Vanderbilt’s stifling defense held Georgia in check for much of the first half as the Bulldogs bricked their way to 34 percent shooting from the field to go with a miserable 4-10 mark at the free throw line. Led by nine first half points and 10 rebounds from Damian Jones, the ‘Dores raced out to a 35-19 lead with just over three minutes remaining in the first period after Jones fed freshman Joe Toye for a baseline dunk.
Six straight Georgia points to end the first half cut Vanderbilt’s lead to 37-28 and conjured up memories of the Commodores’ loss to Dayton in which VU saw a large lead evaporate heading into halftime.