By John Frierson
Staff Writer

In the end, the ball was in Sahvir Wheeler's hands. The Georgia men's basketball freshman's left hand, to be exact.

After some dribbling and driving, two things Wheeler does very well, the ball left Wheeler's hand, kissed off the glass and dropped through the net. A double-overtime game-winner for the Bulldogs, 87-85, over SMU on Friday night at Stegeman Coliseum.

In a closing stretch of a neck-and-neck game, Wheeler was the final hero for the Bulldogs, who improved to 7-3. But he was not alone. Junior Rayshaun Hammonds made some huge plays, seniors Jordan Harris and Tyree Crump scored some major buckets and freshman Anthony Edwards on an off night overall buried a big 3-pointer in the second overtime.

And in any game that goes to double overtime, every single play makes a difference. Coach Tom Crean said postgame that a young team, and Georgia has nine freshmen, "a lot of times they don't understand how hard it is to win." When you're a young team, he added, you "have to earn your belief."

Georgia earned its best win of the season Friday, at a time when the Bulldogs needed it. They were coming off a tough loss at Arizona State the previous Saturday, their third loss in five games, and with only a few games left before visiting No. 11 Memphis on Jan. 4 and opening SEC play at home on Jan. 7 against No. 6 Kentucky, the Bulldogs needed to get some momentum going.

A win like Friday's over a solid SMU squad that had only lost once coming into the game will help. Now Georgia has to Georgia Southern on Monday and Austin Peay on Dec. 30, so there's time to keep that momentum going and build on all the good things the Bulldogs did to edge the Mustangs in a fun, back-and-forth affair.

For two teams that aren't rivals, that were meeting for the first time, this December non-conference matchup had a late-season feel to it. Georgia hit a big shot, SMU answered. The Mustangs pulled ahead a little, the Bulldogs reeled them in. On and on it went.

After Jordan Harris, in his first action of the season, closed the first half with a dramatic dunk as time expired, cutting SMU's lead to 28-25, it seemed a good finish was a possibility. But it was much better than that.

The Mustangs led by as many as six in the second half, while Georgia's largest advantage was five. With 1:34 to play in regulation and SMU up 68-67, Hammonds was fouled on a reverse layup. He made the first attempt to tie the game and missed the go-ahead free throw. Then things got a bit weird.

There were a couple of very quick tie-up calls, Hammonds was called for traveling while trying to inbound the ball under Georgia's basket, and then SMU was whistled for a 5-second violation when it tried to inbound the ball. That's two turnovers without the ball being put in play or the clock moving it all.

Edwards, who had a key blocked shot down low in the closing seconds, missed on a half-court heave at the end of regulation. There was more fun to come.

SMU hit a 3-point to open overtime and led 77-72 with 31 seconds left, but then Crump hit a 3 from the left wing — Wheeler drove the right side of the lane and kicked it out to him for an open look — with 24.1 on the clock. The Mustangs' Tyson Jolly then missed a free throw and Harris grabbed the rebound.

Wheeler got the ball and did what he does: attack. The 5-foot-10 freshman drove and put the ball in — a teaser for another big bucket to come — and tied the game 77-77 with 4.0 seconds left. On to the second overtime.

Edwards hit two free throws to open the second OT and later Wheeler found the star freshman in the right corner as the shot clock was winding down. Edwards — who ended up 6-for-17 from the field, with 16 points, five rebounds, three assists and three turnovers — buried the corner 3 for an 82-79 lead.

A minute later, Hammonds, who led the Bulldogs with 21 points and 11 rebounds, hit a 3 from the left corner and was fouled. Edwards came running over and the excitement and elation were evident as the two Bulldogs smiled and slapped hands over and over. This was just a non-conference game a few days before Christmas, except it wasn't. This was a team finding something, maybe finding itself.

After Edwards grabbed a rebound, Georgia called a timeout with 14.1 seconds left. Out of the break, Edwards inbounded the ball to Hammonds, who fed it to Wheeler. Then, anything could happen.

Crean explained afterward that he wanted Wheeler "to create." Wheeler had options, with Edwards, Hammonds and Crump around him.  Dribbling just to the left of the top of the key, Wheeler's head fake got the defender closest to him off balance, opening a lane. Then he got past another defender and laid the ball in.

Wheeler is "one of the best layup makers I've ever been around," Crean said.

Watching that win, watching Wheeler drive through traffic for big buckets, it was easy to see the future. Wheeler finished with nine points and eight assists, yet he seemed to have an even bigger game than that. He also seemed like a guy that's going to be making huge clutch plays for years to come — a guy that opposing coaches are going to admire and dread. They're going see the game film or stats breakdown and be like, "He's still there?"

He's here, and perhaps like this young team, he's just getting started.

John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.