KANSAS CITY, Mo. — It took Georgia coach Mark Fox going against his principles to beat George Washington.

After having a tough time guarding the Colonials with his trademark man-to-man defense, Fox made the rare move to slap on a zone, and that allowed the Bulldogs to keep the Colonials at arm’s length in an 81-73 victory Monday night in the semifinals of the CBE Classic.

“It was really back-and-forth for much of the game,” Fox said. “I thought our move to the zone, which makes my skin curl, really helped us, but we were having a hard time guarding them.”

Yante Maten and J.J. Frazier scored 18 points apiece for the Bulldogs (3-1), who were celebrating the induction of former coach Hugh Durham and famed alum Dominique Wilkins into the College Basketball Hall of Fame on Friday night by notching their third straight win.

The Bulldogs will face the winner of No. 5 Kansas and UAB in Tuesday night’s championship game, while the Colonials (3-1) will play the loser in the consolation game.

“Well, it’s good for our basketball team because we’re playing good basketball teams. It’s big for our program because we just put two of our greats in the Hall of Fame,” Fox said. “We needed to show well, so I’m really proud that we played a fairly clean game.”

Derek Ogbeide had 11 points and eight rebounds Georgia, which led for 31 minutes but never by more than eight points. Juwan Parker had nine points and 11 boards.

“I mean, that’s an SEC team. They’re big inside,” said Tyler Cavanaugh, who led George Washington with 21 points. “We didn’t block off at crucial times, myself at the end of the game. It cost us.”

George Washington knotted the game 68-all on a three-point play by Yuta Watanabe with just over four minutes remaining, but the Bulldogs responded with the next six points. Then they answered Cavanaugh’s 3-pointer from the wing with a three-point play from Papa Diatta that helped put the game away.

“I thought for a big part of the game we did a great job. It was neck-and-neck there,” George Washington coach Maurice Joseph said. “Little plays here and there eventually cost us the game.”

Josh Hart was 5 of 6 from beyond the arc and had 17 points for George Washington, the reigning NIT champions. Watanabe added 14 points but was just 1 of 5 from beyond the arc.

“That’s a good team,” Cavanaugh said. “We just have to keep getting better.”

BACK AND FORTH

The game was tied 10 times and there were 12 lead changes, but the Colonials never led by more than three points. That advantage came early in the second half, when they built on a 36-35 halftime lead.

BIG PICTURE

George Washington struggled on the boards and in the paint, and it proved costly in the final minutes. Diatta’s three-point play to help put the game away came after Georgia’s second offensive board of the possession as the Bulldogs outscored the Colonials inside, 40-18.

Georgia won in Fox’s return to the area. Fox was born in Garden City, Kansas, and began his playing career at Garden City Community College. He later spent six years as an assistant coach for Kansas State before moving on to Nevada, where he eventually became the head coach.

UP NEXT

George Washington plays in the CBE Classic consolation game Tuesday night.

Georgia plays for the CBE Classic championship on Tuesday night.