Georgia completed its remarkable run through the Southeastern Conference tournament
on Sunday, building a big lead in the first half and holding on to beat
Arkansas
66-57 in the championship game, earning its first trip to the NCAAs since 2002.
The Bulldogs (17-16) became just the third team in the tournament history to
win four games in four days - actually, two came on the same day, an impromptu
bit of scheduling forced by a tornado that slammed into the Georgia Dome.
Georgia got to cut down the nets on the home court of Georgia Tech, its bitter
in-state rival and the replacement venue for the tournament after the dome was
struck Friday night.
Arkansas (22-11) beat Vanderbilt and regular-season champion Tennessee on its
way to the final.
Terrance Woodbury scored 16 points and Georgia headed to the NCAAs for the
first time since the scandalous era of former coach Jim Harrick, which landed
the program on probation and prompted it to decline a certain postseason trip
with a 20-win team in 2003.
Dennis Felton took over as coach, with a mandate to clean things up. But when
the Bulldogs finished last in the SEC East this season, there was plenty of
speculation he would be out of the job as soon as the team made its expected
exit from the league tournament.
Nothing went as expected in Atlanta, however.
The devastating tornado, which rumbled over the Georgia Dome and wreaked havoc
downtown, forced a postponement of Georgia's quarterfinal game against Kentucky.
Not only that, the tournament had to be moved to Alexander Memorial Coliseum
on the campus of nearby Georgia Tech.
The revised schedule, which was vehemently opposed by Felton, forced the Georgia-Kentucky
winner to play two games on Saturday. Amazingly, the Bulldogs knocked off the
Wildcats for the first time ever in the tournament, then came back six hours
later to beat SEC West champion Mississippi State.
Never showing any signs of fatigue, Georgia completed the run against Arkansas,
racing to a 19-point lead and going on to their easiest victory of the weekend.
The Bulldogs won their first three games by a total of 10 points with two of
them decided in overtime.
``SEC champions!'' Georgia's Billy Humphrey said. ``Never doubt us again.''
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