Sports Page Atlanta

March Madness! March Madness! March Madness!….. wait a minute, it’s April… The first NCAA Tournament in men’s basketball happened in 1939 and due to fewer teams and fewer games, the tournament used to be done by March.

It wasn’t until 1983 when games got pushed into April. That was also the year that the Georgia Bulldogs made it to their only Final Four (they would lose to NC State who eventually won it all.)

The Georgia Bulldogs knew they would have to continue their good play to have a chance to upset the #3 Xavier Musketeers. They did, but for only three quarters of the time.

Georgia led pretty much throughout the game and even led by as much as 7 points with just under 10 minutes left. Xavier then finished out by scoring 31 of the game’s 43 final points and defeated Georgia 73-61.

To go back to my keys that I wrote yesterday…

1) Play smart… Georgia needed to have more assists than turnovers… they didn’t (Georgia 14 turnovers and 10 assists). Xavier had 11 assists and 7 turnovers.

2) Team rebounding and defense… there wasn’t a whole lot of rebounds, and Georgia did OK, but it wasn’t enough. Five of the players had 4 or more boards, but they couldn’t get a 2nd chance point when they needed it.

3) Hitting the big 3… they did in the beginning, but at the end where it mattered the most, they did not. The Dawgs were 6-for-18 as were the Musketeers.

The Dawgs were led by Terrance Woodbury again. He had 16 and Billy Humphrey added 12 and Jeremy Price put in 10 of his own.

In their last games as Bulldogs, Sundiata Gaines had 13 points and 6 assists and Dave Bliss had 6 points and 4 assists.

Georgia ends up 17-17 on the season, but won the SEC Championship and made it to the NCAA Tournament. So overall, the season was a success…. (sort of).

Georgia plays in the NCAA Tournament later today against Xavier.

The first time that Georgia appeared in the big dance was also the only other year the Dawgs won the SEC Tournament back in 1983.

In that year the Bulldogs advanced to the Final 4 before losing to NC State. Here is how they got there.

- Bye in the 1st round

- 2nd round in Greensboro, NC: UGA defeated Virginia Commonwealth 56-54. Vern Fleming led the Dawgs with 16 points

- 3rd round in Syracuse, NY: UGA defeated St. John’s 70-67. Terry Fair led the way with 27 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists. (future NBA star Chris Mullin pulled in 19 for the Red Men)

- East Regional Final in Syracuse: UGA defeated North Carolina 82-77. In a well-balanced attack, James Banks had 20, Gerald Crosby had 17 as did Vern Fleming. (someone named Michael Jordan had 26 but only made 11-of-23 shots for the Tar Heels)

Final Four in Albuquerque, NM: NC State defeated Georgia 67-60. Vern Fleming led the Dawgs with 14, but the Bulldogs shot just 35 percent from the field compared to the Wolfpack’s 54 percent.

NC State ended up winning the whole thing by defeating the Houston Cougars in the Final.

I think everyone knows by now, Georgia is in the big dance. Even with a barely-over .500 record the Bulldogs are in the tournament. The Dawgs will face #3 seed Xavier on Thursday in Washington, DC at 12:20 pm et.

But who are the Xavier Musketeers?

Xavier is in the Atlantic-10 conference and is 27-6 on the season. This is their 19th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and is 12-18 all-time in the tourney. The have been in 7 of the last 8 fields and in 2004 advanced to the elite 8.

Head Coach Sean Miller won the A-10 Coach of the Year Award and leads a well-balanced team into the NCAA’s.

Xavier is the only NCAA Division I team to have 6 players averaging double-digits in points led by senior Josh Duncan’s 11.7.

Their guard play is excellent. Senior Stanley Burrell was the A-10 Defensive Player of the Year and is the school’s 13th leading scorer all-time. Stanley’s backcourt mate is fellow senior Drew Lavender. He stands only 5′7″ but can score (10.7 ppg) and dish out the assists (4.3 apg).

For Georgia to pull out the upset they have to do what they did so well in the SEC Tournament…

1) Play smart… The Dawgs came into the SEC Tournament 285th in the nation in assist/turnover ratio. On the season the had over 100 more turnovers than assists. In the SEC’s the had more assists than turnovers.

2) Team rebounding and defense… Georgia was very strong in the SEC’s on the boards. In the SEC Tournament, 6 Bulldogs averaged over 4 rebounds per game. The team also averaged 6 steals and over 4 blocks per game.

3) Hitting the Big Three… It seemed like every time Georgia needed a 3-pointer in the SEC Tournament they got one. The Dawgs shot 40 percent from beyond the arc compared to their oppenents 26 percent. Terrance Woodbury shot 58 percent (11 for 19) from long distance. Also Sundiata Gaines hit 6 3’s and Billy Humphrey added 5.

If Georgia continues these 3 things they have a good chance of advancing. Their last 3 games (Kentucky, Mississippi State and Arkansas) are all NCAA tournament teams and they won those so anything is possible.