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Swansey's buzzer beater lifts Georgia to win
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ATHENS — Zac Swansey will remember his 20th birthday.

So will Wofford.

In a reprise from a win over Kentucky in last year's Southeastern Conference tournament when Swansey hit a game-winner as time expired, the player whose teammates call "Big Shot Z" made a 3-pointer at the buzzer to lift Georgia to a 74-73 overtime victory over Wofford on Saturday.

"I envisioned him doing exactly what he did ... until the shot went up." Georgia coach Dennis Felton said. "He took it so fast and he was pressured, and he kind of twisted his body. I thought, 'Oh well, it is good to be hopeful.' "

"Coach should know better than that," Swansey said. "I hit one in front of him in the SEC tournament last year."

Swansey scored 11 points, but was only 4 of 12 from the field. He hit two 3-pointers, both in the last 15 seconds of the game.

He hit a shot with 14.7 seconds to play to tie the score at 71, but Wofford's Brad Loesing raced down the floor to make a layup with 5.8 seconds to play to give the Terriers a lead.

Trey Thompkins threw the inbound pass away, forcing Georgia to foul. The Bulldogs put Tim Johnson on the line, and he missed both shots. This time Swansey got the outlet pass cleanly and hit the winner.

"I was just trying to find a way to get an open shot for myself or a teammate," Swansey said. "I had a decent look. I was kind of fading to the right. I could see the rim a little. This was a good birthday gift."

Thompkins led Georgia (7-3) with 15 points and Jeremy Price scored 12. Junior Salters led Wofford (4-4) with 20 points. Johnson added 16 points and 13 rebounds.

The teams had not played since 2004, when the Terriers took the Bulldogs into overtime before Georgia won 93-89.

"I have been watching scores around the country and seeing games like this where teams are coming off finals," Felton said. "I was hoping we were not going to be one of those teams that went down. It didn't look that way early, but we found ourselves in a battle with a well-coached team that played well."

Noah Dahlman's pair of free throws put Wofford ahead 60-59 with 50.8 seconds to play in regulation. Thompkins hit a 3-pointer from the right wing with 25.2 seconds to play to put the Bulldogs ahead. Loesing was fouled on a drive to the basket and made both free throws with 8.6 seconds to go, forcing overtime.

"Our team is down in the mouth right now," Wofford coach Mike Young said. "As they should be. It was a tough loss. But going on the road and playing the way we did is encouraging. This game proves that things are going to be very exciting for the Terriers in the near future."

Georgia led by as many as 15 points in the first half, the last time on Swansey's 3-point play with 6:33 remaining before halftime, giving the Bulldogs a 29-14 lead. But with Thompkins on the bench with two fouls, Georgia failed to score another field goal in the first half.

Meanwhile, Johnson scored eight straight points during a 10-0 run. By halftime, Wofford whittled the lead to 34-30.

Thompkins scored two quick baskets to start the second half, and Georgia surged ahead 40-32 on Albert Jackson's hook.

But when Thompkins went to the bench again, Wofford mounted another 10-0 run. Bookend 3-pointers by Salters started and finished the run, which boosted the Terriers to a 42-40 lead, their first since the game's initial basket.

Georgia put together an 8-0 run midway through the second half to build a 54-48 lead on Jeremy Price's basket with 8:22 to play.

Georgia played without leading scorer Terrence Woodbury, sidelined with an ankle injury. The Bulldogs got surprising production from walk-on Ricky McPhee, who scored 11 points in 23 minutes.

"No doubt about it, Ricky gave us a major, major lift off the bench," Felton said. "He was tough inside, and he made some shots."

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