SEC goes to the Dawgs, and Georgia goes to tournament

It was a dog-day-afternoon in the Southeastern Conference tournament championship game, and shockingly, it was Georgia’s Bulldogs that put a bite on an NCAA Tournament bid.

The Bulldogs defeated Arkansas 66-57 to cap off an almost-impossible weekend. Georgia, which came into the SEC tournament with a 13-16 record, had to beat Kentucky for the first time ever in an SEC tournament game, win a doubleheader Saturday, and then come back against an Arkansas team that finished 22-11 and had eliminated top-seeded Tennessee on Saturday.

Georgia never blinked. After all, if a tornado and three games in about 24 hours didn’t faze the Dawgs, how could the Razorbacks?

Terrance Woodbury and Sundiata Gaines led a first-half blitz in which Georgia raced out to a 28-9 lead. It ended up being Georgia’s easiest victory of the tournament.

At least some Bulldogs’ fans got to watch. After fewer than 2,000 people were allowed into Georgia Tech’s arena Saturday, about half of the announced crowd of 3,700 Sunday were Georgia supporters.

ACC is UNC again

Here’s a conference tournament that didn’t have a surprising ending: North Carolina won the Atlantic Coast Conference title. And the final nail was a victory over Clemson, something very familiar for the Tar Heels.

North Carolina was workmanlike as it put the Tigers away 87-81 for UNC’s 17th tournament championship. It was the third loss of the season for Clemson against North Carolina, and for the third time, the Tigers made the Tar Heels work for it. Clemson led 39-38 at the half before tournament MVP Wayne Ellington went to work in the second half. Ellington finished with 24 points and added 11 rebounds as UNC pulled away late. Ty Lawson, rounding into form after an injury kept him out much of the season, had 12 points and eight assists.

End of a dream

While Georgia fulfilled its unlikely championship bid in the SEC, Illinois couldn’t do the same in the Big Ten. Marcus Landry, the tournament’s MVP, had 10 points, six rebounds and four assists to help No. 8 Wisconsin shut down the Illini 61-48. The victory left Illinois at 16-19 and ended its season. Illinois had reached the final with three victories (by a total of 12 points), after winning just five conference games during the regular season.