Saturday’s script against visiting Florida was unfortunately a familiar one for Georgia fans who have endured this year’s disappointing campaign.
The result, an 84-72 defeat to the rival Gators, the Bulldogs’ 23rd loss of the year, the most in school history.
For those counting, Georgia has now lost nine straight, and 17 of its last 18 games.
“It’s disheartening; I feel for these guys in so many ways,” head coach Tom Crean said. “I feel for our guys so much. We just could not get both ends put together in a consistent way.”
A 10-0 run by Florida (18-11, 8-8) to start the second half led to Georgia’s demise.
A three-pointer by Dalen Ridgnal brought the Bulldogs (6-23, 1-15) back within seven, but just as quickly, the comeback came to an end. Back-to-back three-pointers by Tyree Appleby pushed Florida’s lead back to 13. The Gators never looked back as Georgia would get no closer than the final 12-point margin.
“We didn’t have the right urgency,” Crean said. “The first five-eight minutes of the second half are so crucial. We did not have urgency with our own offense as far as how strong we need to be with the ball., and the same thing on the defensive end. We’re just not challenging enough the way we need to when it comes to guarding the basketball.”
Adding even more insult to Florida’s win was the fact that Athens native Phlandrous Fleming Jr. accounted for much of Florida’s damage.
The former Cedar Shoals standout who came to Florida as a graduate transfer from Charleston Southern led Florida with a season-high 27 points. Fleming Jr. entered play averaging 10.1 points.
“We didn’t defend him as well as we should have,” Crean said. “He’s a good player. No doubt about that.”
Bulldog graduate Braelen Bridges concurred.
“We’ve got the same trainer,” Bridges said. “I knew he could play.”
Kario Oquendo once again led the Bulldogs in scoring, tossing in a team-high 20 points, followed by Bridges with 16 and Aaron Cook with 10.
Applebee added 20 for Florida, which converted 14 of its 31 three-point attempts.
“They’ve got a really good team, but we allowed them to gain confidence because there wasn’t enough pressure on their shooting,” Crean said.
The Bulldogs grabbed an early 18-17 lead before a 9-0 run by Florida put the Gators in early control.
Fleming Jr. was the man responsible. Fleming scored seven of the nine points, including a three from the key forcing the Bulldogs to take a timeout with 7:14 left in the half.
To Georgia’s credit, the Bulldogs would respond, going on a 7-0 run of its own that Oquendo capped with his third of four first-half three-pointers to bring the Bulldogs back within two.
That would be as close as Georgia would get as Florida closed out the half by outscoring the Bulldogs 12-7 over the final 4:29 to go into the locker room with a 41-34 lead.
As usual, Oquendo accounted for most of Georgia’s offense. The Florida native tallied 12 points on a quartet of three-pointers.
Trouble was, the Gators as a team also had a hot hand.
Florida, which shot 50 percent from the field (15 of 30), was even better from long range as the Gators converted 8 of their 15 three-point attempts compared to a 6-of-15 showing by the Bulldogs.
Georgia closes out the home portion of its schedule Tuesday against Tennessee (6:30 p.m.).
