A Georgia men’s basketball team that’s teetering on the NCAA Tournament bubble got a much-needed marquee win on Tuesday night, knocking off No. 3 Florida 88-83 at Stegeman Coliseum in Athens, Georgia.
The victory sent the home crowd into a frenzy — albeit one that was ever so slightly delayed.
Bulldogs fans stormed the court after the win, as many home crowds in college basketball do after a triumph over a top-five team. But they did so after a brief wait.
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The school had posted a 90-second countdown clock inside the arena, allowing players and coaches to leave the court before it was flooded by hundreds of red-and-black-clad fans. A public address announcer reminded the crowd on multiple occasions not to storm the court until after the clock had elapsed.
Once it did, joyful fans flocked to the floor to celebrate.
There was a method to Georgia’s madness. By taking those extra, unorthodox steps, the university likely hoped to avoid a $100,000 fine that the SEC levies on schools whose fans storm the court immediately after a game.
Several Bulldogs officials, from athletic director Josh Brooks to football coach Kirby Smart, were in the arena reminding fans not to run onto the court until the game wrapped up and the countdown clock hit zero.
“I would say I had fun, but we’ve got to keep the fans in the stands,” Georgia star freshman Asa Newell told Online Athens after the game.
The more than 10,000 fans inside the arena had every reason to be jubilant.
Georgia was ranked as high as No. 23 in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll in mid-January after a 14-2 start, but heading into Tuesday, it had lost nine of its previous 11 games. The skid had put the Bulldogs on the periphery of the NCAA Tournament bubble, with USA TODAY Sports’ mock bracket on Tuesday morning having them in neither the 68-team field nor among the first four teams left out.
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Beating the hated Gators, however, could change what had been an increasingly bleak picture.
With the win, Georgia improved to 3-11 in Quad One games and jumped four spots to No. 36 in the NCAA’s NET rankings. The Bulldogs are aiming to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2015.
The victory was also Georgia’s first over a top-five team since 2004 and it snapped a 12-game losing streak to Florida, the past six of which had come under current Bulldogs coach Mike White, who was the Gators’ coach from 2015-22.
Georgia had led Florida by as many as 26 in the first half before the Gators rallied and went ahead 80-78 with 1:08 remaining. A Blue Cain 3-pointer with 47 seconds left, however, gave the Bulldogs a lead they wouldn’t surrender for the rest of the night.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Georgia basketball delays court storm after Florida win, avoids fine
