After back-to-back games to open the season against Oregon and Wake Forest, Sunday’s game against North Carolina Central University may have taught Georgia an even bigger lesson than the previous two.
You’d better be ready to play.
The Eagles out of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference gave Georgia all it could handle before the Bulldogs closed out a 64-54 win in front of a Stegeman Coliseum crowd of 5,699.
“If we did (overlook), then we’re incorrect. We’re not good enough to overlook anyone,” head coach Mike White said. “We’re trying to build something here, and our approach should be the same, every practice and every game.”
Freshman guard Silas Demary Jr. said the Eagles (1-2) taught the Bulldogs a valuable lesson they’ll need to carry forward to the rest of the year.
“I just feel like we’ve got to approach every game like we would an SEC team,” Demary Jr. said. “We’ve got to be better than that and grow from that, because we’ve got a few more games like this that we’re going to play.”
NCCU, defeated by No. 1 Kansas 99-56 in last week’s season opener, tested the Dawgs,
Georgia started quickly enough. The Bulldogs held a 16-8 lead at the 11:03 mark following a dunk by Jalen Deloach, but would not score again until Justin Hill drilled a three-pointer with 6:38 remaining in the first half.
“I don’t think we took but a handful of bad shots," White said. "We took some average ones, but turnovers and those guys shortened the game on us and did a great job. They played delay clock a bunch. When that happens, each possession becomes a little bit more important to you. It’s the first time it’s happened to us, so all of a sudden your decisions become a little bit more important. When you make some subpar ones, they get magnified, and before you know it, you’ve gone four or five minutes where you’ve come up empty.”
As a result, the Bulldogs only led 27-23 at the half before a three by NCCU’s Colbey Harraway gave his team the lead at 30-29, its first since very early in the game.
Struggles from the perimeter did not help Georgia’s cause.
Hill’s first-half three-pointer was the only one the Bulldogs converted over their first 12 attempts before Blue Cain ended the skid with one to tie the game at 32.
“I thought we looked a little bit rattled once we missed a few really good looks early,” White said. “We didn’t play as confidently as we need to play. Next play, next shot. Let’s control the quality of the shot rather than the result, but after we had some negative results, I think it became a little bit mental for us.”
The Bulldogs (2-1) would finally find some consistency midway through the second half.
Another three-pointer by Justin Hill gave Georgia a double-digit advantage at 45-34 with 10:47 left to play.
NCCU would again close within five before the Bulldogs scored 10 of the game’s final 17 points to ease to their second win.
Jabri Abdur-Rahim led the Bulldogs with 13 points, 10 coming on 11 free-throw attempts. Hill added 11, with Demary Jr. chipping in with 10.
“For us to reach our full potential, we’ve got to keep that same mentality that we came into the Wake game with,” Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe said. “Everybody wants to win. We play high-level dudes every night. So, whether we play the No. 1 team in the country or a mid-major, low-major, we’ve got to come in with the same mentality. We’ve got to play to our standard.”
