TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - J.J. Frazier doesn’t know what’s going to happen the rest of the year, but whatever does, he says "quit" won’t be part of Georgia’s vocabulary.
As for those who might think otherwise …
“Then they don’t know our coach and they don’t really know our team,” Frazier said after Georgia’s 60-55 win at Alabama. “The people who really know us know we aren’t going to ever quit; that’s not who we are. That’s never been our identity. That’s what’s going on in our locker room. We’ve got some tough dudes.”
Frazier may be the toughest of all.
With Yante Maten out with a sprained right knee, Frazier showed once again why he may just be the most competitive player in the SEC, scoring 28 points to lead the Bulldogs (16-12, 7-8) to the five-point win.
“He’s a great competitor. J.J. Frazier is a great competitor, he really is. It doesn’t surprise us,” head coach Mark Fox said. “We decided today to play him off the ball and start Turtle (Jackson), and we felt like it would give us some advantages. But he’s got a big competitive heart and really came through today.”
In more ways than one.
Although Georgia led the entire way, the Bulldogs can thank Frazier for that as well.
With the Bulldogs holding a scant one-point lead with 4:36 left, the Crimson Tide (16-11, 9-6) had an opportunity to go in front for the first time. But Frazier had other ideas.
Twice in the final 4:31 Alabama found itself down by just one point but Frazier answered each time with baskets to keep the Crimson Tide at bay.
For those counting, Frazier has now scored 64 points over Georgia’s past two games, including 36 in Saturday’s loss to Kentucky.
“He’s been making plays like this for two years now - that’s what you’ve come to expect,” Juwan Parker said. “Nah, nothing J.J. does surprises me. He works hard, he’s always in the gym, he’s constantly watching film to see what teams are doing to him, offensively and defensively. It’s never surprising.”
With Maten out, Georgia went with what was basically a four-guard lineup, with Turtle Jackson getting the start and E’Torrion Wilridge sliding over to the four spot on the court.
Although no other Bulldog finished in double-digit scoring besides Frazier, seven different players scored for the Bulldogs to help take up some of the offensive slack.
“If you look at it, Turtle had two or three baskets, Derek (Ogbeide) had two or three baskets, and Yante not being there and the way they guarded J.J., opened it up for a lot of different people. Juwan got some things done,” Fox said. “Obviously playing small we spaced the floor differently than we normally do. But late, J.J., he was able to get it - get off the ball screen and get in open space - because we were playing smaller players and we could space and cover the three-point line off of some shooters.”
As for Georgia, the win could not have come at a better time.
Although the Bulldogs are presumably still on the outside looking in as it pertains to the NCAA Tournament, Thursday’s victory was a welcomed accomplishment after some of the bounces that have gone against the team this year.
“It’s another win. We’re proving that we can win in different ways. Sometimes the ball doesn’t bounce our way, but we’ve got a confident team,” Frazier said. “Like I said a couple of weeks ago, we’ve got to make it go our way. We can’t hope and pray that it goes our way.”
Georgia returns to action on Saturday when the Bulldogs host LSU at 6 p.m.
