Only one word is needed to describe the second half for Georgia in Tuesday night’s game against No. 8 Texas A&M.
Brutal.
As a result, what was a nine-point halftime lead turned into another disappointing loss as the Aggies used their strong second half to roll to a 69-53 win
The loss dropped Georgia to 16-9, 4-8 in the SEC, putting a severe crimp in the Bulldogs’ hopes for a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
Texas A&M improves to 18-9 and 8-3.
Already missing Tyrin Lawrence and Dakota Leffew, it did not help the short-handed Bulldogs that Asa Newell was a non-factor offensively.
Newell did not score his first points until hitting a free throw with 8:30 left in the game. By that time, the outcome was already well in hand for Texas A&M and the rout was on as Georgia failed to adjust to the Aggies' second-half switch to a matchup zone.
The Bulldogs would have no answer.
"They made some adjustments, they went to their matchup zone, switching everything. It really had us a little bit off balance there in the second half," head coach Mike White said. "You know how it is with young people. We're extremely young, we got two old guys that are out and now we're really, really young. Our poise and our attention to detail defensively and on the defensive glass led up a little bit when we had some of those empty possessions."
There were plenty of those as evidenced by Georgia going 4 of 22 from the field in the second half.
Newell finished with just six points for the Bulldogs. Blue Cain scored 17 points, and Silas Demary Jr. scored 19.
"We definitely weren't playing with the same amount of swagger as we did early in the game," White said. "We had some open looks and they went in, you know, and we played, we played downhill in space and, played just some pitch and runs, rim runs, some driving kicks and got some open looks early. That thing was going in and we felt pretty good about ourselves."
Indeed.
Texas A&M came in ranked last in the SEC in field goal percentage and lived up to that reputation in the first half as Georgia jumped out to a 32-23 lead.
Cain enjoyed one of the first halves of his career.
The sophomore poured in 15 points in the first 20 minutes, including a trio of three-pointers for the Bulldogs, a number equaled by Demary Jr.
Defensively, the Bulldogs made the Aggies struggle.
Texas A&M closed the first half by making just one field goal over the final 7:46, going just 1 of 10 from the field.
The Bulldogs would then give up a 25-2 run to Texas A&M in the second half. Georgia only hit 15 percent of its shots after halftime.
Georgia returns to action Saturday when the Bulldogs host Missouri at 3:30 p.m.
