Georgia may sit at the bottom of the SEC East, but Stegeman Coliseum is quickly becoming a house of horrors for visiting opponents.

The Georgia men’s basketball team (10-11, 2-6) knocked off its third top-20 opponent in Stegeman Coliseum this season with a 72-58 win over No. 20 Vanderbilt (17-5, 6-2) Saturday night, costing the Commodores a chance of tying Kentucky at the top of the SEC with a win.

Georgia forward Trey Thompkins goes up for two of his 17 points against Vanderbilt Saturday night. Photo by ASHLEY STRICKLAND

After their second worst offensive output in a half (23) this season, Georgia responded with their best in the second half, scoring a season-high 49 second-half points to emerge with the 14-point win.

“We really played well all-around tonight,” Georgia head coach Mark Fox said. “Even after we didn’t start off the second half well, the defense improved and held us together. There was a lot of unselfish play from the team. This was the type of game that really makes you feel good about yourself.”

As bad as the Georgia defense was in the second half against Arkansas on Wednesday night, it was equally spectacular against Vanderbilt, holding the Commodores to 32.8 percent shooting on the game and forcing them to 6-of-23 shooting from the three-point line.

“I was much more pleased with the defense tonight,” Fox said. “The other day’s game made me nauseous, so I’m happy I’ll be able to eat tonight.”

The Vandy offense was cold from the opening tip, and Georgia used it to their advantage, jumping out to a 19-9 lead in the first 10 minutes. But then the Georgia offense froze up as well, scoring just four points in the final 10 minutes and allowing Vanderbilt to erase the double-digit lead to enter the half with a 26-23 lead of their own.

“We had a good start but the last 10 minutes of the first half we slowed down,” Georgia’s Travis Leslie said. “The second half we knew we couldn’t give up another big lead like we had the previous game and we came out and just played our game.”

Added Georgia forward Trey Thompkins: “We are starting to learn our system a lot better. Everybody is starting to find their place and their spots in the offense and we’re doing it.”

But when Vanderbilt opened up their lead to eight to start the second half, it looked as if Georgia would blow another early lead

This time, they wouldn’t fold when adversity struck, finishing off the game with a 42-20 run over the final 15 minutes – behind 66.7 percent second-half shooting – to snap their three-game losing streak.

“We had a good lead in the second half but then fell apart defensively,” Vanderbilt shooting guard Brad Tinsley said. “It helped [Georgia] that they got to the line a lot. We broke down mentally and physically and they just capitalized.”

Thompkins was the workhorse on the night for Georgia, notching 17 points and 7 rebounds on 7-12 shooting. Leslie chipped in with 17 points and eight rebounds, scoring 11 of his 17 in the final 12 minutes. Dustin Ware, who was suffering from flu-like symptoms and only played 26 minutes, scored in double figures, too, with 10 points.

Vanderbilt guards Jermaine Beal and Brad Tinsley had nice nights for the Commodores, scoring 21 and 18, respectively.