By Carlos Rodriguez |Sports writerATHENS—The University of Georgia men’s basketball team defeated Southern Methodist University on Dec. 20, by a score of 87-85 in double overtime, as the Bulldogs continue to show promise under second-year coach Tom Crean. Both Georgia and SMU battled back and forth, and that led to a total of 12 lead changes in the game.Opening up the game, junior Rayshaun Hammonds got on board first for UGA after making a layup in the first minute of the game. SMU went on a 6-0 run, capping it off with a dunk from sophomore Feron Hunt with 17:47 remaining.At 15:23, Hammonds fed the ball to star freshman Anthony Edwards, who converted a layup to give Georgia a 9-8 lead. The Bulldogs' biggest lead of the half came after Hammonds fell to the ground after grabbing a rebound and dished the ball to freshman Sahvir Wheeler, who knocked down a three-pointer with 13:10 remaining.At 10:04, Wheeler found sophomore Tye Fagan on a backdoor cut for a slam dunk as the Bulldogs gained a 14-12 lead. The Mustangs took back the lead with 4:21 remaining after Hunt knocked down a three-pointer. The Mustangs would hold onto this lead the rest of the half.As the clock was running down in the first half, Hammonds missed a three-point attempt, but senior Jordan Harris grabbed the rebound and made an emphatic put-back dunk that had the crowd roaring at the buzzer to end the half. Harris made his first appearance this season after being suspended for the first nine games.“Having him is a blessing,” said Hammonds on Harris being back in action. “Last three years, I’ve played with Jordan, he’s always been a spark no matter what.”SMU led at the half 28-25. Leading the Bulldogs in the first half was Hammonds with six points and five rebounds. SMU held Edwards to only two first-half points. Hunt led the Mustangs with 12 points in the half.Things changed in the second half as Edwards scored Georgia’s first points of the half after making a layup with 18:44 remaining as SMU led 31-27. SMU junior Tyson Jolly answered back the next possession down with a made jump shot to increase the Mustangs lead to six at 33-27 which was their biggest lead of the game. At 13:10 UGa.’s Harris trimmed the SMU lead to 44-43 after a three-point make.At 8:51 Edwards dished a pass to freshman Toumani Camara who flushed a dunk to give UGA their first lead of the half at 52-51. Right after SMU went on to score five straight points and Edwards answered with a three-pointer to trim the lead to one with 7:47 remaining.At 4:31 Edwards gave UGa. a 60-58 lead once again after finishing a layup from a pass by Hammonds. Then Hammonds gave the Bulldogs their biggest lead of the game after drilling a three-pointer to increase the lead to 65-60.With 1:58 remaining, sophomore Kendric Davis made a layup to give the Mustangs a 68-67 lead. Hammonds was fouled and managed to tie the game at 68 after making one free throw with 1:34 remaining.The game was still tied as SMU had 17 seconds to work with and put the ball in the hands of guard Jolly. Edwards was guarding Jolly as he made a move down towards the paint as time was winding down. Jolly went up for a floater close to the basket in which Edwards blocked the shot with one second remaining and the game stayed knotted at 68 heading into overtime.“They’re one of the top five teams we played this year,” said UGa.’s Rayshaun Hammonds.In the first overtime, SMU struck first in the opening minute after junior Isiaha Mike hit a three-pointer. Fagan cut SMU’s lead to 73-72 with 1:21 remaining after making a layup. With 31 seconds left, Davis made two free throws to put the Mustangs up 77-72. Things were looking bad for the Bulldogs, but Wheeler, the freshman guard, showed his play-making skills and found senior Tyree Crump, who knocked down a three to cut the lead to two with 24 seconds remaining. Guard Tyson Jolly was fouled with 15 seconds remaining and missed the free throw attempt as the score stayed 77-75.Wheeler saved the day for Georgia converting a contested layup tying the game at 77 with with four seconds to go. Once again, the game was heading to another overtime.“Sahvir is one of the best layup makers I’ve ever been around,” said Crean, who coached at Marquette and Indiana University before coming to Athens.In the second overtime, the 6-foot-5 Edwards, who played his high school ball at Atlanta's Holy Spirit Prep, was quickly fouled and knocked down both free throws to give UGA a 79-77 lead with 4:45 remaining. Mike answered back for SMU as he tied things back up after making a layup with 3:49 remaining. At 3:16 Edwards made a three pointer as the shot clock buzzer went off to give the Bulldogs a 82-79 lead. SMU once again answered back, this time it was Hunt as he drilled a wide open three.The very next possession Edwards passed the ball to Hammonds, who converted a three-pointer, giving UGA a 85-82 lead with 2:29 remaining. SMU’s Jolly hit a free throw and made a jumper that tied things back up at 85 with 1:23 remaining.Wheeler saved the day once more as he maneuvered through the lane to finish a layup and give the Bulldogs a 87-85 lead with 1.9 seconds left as they went onto win.“Sahvir is so valuable to this team in so many different ways,” Crean said. “We had a play call we were saving and it had a double high pick and roll and we wanted him to operate.”Wheeler was appreciative of his teammates.“I’m super thankful for my teammates for believing in me, and the coaching staff for believing in me,” said Wheeler.Crean, who is used to strong homecourt advantages with his stints at Marquette and IU, praised the UGa. crowd at Stegeman.“There’s no way we win this game without the passion of the crowd,” said Crean. “When you can feel the crowd and feel it as a coach it just absolutely invigorates your players.”Hammonds led the Bulldogs with 21 points and 11 rebounds. Edwards, the 18-year-old freshman, scored 16 points and grabbed five rebounds. Tyree Crump added 12 points, making 4-of-5 three-pointers. Wheeler’s clutch performance consisted of nine points and eight assists, and in his first game back Harris added nine.Mike scored 25 points and grabbed 12 boards for SMU. Jolly added 19 points, and Hunt contributed 17.UGa., whose losses have been to Dayton, Michigan State and Arizona State on the road or at neutral sites, improved to 8-3 with a 73-64 triumph over Georgia Southern behind 23 from Edwards on Dec. 23.Next up for the Dawgs is Austin Peay on Monday, Dec. 30, at Stegeman Coliseum. The Bulldogs, who are undefeated at home, will host Kentucky to start SEC play on Tuesday, Jan. 7.And, clearly, the Dawgs have turned things around after going 11-21 in 2018-19 in Crean's first season in Athens. Contact Carlos Rodriguez at carlosjr521@gmail.com.