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National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Arkansas 79, Georgia 75
When: 7:00 PM ET, Tuesday, January 6, 2015
Where: Stegeman Coliseum, Athens, Georgia
Officials: # Patrick Adams, # Brent Hampton, # Michael Stephens
Attendance: 7937

No. 25 Arkansas 79, Georgia 75: Bobby Portis scored 21 points and the visiting Razorbacks used pressure defense in the second half to rally in their SEC opener.

Portis hit 8-of-14 shots from the field and Michael Qualls added 17 points and seven rebounds for Arkansas (12-2, 1-0 SEC), which trailed for the first 33 minutes. Alandise Harris hit 7-of-8 shots from the field, finishing with 15 points and three steals off the bench.

Nemanja Djurisic scored 16 points with seven rebounds for the Bulldogs (9-4, 0-1), whose six-game winning streak ended thanks to 17 turnovers, 12 in the second half. Juwan Parker scored 11 points with seven rebounds and Marcus Thornton added 11 points and eight boards as Georgia outrebounded the Razorbacks 40-25.

Harris’ jumper with 6:34 to play gave Arkansas its first lead at 63-61 and Qualls’ basket with 4:21 remaining extended the Arkansas advantage to 70-64 before baskets from Parker and J.J. Frazier pulled Georgia within 70-68 with 3:20 remaining. Qualls’ breakaway dunk with 26 seconds left made it 76-70, but Frazier’s 3-pointer and Thornton’s basket cut it to 77-75 before Qualls made two free throws with four seconds remaining.

The Bulldogs used a 10-2 run to build a 38-25 advantage with under five minutes to go before intermission, and after Portis and Qualls combined for 10 points to bring the Razorbacks within 39-35, a Djurisic 3-pointer stopped the run as the Bulldogs reached halftime leading 44-37. Georgia led by 10 points early in the second half, but the Razorbacks held the Bulldogs without a field goal for more than seven minutes.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Arkansas coach Mike Anderson received a two-year contract extension Tuesday; his deal now runs through March 2020. … The Bulldogs shot 57.7 percent from the field in the first half but were 10-of-29 after halftime. … Portis and Qualls combined for 23 of Arkansas’ 37 first-half points.
Top Game Performances
 
Arkansas   Georgia
Bobby Portis 21 Scoring Nemanja Djurisic 16
Rashad Madden 3 Assists J.J. Frazier 5
Michael Qualls 7 Rebounds Marcus Thornton 8
Michael Qualls 6 Free Throws Made Marcus Thornton 5
Anton Beard 3 Steals J.J. Frazier 2
Alandise Harris 1 Blocks Kenny Gaines 1
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Arkansas 79 51.7 6-14 11-13 9 24 3 9 9
Georgia 75 45.5 9-20 16-24 14 35 3 6 17