If someone had predicted that 4th-ranked Alabama would commit more than three times the turnovers as Georgia, you might have felt decent about the Bulldogs’ chances.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t the entire story, and the result was another ugly road loss for the Bulldogs as the Crimson Tide rolled to a 90-69 win.
The loss dropped Georgia to 15-7 overall and 3-6 in the SEC while Alabama improved to 19-3 and 8-1.
Head coach Mike White tried to keep the loss in perspective. But he was also realistic.
“There's some areas where we got a little bit better. We competed against against a really good team, so we'll keep all this in perspective,” White said. “But we’ve also got to win some games, and we’ve got to make some shots.”
The Bulldogs will have the opportunity to right themselves with back-to-back home games against LSU and Mississippi State. But they cannot have a repeat of the issues that bit the team against Alabama for that to occur.
Saturday’s statistics were certainly head-scratching.
Georgia’s six turnovers were actually a season-low for SEC play, compared to 20 for the Crimson Tide. Unfortunately, for the Bulldogs, others jumped out even more.
White’s squad converted just four of its 23 three-point attempts, but even more disturbing was a terrible 11-of-23 effort from the free throw line. Alabama also dominated on the boards, 52-36.
“We're past not talking about it (the free throws). I'm gonna try, through trial and error, we're going to try something different, talk about it nonstop and we'll see where it goes,” White said. “We got some decent looks from three. If we convert at a higher level, obviously, from three and from the foul line, this game's more respectable."
After staying within double-digits for most of the first half, Georgia was within six points early in the second before the Tide began pulling away.
With 13:58 left, the Bulldogs were still within double-digits when White’s game-long frustration with the officials reached a boiling point. After a non-foul during a held ball, White exploded and was called for a technical, his first of the year.
Alabama used the opportunity to go on a 7-0 run, extending the lead to 16. Georgia would get no closer.
“I'm not going to sit here and talk about the officials because there were lot of things we could have done better,” White said. “But at the end of the day, when a player jumps on another player who has a loose ball, it's a foul and we were just called for one. I'm going to disagree as a head coach with a lot of calls throughout the game as are most coaches. I guess I disagreed a little bit too much.”
Asa Newell led Georgia with 16 points, followed by RJ Godfrey with 10. Mark Sears led Alabama with 20.
Georgia trailed 39-28 at the half, although it could have been worse. The Bulldogs were only 10 of 37 from the field (27 percent), including just 1 of 10 from 3.
It was a tough start for Newell. The Bulldog freshman was just 1 of 8 shooting in the first half. But Georgia’s issues extended beyond that.
The Bulldogs were murdered on the glass, with Alabama cleaning up the defensive glass with 26 boards. Georgia managed just seven offensive rebounds.
Still, Alabama initially struggled to put the Bulldogs away. The game appeared to be headed that way after the Tide used a 14-0 run to rush out an early 14-point lead.
But to Georgia’s credit, the Bulldogs would answer. Georgia took advantage of some cold shooting by Alabama, responding with an 8-0 run of its own to get back within six points with 6:36 left in the half.
Georgia would twice close within five points, the second time on a three-pointer by Tyrin Lawrence. But Georgia went scoreless over the final 1:53 of the half, allowing the Crimson Tide to close on a 6-0 run.
“I know we lost but this was a really good team, but there's also times where we say, yeah, we've got to do this better,” White said. “We could have controlled this better regardless of how good that team is,” White said. “When emotions calm and you go and you watch it closely and you show it to your guys, all of us will understand these are the few things we could have done better, obviously outside of free throws and threes.”
Georgia returns to action Wednesday night against LSU. Tipoff is set for 9 p.m.
