It wasn't just that Georgia was unable to stop Alabama’s 3-point barrage.
Whether the Crimson Tide were in transition or in their half-court offense, the Bulldogs couldn't stop the track of the ball, whether it was being brought up the court or passed around the perimeter. This led to the open looks from behind the arc, with Alabama blowing out Georgia 115-82 in Tuscaloosa.
Georgia head coach Tom Crean was clearly displeased at the result, noting that the defensive deficiencies all began with the defense's inability to stop the ball.
“When we don’t get the ball stopped, it creates the overhelps. And the last thing you want to do against a really good shooting team is be in a position to overhelp,” Crean said. “We didn’t guard the ball, obviously, a couple of times as well in the isolation game. But there's still no reason to have to overhelp. They’re so good at one more pass, then one more after that. They coach a style that's very much about finding the matchup they want.”
Alabama (17-5, 12-1 SEC) converted 18 of 30 3-point buckets, with guard Jahvon Quinerly (16 points) making all four of his attempts. Forward Herbert Jones (21 points) and guard Joshua Primo (19 points) each went 3-of-4 from behind the 3-point line. Alabama entered the day third in the SEC in 3-point shooting by connecting on 35.5 percent of its attempts.
Shooting 60 percent on its 3-point attempts will certainly improve that statistic.
As the game unfolded, Crean kept harping for his players to stop the ball. But with the Crimson Tide in sync and displaying great ball movement, the Bulldogs (12-8, 5-8) were unable to get a handle on their shooters.
“What happens is, they start that dribble and then they put it down, and we take the first penetrating dribble and open up into our back foot,” Crean said. “The other problem with us today was that so many of their drives were non-penetrating drives. They are drives to get you to help, they are not necessarily driving that's going to the rim. But there are also times that they are just trying to bait you into it. That's when we needed to stay strong in the slots and not overhelp in that area. But because we didn't get the ball stopped, and we were rotating, they were making those next two passes, which really hurts."
Crean added the Bulldogs could have done a better job challenging shots.
“There’s a huge difference between having a hand up, having your hands out, and really being aggressive and really driving your hand up and forcing the trajectory of the shot,” Crean said.
Alabama became the first SEC team to score 115 points against a conference opponent since 1996, when Kentucky defeated Vanderbilt 120-81.
With Alabama staying hot from long range all game, Georgia couldn’t get anything consistent to go from the perimeter. The Bulldogs made only 10.5 percent of their 3-point attempts, hitting two of their 19 shots from behind the arc. Crean lamented the fact that, as Alabama kept hitting their shots, Georgia couldn't keep up.
Guard K.D. Johnson, who led the Bulldogs with 24 points on 6-of-15 shooting, made both of Georgia's 3-pointers.
“We have to be better there. That’s what we’re trying to build, and what we have built in the past, especially in the last place at Indiana,” Crean said. “We just have to get that built up. We're going through some slumps with some guys. We’re at three games where we shot in the mid-40s. The last thing I want to do is take confidence, but there’s no doubt that we have to get better at shooting the ball now and in the long-term. The bottom line is, we have to find ways to overcome it when we’re not.”
After forward Andrew Garcia made two free throws at the 10:10 mark of the first half, Georgia trailed Alabama only 23-22. From there, the Crimson Tide were able to run away with the game. Alabama guards Keon Ellis and Jadon Shackleford hit back-to-back 3-pointers to go up 29-22. Following Georgia guard Sahvir Wheeler’s two free throws, Jones hit a 3-pointer to put the Crimson Tide up 32-24 with 6:23 to play in the opening period. Jones’ 3 started a 22-14 run to give Alabama a 51-38 advantage at the half.
The Bulldogs were unable to adjust accordingly as the Crimson Tide scored 64 points in the second half.
“Our shot challenges were not nearly what we needed them to be, and again, we’re not making 3s on the other end, which carries into the disappointment in the transition end,” Crean said. “So we were trying to make sure we were trying to get to the foul line, because right now, we’re missing shots. So the best thing we can do is get to the rim—that way we can set our defense. There were times we were able to do that and times that we weren’t. I think we got (Alabama's lead) back down to 14 or 12 in the second half, and we had a couple of mistakes, and right away it’s back up to 19. We overhelped."
