There’s not a lot going right for Georgia’s basketball team right now.
As a result, it’s not doing the won-loss record of Mike White’s squad any favors. Saturday night at Arkansas, Georgia found itself in position in the final two minutes to end its current skid. Unfortunately, it did not happen as the Razorbacks took advantage of a couple of late misses and held on to beat the Bulldogs, 78-75.
The loss, Georgia’s fifth straight, drops the Bulldogs to 14-10 overall, and 4-7 in the SEC.
Tied at 72 with 1:18 left, a layup by Makhi Mitchell put the Razorbacks (12-11, 3-7) up by two, before Jabri Abdur-Rahim missed a 3-point attempt.
A second 3-point try, this one by Blue Cain with Georgia down by three with 12 seconds left, also missed its mark before time finally ran out.
Silas Demary, Jr. and Justin Hill led the Bulldogs with 19 and 18 points, respectively. However, with leading scorers Abdur-Rahim and Noah Thomasson scoring only four points each, it did not help Georgia’s cause.
“It’s not about those two guys not playing their A game. We’ve got to be better in other areas that are easier to control. That’s going to continue to be my message. You’re going to have nights where you shoot it well, you’ll have nights where you don’t shoot it too well,” White said. “Arkansas did a good job defending those guys. We had other guys step up offensively. I thought Silas and Justin were really good, but our live ball turnovers hurt us, 21 points off turnovers, and our foul discipline hurt us.”
Still, Georgia gave itself a chance despite trailing by 10 with 13:18 to play.
But after a 14-4 run, which included five points from freshman Dylan James, the Bulldogs came back to tie the game, ultimately taking a 66-65 lead on a Hill 3-pointer with 3:54 left.
“I loved our effort, I loved the way we continue to fight back in the second half to give ourselves a chance,” White said. “That’s step one in winning on the road in the SEC. We did that and had a chance.”
Unfortunately, some of the areas that plagued the Bulldogs all season did so against the Razorbacks.
Georgia has had issues all season defending in the paint and did so again Saturday with 44 of Arkansas’ 78 points coming on layups, dunks, and easy put-backs.
“It’s been a huge deficiency of ours all year. We don’t alter many shots, we don’t block many shots, and that’s why our margin for error defensively on the perimeter is pretty slim,” White said. “We’ve talked about it all year, our gap discipline, our activity on the ball, our tracing of the ball, our closeouts. Our gambling, or lack thereof. We’ve got to be really disciplined, because mistakes can be loud for us, mistakes can often end up as point-blank layups.”
Georgia started quickly enough, easing to a 19-15 lead before going ice cold, resulting in the Razorbacks taking control.
For the next 6:18 of the first half, the only points the Bulldogs managed were a pair of free throws by Hill.
Georgia’s perimeter game was non-existent.
The Bulldogs missed their first 11 3-pointers until Demary, Jr. finally converted to bring Georgia within 30-25.
The teams would trade buckets from there before a layup by James brought the Bulldogs to 34-29 at the half.
Georgia returns to action Saturday at home against Florida.
