Georgia coach Mike White is the first to tell you there’s a lot, and he means a LOT, of improvement that he needs to see from his Bulldog basketball team.
Friday night’s game against Bucknell was another good example.
But even on a night where Georgia did not shoot the ball nearly well enough for White’s liking, the Bulldogs found a way to hold on to a 65-61 win.
‘All we can control is getting great shots,” said White, whose team shot just 33 percent for the game, including 28 percent in the first half. “I’m not mad at anyone for missing an open shot. We can control trying to get a good one. We call them ‘A’ shots. We don’t want ‘F’ shots. You’re going to fall into some ‘C’ shots, of course, against some defenses. ‘C’ shots are a heck of a lot better than a turnover. Obviously, we made some in the second half to give us that lead. Thank goodness we got the lead that we got, because at that time, it was all about holding on.”
Tied at 30 at the half, Georgia used an 11-0 run to make it 55-41 with 7:59 to play before Bucknell started chipping away.
A 9-1 spurt by the Bison cut the lead to four at the 1:02 mark. A pair of free throws by Terry Roberts pushed the margin back to six at 63-57, only for Bucknell to draw within two with eight seconds left.
The Bison immediately fouled Justin Hill on the inbound; Hill sunk both of his free throws to account for the final score.
“Halftime was full of energy. Vibes were high. Coach was adamant about keep getting stops, keep grinding, keep your nose on the grindstone,” Jaxon Etter said. “Every single detail matters, and that’s kind of what we did. The rebounding just sparked us big time. When you throw some effort plays in there and some unselfish plays, the game’s going to start to click.”
Georgia’s offensive struggles weren’t helped by the fact that Kario Oquendo missed the game with a sore knee.
Roberts led the Bulldogs with 20 points and nine rebounds, followed by Jabri Abdur-Rahim with 10 points. Etter chipped in with eight.
“It was just a team effort, honestly. Everybody played tonight. We all know what Kario can do, and he wasn’t available,” Abdur-Rahim said. “When a guy like that is out, you know it’s going to have to be everybody that must step up. You must step your intensity up and play at another level, and that’s what we did. Even though we were tired, it didn’t matter. We love hooping, and that’s what we were doing.”
NOTES:
…M.A. Moncrieffe returned to action after missing the past two games with an ankle injury. He played just over 14 minutes but took only two shots.
…White also said that Jaylin Ingram is getting closer and could see the court soon for the first time since tearing his ACL 10 games into last year. “He’s getting some reps in practice, some full-court reps the past couple of days,” White said.
… Roberts totaled 42 points in Georgia’s last two games. Friday the senior led the Bulldogs in scoring for the third game in a row with 20 points.
.. Abdur-Rahim recorded 10 points tonight for the ninth career double-digit scoring performance of his career, and his first for the Bulldogs this season.
… Etter nailed back-to-back 3-pointers and logged a pair of charges in his first game since receiving a scholarship. Etter has drawn a charge in each game this season, including 35 in his last 35 games played, dating back to the beginning of last season and upping his total 43 charges in 46 contests, dating back to the end of his sophomore campaign.
… Mardrez McBride has earned four starts this season. Tonight’s start was McBride’s 64th of his career, starting in every game of his career.
… The Bulldogs were 23-26 from the line tonight, recording the best free throw percentage of the season with 88 percent.
