Georgia coach Mike White knew going into Tuesday’s championship game of the Greenlight Sunshine Slam that successfully defending a talented UAB team for 40 minutes would be a difficult task for his Bulldogs.
White was proven correct.
After a strong defensive first half, UAB’s offense shifted to another gear in the second, enabling the Blazers to run away to an 87-73 win.
“We were decent defensively in the first half, but in the second it was more about UAB’s offensive output,” White said. “They got it going.”
Indeed.
The Bulldogs (4-2) held a 42-41 halftime lead before the Blazers (4-1) went on a 7-0 run early in the second half to begin putting the game away.
Georgia, meanwhile, went 3 of 15 from the field for the first eight-plus minutes.
“We missed a couple of layups, we missed a couple of open one-on-ones, and they went on to build a seven-point lead. The game was just different from there,” White said. “I don’t know if we’ve got the competitive composure and poise at this point to overcome that, the run that they made. We just did not respond very well. But credit those guys; they went on that run.”
Justin Hill led the Bulldogs in scoring for the fourth time this season, finishing with 17 points and four rebounds. Braelen Bridges added a season-best 10 points and seven boards, while Kario Oquendo had 12 points.
The production off the bench was again a bright spot for UGA, providing 36 points, highlighted by Bridges and Hill. The Blazers’ Jordan “Jelly” Walker led all scorers with 30 points while shooting 50 percent from the field.
“I thought Braelen gave us a boost when he got in the game. He’s a talented offensive player when he’s got the ball in his hands, and he made some plays at the rim,” White said. “Justin Hill, I thought, was pretty good.”
The Blazer backcourt tandem of Walker and Eric Gaines proved a tough pair to contain as the Blazers were also able to shoot 50 percent in the second half through the under-four media timeout to take control, 80-62.
“Live ball turnovers haunted us. Some missed block outs by our guards haunted us, and we left Walker a couple of times. One time we left when it was really late, but early in the second half we closed out short to him. It was just a scouting report error,” White said. “They leave you a small margin for error there in trying to defend those guys. They’re tremendous offensively, and they’re going to win a lot of games this year.”
The Bulldogs' next game will come at home in Stegeman Coliseum against the East Tennessee State University Buccaneers this Sunday at 1 p.m. ET and will be broadcasted on the SEC Network.
