgia team loves to play in the paint, using that for ‘pick and pop’ opportunities, and utilizing star freshman Asa Newell as a post scorer, passer, and 3-point threat, and Silas Demary, Jr. at the 3-point line (he is shooting 44% from 3 on his home court this season). Statistically, nothing stands out for the Dawgs as offensively they rank 134th in points scored, 94th in FG%, 236th in 3pt%, and 297th in Assists-to-Turnover ratio. The Bulldogs bring a physical style of play that you only see in a handful of SEC teams this year- like Tennessee and Texas A&M-and they want to bang and push down low and turn the game into a battle of attrition. If Georgia wants the victory, they will have to slow the Commodores' pace and force them into half-court offense. Offensively, they need to get past Vanderbilt’s perimeter defenders off the dribble and exploit the paint.

I expect to see a very different Commodore team than the tired and uninspired one fans saw late Tuesday night. (How about a road performance like A & M???) Luckily, this squad has earned their way to have games like this not affect their NCAA tournament resume, already being considered a “lock” for the tournament. After a very uncharacteristically bad shooting performance by Jason Edwards, I expect him to really take the leap forward this game, especially playing so close to home and in front of a lot of family. Vandy needs to get back to playing their style, and the turnovers the other night are not part of that style. If they turn the ball over like that again, then the results won’t change. We have to protect the ball for the remaining games we have this year. If Vandy can play their style of basketball and make shots (including layups, please), I do like the Commodores to edge this game out.

81-76 Commodores