Kansas State: post mortem

Kansas State's RPI is not particularly good, and they're unlikely to compete for the Big 12 championship (due to the conference's overall strength), but if Georgia finds itself on the tournament bubble at the end of the season, that's the kind of win that's going to look really nice.

It was ugly, of course, and it is another reminder that this team still has a lot of growing up to do.  But in March, the minutiae of the game will have been forgotten, and it will stand as a road win over a Big 12 team:

• It was nice to hear Kenny Gaines get some recognition for his work on the defensive end - something you know I trumpet here often - but it was also inevitable after he completely shut down Kansas State's best scorer.  That was only the second time Foster failed to hit a 3-point shot all season and only the third time he was held short of double figures.
• Despite all of that, I was surprised Bruce Weber kept him on the bench as long as he did.  He was smart to ride Thomas Gipson as far as he could, but the Wildcats really could have used an extra scorer on the floor down the stretch.
• Some credit to Charles Mann, too, who continues to struggle from the free throw line, but hit 2 huge ones there at the end.
• Mann also hit a 3 and got good looks on his drives to the basket.  He's a pretty obvious choice for player of the game in this case.
• Nemi Djurisic's 3 down the stretch may have been the biggest shot of the game.  Took the crowd right out of the game.
• There really shouldn't have been much of a game, though.  Had Georgia found any rhythm early on the offensive end to pair with some truly suffocating defense they could have gone up by 15 in the first half.  Then they actually did go up by 15 in the second half, only to see the lead evaporate.  Gipson deserves some credit for that - he was unstoppable for a few minutes - but it was clear Georgia was pressing.  Good job by Mark Fox using his timeouts to settle them back down and get a win.
• Good technical from Fox, too.  The way he works the officials is masterful at times.
• Think Fox didn't know how important this game was?  He only used 8 players, and he primarily rode what has become his favorite lineup:  Thornton, Djurisic, Gaines, Mann, and Parker.  Hopefully they can rest a little on Saturday.
• J.J. Frazier has a nice assist to turnover ratio, but it would be even nicer if he could eliminate one ill-advised lob per game.

Call it ugly.  Make excuses.  However you slice it, that was a big win for a team desperate for a tournament berth.  If they take care of business at home on Saturday, Georgia will ride a lot of momentum into conference play.