Georgia’s 69-58 win over Jacksonville Tuesday night gave the Bulldogs back-to-back victories for the first time this season. But it may have come with a cost.
With just over 14 minutes to play, graduate Jailyn Ingram fell under his own basket clutching his right knee. He had to be helped from the court.
Head coach Tom Crean hopes the injury is not a serious one. Unfortunately, early indications do not appear promising.
Crean was on the verge of tears and choked up as he addressed the media in his postgame Zoom, as he talked about the native of nearby Madison, in his first year with the program after transferring from Florida Atlantic University.
“We’re just going to pray for him. I ask if you so choose, you do it, for him,” Crean said. “You pray that it’s OK. If not, God’s will be done … all these guys, they’re really, really good people. … we have really, really good kids here, young men. Jailyn is … we’re just going to pray tonight and see how it turns out.”
Ingram, who finished with 12 points, came into the game as the Bulldogs’ third-leading scorer with 10.5 points per game.
He’s scheduled to undergo an MRI Wednesday morning.
“Indications are not good,” Crean said. “We’ll just have to see how it goes.”
The Bulldogs already have P.J. Horne out for the year after suffering a season-ending ACL injury before the season began.
“I’ve been with Jailyn … his teammates got to see him, too,” Crean said. “Our doctors were right here immediately. We’ll deal with it as we go.”
Although Ingram clearly remained on his teammates’ minds, his absence did not keep the Bulldogs (4-5) from cruising to their second-straight win.
Braelen Bridges led the way with 14 points, with Jabri Abdur-Rahim chipping in with 10.
“When you see an injury like that, a non-contact injury, you can’t help but fear the worst,” Abdur-Rahim said. “It’s hard to keep playing. You’re thinking about him while you’re thinking about the game and that’s difficult.”
Nevertheless, the Bulldogs were able to hold on as the game was never really in doubt.
Georgia played most of the second half with a double-digit lead, pushing the margin to as many as 16 with 1:24 to play.
The Dolphins (4-3) would draw as close as seven, but Christian Wright responded with a three at the 8:12 mark and never looked back.
Georgia led 32-24 at the half after trailing by as many as seven points early on.
A hot start by Ingram certainly helped with that lead.
Ingram scored Georgia’s first eight points of the game. In fact, it was not until the 10:22 mark when somebody other than the FAU transfer managed to score, when a layup by Abdur-Rahim cut Jacksonville’s lead to 11-10.
Three minutes later, a pair of free throws by Abdur-Rahim gave Georgia its first lead, which grew to seven when Noah Baumann hit the first three for Georgia after seven misses to start the game.
A second three-pointer by Aaron Cook, who was back in the lineup after missing last week’s game against Memphis with the flu, accounted for the 32-24 halftime score.
“Aaron has been better for a few days, and I thought he did a really good job,” Crean said. “We won this game defensively, and Aaron was a catalyst there.”
NOTES: Georgia will take the next 11 days off for final exams before returning to Stegeman Coliseum on Dec. 18 against George Mason. … Before the game, the school played a video honoring Tom Crean for his 400th win. The tribute included some words from former Crean players Dwyane Wade, Brian Wardle (Bradley head coach), Victor Oladipo, Anthony Edwards and Nic Claxton.
