A second half comeback, followed by a late collapse.
Unfortunately for Georgia, the Bulldogs were on the wrong end of that script, and the final result was visiting East Tennessee State coming away with an 86-84 win.
“We have to find a way to play a 40-minute game with defensive pressure, with transition D, and just getting up into people,” head coach Tom Crean said. “That was as good a one-through-five starting lineup as we’ve faced this year. We were going to have to be on it defensively from the beginning because of the way their guards shoot.”
Unfortunately for the Bulldogs (5-7), that was not the case.
Despite trailing for much of the game, Georgia rallied in the second half to take an 82-74 lead with four minutes left to play.
What happened next was difficult to watch.
The defensive pressure Crean spoke of was nowhere to be found. As a result, the Buccaneers (8-5) outscored Georgia 12-2 over the final 3:39 to come away with the two-point win. A three-point attempt by Noah Baumann from the baseline with just over a second left bounced off the iron and into the hands of ETSU’s Jordan King.
After a foul, King hit one of two free throw attempts. But with less than a second, all Georgia could muster was a last-ditch heave that never came close to finding its mark.
“The play was just for AC (Aaron Cook) to dribble down; we had Jaxon (Etter) and Kario (Oquendo) trailing a little bit. I was wide open. It was me or AC, really. I had open shots, I was hot, but it didn’t go in.”
Baumann wasn't kidding about that.
His miss at the end was only his second misfire from three-point range all evening. The transfer from Southern Cal connected on 7 of 9 three-point attempts, scoring a season high 25 points.
At one point, it appeared that Cook might win the game by himself.
The graduate transfer from Gonzaga exploded for 14 points during a four-minute stretch, capped by a three-pointer to put the Bulldogs up 82-74 with four minutes left.
“Once I saw one shot go in, I just told myself I needed to keep attacking to keep us in the game,” Cook said. “I kept going until I missed, but that’s how it is when you get in the zone.”
Cook finished with 17 points, followed by Kario Oquendo with 15.
The visiting Bucs sizzled to a 48-39 halftime lead.
ETSU shot 58.8 percent (20 of 34), including 8 of 16 from three-point range. Georgia, meanwhile, only shot 42.9 percent (12 of 28), although its eight three-pointer was just one shy of their season-high nine.
If not for Baumann, the score wouldn't have been as close as it was.
The transfer from Southern Cal scored 14 first-half points, including four three-pointers. His second gave the Bulldogs their lone lead of the first half at 30-29, one ETSU answered by going on a 7-0 run to extend the lead back to six.
“We have to learn how to play a complete game. Defensive pressures, making other teams feel us in a way, bringing physicality,” Crean said. “We only practiced for about 45 minutes yesterday, but our defense was physical and aggressive. Today’s walk-though was great. We just didn’t get off to a great start.”
