National Basketball Association
Georgia 50, Kansas St. 46
When: 4:00 PM ET, Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Where: Fred Bramlage Coliseum, Manhattan, Kansas
Officials:
# Joe DeRosa, # Darron George, # Keith Kimble
Attendance:
12528
By SportsDirect Inc.
Georgia 50, Kansas State 46: Charles Mann scored 17 points and the visiting Bulldogs blew a 15-point lead before outlasting the Wildcats for their fifth straight victory.
Marcus Thornton recorded 11 points and seven rebounds for Georgia (8-3), which was 9-for-18 from the field in second half after shooting 28.6 percent in the first and prevailed despite getting outrebounded 39-26. Kenny Gaines added nine points and Nemanja Djurisic eight - including a key late 3-pointer - for the Bulldogs.
Thomas Gipson scored 17 of his 19 points in the second half and grabbed nine rebounds for Kansas State (7-6), which posted its second-worst first-half point total in school history when it trailed 20-12 and then went scoreless over the final 2:50. Marcus Foster, who entered the game leading the Wildcats in scoring at 15 per game, recorded two on 1-of-5 shooting in 24 minutes - seven in the second half, while Nigel Johnson scored eight of his nine points in the second half.
The teams combined to miss 33 of their 44 shots from the field and 12 of their 14 attempts from 3-point range while totaling 27 turnovers - 16 by Kansas State - prior to the break as Thornton's basket with 7:16 left ignited a 12-2 half-ending run that gave Georgia an eight-point lead. The Bulldogs stretched their advantage to 35-20 on a pair of Mann free throws with 12:10 remaining before Tre Harris' jumper with 5:59 left capped a 17-4 run for the Wildcats.
Johnson's 3-pointer with 4:32 to play gave Kansas State a 44-41 lead before Djurisic's second field goal of the game - a 3-pointer with 1:06 remaining - put Georgia in front 47-46. After Johnson missed a 3-pointer with 30 seconds left, Djurisic made the first of two free throws and after Wildcats coach Bruce Weber called time out with 17.5 seconds to play, Harris threw up an airball on a baseline floater and Mann converted two free throws with 5.9 seconds left to seal it.
GAME NOTEBOOK: The 12 points were the fewest in a first half by Kansas State since they scored 11 in a 72-34 loss to Oklahoma State in 1992. ... Bulldogs coach Mark Fox, a native of Garden City, Kan., and an assistant at Kansas State from 1994-2000, received a technical foul with 9:56 left in the first half during a Georgia scoring drought of nearly seven minutes. ... The Wildcats, who were upset by Texas Southern 58-56 on Sunday, had not lost consecutive nonconference games at home since falling to Southern Miss and Missouri State in 1987, and fell to 60-3 in its last 63 such contests.
Top Game Performances
Georgia |
|
Kansas St. |
Charles Mann 17 |
Scoring |
Thomas Gipson 19 |
Charles Mann 3 |
Assists |
Nigel Johnson 3 |
Marcus Thornton 7 |
Rebounds |
Thomas Gipson 9 |
Charles Mann 6 |
Free Throws Made |
Thomas Gipson 7 |
J.J. Frazier 2 |
Steals |
Justin Edwards 3 |
Kenny Gaines 1 |
Blocks |
Thomas Gipson 1 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Georgia
|
50 |
38.5 |
4-13 |
16-24 |
9 |
25 |
1 |
8 |
17 |
Kansas St.
|
46 |
31.9 |
1-14 |
15-23 |
9 |
38 |
2 |
7 |
19 |