COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 22 points to lead Georgia to a 59-52 win over slumping Texas A&M on Saturday in the first-ever meeting between these new Southeastern Conference foes.
Sherrard Brantley had two 3-pointers during a 16-2 run by the Bulldogs to start the second half, giving Georgia its biggest lead.
The Bulldogs had to fight off a late rally by Texas A&M for the victory. The Aggies cut it to three points with a minute left on a layup by Kourtney Roberson, but the Bulldogs scored the last four points of the game to secure the win.
Georgia (8-11, 2-4 SEC) got back on track after a loss to No. 8 Florida. The Aggies extended their losing streak to a season-long four games.
Elston Turner’s 19 points led Texas A&M (12-7, 2-4).
The Bulldogs were up by 15 after a tip-in by Caldwell-Pope with just under nine minutes remaining. The Aggies used an 8-0 spurt, fueled by five points from Fabyon Harris and helped by stifling man-to-man defense, to cut the lead to 50-43 about three minutes later.
Georgia broke a more than 3 1/2-minute scoring drought with a basket before Texas A&M added five quick points, capped by a 3-pointer from Harris to make it 52-48 with four minutes to play.
Caldwell-Pope made 3-pointer before the Aggies added four points to make it 55-52 with about a minute left.
Caldwell-Pope, who has led the Bulldogs in scoring in 17 of their 19 games, was their only player in double figures. He also led the team with nine rebounds and had two steals and a block.
Saturday was just the fifth time Georgia had ever played in College Station. It was their first trip to the state of Texas since facing the Longhorns in 1998.
GEORGIA (8-11)
Caldwell-Pope 8-12 2-2 22, V. Williams 1-2 1-2 4, D. Williams 1-4 0-0 2, Morris 0-2 3-4 3, Florveus 1-3 0-0 2, Mann 0-3 5-7 5, Dixon 1-1 0- 2, Gaines 1-4 2-2 4, Brantley 3-7 0-0 8, Cannon 0-1 0-0 0, Djurisic 3-5 0-0 7. Totals 19-44 13-17 59.
TEXAS A&M (12-7)
Reese 1-5 0-0 2, Harris 5-12 0-0 13, E. Turner 5-14 6-8 19, Roberson 2-2 3-8 7, R. Turner 0-2 0-0 0, Young 2-4 2-2 6, Green 1-3 0-3 2, Caruso 1-5 1-2 3, Jahns 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 17-49 12-23 52.
Halftime—UGA 27-23. 3-Point Goals—UGA 8-18 (Caldwell-Pope 4-8, Brantley 2-4, V. Williams 1-2, Djurisic 1-3, Gaines 0-1), Texas A&M 6-16 (E. Turner 3-6, Harris 3-7, Reese 0-1, Caruso 0-2). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—UGA 32 (Caldwell-Pope 9), Texas A&M 31 (Caruso, Roberson 6). Assists—UGA 9 (Mann 4), Texas A&M 7 (E. Turner 3). Total Fouls—UGA 16, Texas A&M 17. A—7,595.