Georgia’s 63-50 win over Montana Tuesday night may not have resembled the same breakneck pace shown by the Bulldogs in their first three games.

Nevertheless, head coach Tom Crean felt he saw some positive signs that he hopes bodes well for the rest of the year.

“It was a really good sign of future maturity—when it’s not going great for you personally offensively, we’re not scoring the way we want to, but we’re still coming down and putting stops together—getting deflections and limiting them to one stop,” Crean said. “That’s the important stuff.”

One quick look at the final stats tells the story.

The Bulldogs struggled from the field, shooting a season-low 39.7 percent, converting on just five of their 23 three-point attempts (21.7 percent).

In Crean’s first two Georgia campaigns, the outcome likely would not have gone in the team's favor. Although we're just four games deep in the season, the Bulldogs are starting to show signs of being a more complete team.

Tuesday night’s evidence? The fact that Georgia (4-0) continued to guard, forcing 20 turnovers, outrebounding the Grizzlies 49-30, ultimately not letting a subpar offensive night affect their defensive play.

“Even if the shots aren’t falling, we still need to play at our pace,” grad transfer Andrew Garcia said. “Coach is always telling us to keep pushing the ball, run the floor, and try to get those baskets.”

Crean felt his Bulldogs were able to mostly accomplish those particular goals.

“There are four things you should be able to control in a game: your defensive effort and energy; you should control your rebounding pursuit, your physicality, and your attack of the glass; you should be able to control how hard and fast you run; and you should be able to control moving without the ball,” Crean said. “Did we hit every one of those aspects? No, but we did defend, we did rebound, and for the most part, we got out, ran, and pushed it and found a way to win the game.”

Despite scoring just 63 points, the Bulldogs still managed to play four players in double figures.

Sophomore Toumani Camara led the Bulldogs with his first double-double, scoring 15 points with a career-best 17 rebounds, followed by Garcia with 13 points, Justin Kier with 13, and P.J. Horne with 10.

“I’ve just got to do anything I can to help my team,” Camara said. “It’s a big thing for me to be able to rebound, especially after the last three games of not doing my best. It’s something I need to focus on every day.”

The way the game began, it looked as if the Bulldogs would run away and hide.

Georgia jumped out to a 21-7 lead before going ice cold from the floor, while the Grizzlies went on a 13-2 run to close within 23-20 on a three-pointer by Eddy Egun. But that was as close as it got.

A tip-in by Garcia and a three-pointer by Kier pushed the margin back to six, with the Bulldogs ultimately going into the half with a 32-24 lead.

“That’s the maturity—when you have older guys. Now, we had some guys that let their lack of offense affect their defense, and we had to get them out of the game,” Crean said. “But, for the most part, the older guys, and Toumani, did a really, really good job of that. They just kept coming. That's Mikal Starks, that's what we have to have. They kept guarding, kept pushing, kept doing those types of things you need to do.”

Boxscore

Sophomore Christian Brown scored two points in limited action in the first half before not seeing the court in the second.

After the game, it was revealed why.

According to Crean, Brown began feeling tired and under the directive of trainers, was isolated from the team for precautionary reasons.

Brown would undergo a subject test for Covid.

Fortunately, Brown would have good news.

A Georgia spokesman revealed that Brown underwent a “quick” test for the virus, and it came back negative.

Georgia returns to action Saturday night against Samford. Gametime is 7 p.m. ET