Friday's Shootaround: Vandy survives, Jacksonville and Wofford take over first place

Vanderbilt 96, Georgia 94 OT: Georgia was up 77-72 with just 33 seconds left in this one, but after Jermaine Beal knocked down a three, Dustin Ware missed two free throws which allowed an AJ Ogilvy tip-in to tie the game at 77. Georgia missed a couple shots at the end of regulation that could have won the game. In the overtime, Vanderbilt took the lead and was up by four as the clock wound down. But Ogilvy fouled Chris Barnes on a layup with 0.9 seconds left, giving the Bulldogs a chance to tie. Barnes intentionally missed the free throw, and Ware got the rebound, but his prayer came up short. Jermaine Beal had 28 points in the win.

This shouldn't be taken as a knock on Vanderbilt. Georgia is at the bottom of the SEC East, but this is a team that is going to put a scare into someone in the SEC Tournament. Tre Thompkins is one of the most underrated big men in America, Travis Leslie is slowly developing from just a leaper into a very, very good basketball player, and guys like Ware, Ricky McPhee, and Jeremy Price all play a role well. I think Georgia made the right choice hiring Mark Fox.

Duke 70, Tulsa 52: The Golden Hurricane hung around for the first half, but Duke was just too much for Tulsa. The Blue Devils got 50 of their 70 points from Nolan Smith, Jon Scheyer, and Kyle Singler while Brian Zoubek -- 10 points, 11 boards, 2 blocks -- outplayed Tulsa center Jerome Jordan for much of the game. Tulsa had a chance to thrust themselves back into bubble contention with a win.

Kentucky 82, South Carolina 61: After he played his worst game of the season against South Carolina the last time these two teams met, Patrick Patterson had one of his best games of the season last night. PPatt finished with 23 points on 10-12 shooting, with many of those coming as Kentucky pulled away late. DeMarcus Cousins added 19 points and 11 boards, his 17th double-double on the season. John Wall finished just 4-15 from the field, and is shooting 35% from the floor the last four games.

Other notable scores

• Wisconsin 78, Indiana 46: The Badgers used a 23-8 run at the end of the first half to open up a 17 point lead. IU never made another threat. Tom Crean got ejected in the final minutes of this one, as the Hoosiers have now lost nine straight.
• Gonzaga 88, Santa Clara 51: Steven Gray had 26 points as the Zags were in complete control from the tip.
• Cal 95, Arizona 71: The Wildcats allowed Cal to go on a big run in the first half, and they were never able to get back into the game down the stretch. Jerome Randle had 24 points and 7 dimes.
• St. Mary's 76, Pepperdine 49: The Gaels got 20 points, 10 boards, and 3 blocks from Omar Samhan as they stayed in bubble contention and within a game of Gonzaga in the WCC.
• Utah State 61, Hawaii 50: The Aggies used a 10-0 to close the first half and take a 25-17 lead, and Jared Quayle added 13 points and 7 boards as USU won this one easily.
• Wofford 74, Charleston 68: Noah Dahlman had 20 points as Wofford took over osle possession of first place in the Southern Conference.
  
• Jacksonville 65, Campbell 52: Travis Cohn and Ben Smith both went for 15 points as the Dolphins moved into first place in the A-Sun.
• Morehead State 70, Murray State 65: Morehead avenged a loss earlier this season as they ended the Racers 17 game winning streak and became the first team to beat Murray State in OVC play. Butler and Kansas are now the only two teams left undefeated in conference play.