[Photo: Billy Humphrey pulled down 8 rebounds despite tough outside shooting as the Dawgs clobbered CU on the boards]
A look at the Box Score is pretty interesting.
-- 3 Pt shooting: The Dawgs shot 54% from the three point line. Most interestingly, Mercer went 3-4.
-- Bench Strength: The Bulldog bench outscored the Tigers 38-19 with Mercer leading the way at 22.
-- Rebounding: Georgia outrebounded a very good rebounding CU team 42-31.
-- Free Throws: We continue to struggle at the free throw line going 5-12. We aren't getting inside enough to draw fouls, and we aren't making our shots when we get there. Bad combo. Free throw shooting and penetration are the biggest things holding this team back from really exploding in SEC play.
-- Assists: Gaines had 8 on the night. No other bulldog had more than 1. We've got to move the ball better.
-- South Carolina: The Gamecocks lost to the Tigers. Obviously, there is no perfect transient property in athletics, but it is still encouraging to know that if Clemson can beat them we should give them a helluva a game.
Overall, I think this is team can go about 7-9 in SEC play. We're 8-3 now plus 2 more wins vs. Howard and Western Carolina plus 7 SEC wins would put us just outside of the NCAA bubble. Our non-conference schedule is too weak to make the tourney without an 8-8 record. Regardless, it's huge progress.
In unrelated news, Georgia Tech lost to Air Force by a score of 54-46. Given that they were playing basketball and not war games, this probably comes as a shocker to the Tickle Pilers. Air Force shot 29% and Tech shot 47.6%. GT out rebounded the Falcons 31-19. However, Tech lost the turnover battle 6 to 18, and only took 7 Free Throw shots to Air Force's 26. The Yellow Jackets (5-4) stone cold don't have a Point Guard whatsoever, and it's killing them. It will be a miracle if they make the NIT.
GATA!
