Frustrating day at Stegeman

The look on Mike White’s expression during his post-game press conference following Saturday’s game with Vanderbilt told the story. Frustration was etched all over his face.

It’s understandable why.

Despite a late charge, the Bulldogs came up short to the Commodores, who held on for an 85-82 win, snapping Georgia’s 10-game home winning streak.

“It was a great performance by those guys. I could sit here and tell you everything we did wrong, but we played an SEC game against a good team and didn’t play well enough,” White said. “They got most of the loose balls, and our attention to detail defensively failed us a few times. We’re not good enough. It was a great opportunity at home to bounce back after a poor second (at Kentucky), but I didn’t do a good job of preparing these guys.”

The game was frustrating on several levels for the Bulldogs, who trailed by 12 points at 77-65 with 4:51 left before Georgia roared back with a chance to win the game.

An 11-0 run by the Bulldogs almost did the trick, with Roberts capping the spurt to bring Georgia within 77-76 with 2:13 on the clock.

However, Georgia got no closer, as Vanderbilt fended off the Bulldogs by converting their final eight free throws to secure the win. A long three-point attempt by Jabri Abdur-Rahim at the buzzer could have tied the game, but it bounced off the rim.

“I’m disappointed for our fans, because they came out, and our guys earned the right. Our guys have worked, we’ve had some wins, and we had the streak at home,” White said. “We’ve won some close ones, but tonight were not able to get it done. I’m disappointed for our guys; I’m disappointed for our fans. I hope they come back and continue to support us, because it was rocking in there. It was a fun environment.”

Georgia just could not use to crowd to its advantage in the way it would have liked.

The Bulldogs had pulled within three points at 62-59 with 10:39 left when Myles Stute missed three straight free throws. But Georgia failed to answer, and Vanderbilt scored four straight to go back up by seven.

Another rally was snuffed out after White was called for a technical with 7:01 remaining. Two free throws and a three-point play later, Vandy’s advantage was back up to eight with 6:37 to play.

“Every time we made a big play, they would come back and kill the momentum,” said Abdur-Rahim, who led the Bulldogs (13-6, 3-3) with 21 points. “We’ve just got to be better, especially when we have the home crowd like that—especially when the momentum is on our side.” Terry Roberts chipped in with 15 points for the Bulldogs, followed by Kario Oquendo with 13 and Braelen Bridges with 10.

Ezra Manjon led five players in double-figures for Vanderbilt (10-9, 3-3), which converted 10 of its 21 three-point attempts.

“It’s an opportunity we can take advantage of. We didn’t quite respond to the second half the way we could have. It’s not the win or the loss, it’s not the outcome, and I’m a big believer in that,” White said. “Let’s control what we can control, let’s stay in the moment, let’s focus on the details of the game, playing off of two feet, making the extra pass, running to the corner. It’s a split-second game, and we have hundreds and thousands of split-second jobs and responsibilities throughout the game. And defensively we just weren’t quite as sharp as we’ve been, especially at home. As a head coach, you think about all the things you could’ve done better.”

It was a frustrating first half for the Bulldogs, who saw Vanderbilt convert 8 of its 12 three-point attempts to go into the locker room up 44-36.

The Bulldogs actually started quickly, jumping ahead 6-3 before a 10-0 run by Vanderbilt allowed the Commodores to surge ahead.

Vanderbilt would hit five of its first eight threes before Jabri Abdur-Rahim found his range to bring the Bulldogs within three at 20-17, only to quickly push the lead back to seven.

Foul trouble did not help Georgia’s cause.

Terry Roberts only played eight minutes after picking up two early fouls, while Kario Oquendo only managed 10. The duo scored four and two points, respectively.

Georgia managed to still keep the game close, however, and ultimately tied the game at 36 on back-to-back threes by Abdur-Rahim and Mardrez McBride with 2:25 on the clock.

But that would be Georgia’s final points of the half, while Vandy finished with an 8-0 run to head into the locker room with its eight-point lead.

“We just have to be better. We tried to respond after the Kentucky loss. We didn’t do the things that we talked about with the game plan. We knew going into the game that they had really good shooters. They probably shot close to 50 percent from the three. We just didn’t do a good job of doing what the coaches asked. That's on us. We have to be better,” Abdur-Rahim said. “The good thing about basketball is that we have another one on Wednesday against a really good team. We are going to go look at the film and go hard in practice to get ready for Tennessee.”

Boxscore

…Four Bulldogs notched double-digit points on the evening, tying the season high. Roberts posted his 12th consecutive double-digit performance of the season and 15th total (39th career), while Kario Oquendo notched his 12th (35th career). Abdur-Rahim logged his seventh (15th career) and Bridges tallied his eighth (57th career).

… Abdur-Rahim tied his career high in 3-point attempts made on the afternoon. The junior went 5-for-8 en route to posting a career-high 21 points.

... Terrific Terry—With his six assists on the afternoon, Roberts surpassed the 200 career assists milestone. The transfer phenom ranks third in the SEC in assists per game with 4.1.

… Bridges, Oquendo, Roberts, McBride, and Moncrieffe have started the previous nine consecutive matchups. The five boast a 6-3 record over that time period.

… The Bulldogs’ bench contributed 32 points in today’s matchup. In total, the Georgia bench has totaled 457 points to its opponents' 289 for a plus-168 differential.

Georgia hits the road again next Wednesday when the Bulldogs travel to Tennessee.