As disappointing as Georgia’s record has been, there have been a few occasions where it appeared the Bulldogs would find a way to pull an upset or two.
It almost happened last Saturday against top-ranked Auburn, and Wednesday night in Gainesville, Georgia found itself down just three to Florida with just under three minutes to play.
The Bulldogs had trailed by as many as 16 points.
However, as has been the unfortunate case, that was as close as they got. Florida outscored the Bulldogs 8-2 the rest of the way to roll to a 72-63 win.
“They made a couple of threes and then we had a tough turnover when it was 66-61,” head coach Tom Crean said. “It’s a tough way to lose. Our kids put so much into this, and it’s a tough way to lose on the road, because I know the work that we’re putting into it.”
Georgia (6-18, 1-10) played the game with only eight players. Junior Tyron McMillan was unavailable after suffering what Crean called a lower-body injury in practice Monday afternoon. The Bulldogs were also without Tyrone Baker and Jonathan Ned continues to be unavailable due to injury.
“Those (lack of depth) were issues, there’s no question about it, but I don’t think we wore down at all,” Crean said. “I think we managed it. I just think at the end they made a couple of more shots.”
Kario Oquendo led the Bulldogs with 22 points, playing a season-high 37 minutes. He was followed by Aaron Cook with 14 and Braelen Bridges with 10.
Myreon Jones scored 23 points to lead the Gators (16-8, 6-5).
Georgia, which never led, trailed by double-digits for most of the first half before finishing on a 7-0 run to cut Florida’s halftime lead to 38-30.
The Gators would quickly go back up by 13 early in the second half, before a 10-0 run by the Bulldogs brought the Bulldogs within 64-61 with 2:56 left to play.
Georgia returns to action Saturday when the Bulldogs host South Carolina.
