Keep grinding.
That’s been the motto for the Georgia basketball in the first year under head coach Tom Crean. With good reason.
In most respects, the season has been a grind for the Bulldogs, who came into Saturday night’s contest at Florida losers of 13 straight SEC games.
Oh, there had been some positive signs. After getting throttled by Texas A&M by 17 points three weeks ago, the Bulldogs dropped their next four by a combination of nine points.
Effort hasn’t been a problem. Despite their woes, the Bulldogs have continued to play hard and play with energy, only to have victory snatched away at the very end.
Until Saturday, that is, when the Bulldogs went down to Gainesville and beat the arch-rival Gators 61-55, handing Florida (17-12, 9-7) a loss that put a major damper on the team’s NCAA dreams.
Crean has had bigger wins over the course of his 19 years as head coach. But knowing how much his current Bulldog team has continued to fight despite its litany of struggles, this one was a particularly satisfying win.
“These guys have not given up. They have continued to battle, they have continued to learn,” Crean said. “They have certainly continued to improve, and we just haven't had the results lately. Nobody gave up. Disappointment? Absolutely, but we're moving forward constantly, because we beat a very good team. Mike’s (Florida head coach Mike White) teams don’t lose, and they certainly don’t beat themselves, and that was exactly what we were able to do tonight.”
Nicolas Claxton, meanwhile, continues to show why he’s one of the best young players in the SEC.
The sophomore was magnificent, putting the Bulldogs on his back, scoring a career-high 25 points to lead Georgia to its improbable victory.
With the win, Georgia avoids any threat of becoming just the third team in school history to finish a season with just one conference victory, with the season's home finale set for Wednesday against Missouri, followed by the final regular season game at South Carolina next Saturday in Columbia.
This was a well-deserved win.
When you’re losing games at the pace Georgia has, keeping your players engaged isn’t an easy task.
Auburn coach Bruce Pearl actually mentioned that truth after his Tigers escaped with a three-point win last week in Athens. He’s right.
It would have been very easy for the players to pack it in for the rest of the year. Instead, one could argue that the Bulldogs have played their best basketball over these past four weeks. Saturday in Gainesville, Georgia earned a well-deserved reward.
The victory also came despite the fact that the Bulldogs were basically without sophomore Rayshaun Hammonds for the second-straight game, with a foot injury that he suffered against Ole Miss.
Hammonds, who missed the contest against Auburn, actually managed five minutes in the first 20 minutes against the Gators before sitting out the half.
But thanks to Claxton and the continued resurgence of Jordan Harris, who scored nine points and hit a huge shot late in the game to extend the lead to four, the Bulldogs were able to eke out the six-point win.
Perseverance? You bet.
Although Georgia’s season figures to ultimately come to an early end in the upcoming SEC Tournament, for a program needing a building block victory—a signature win that Crean hopes can propel it to greater success next year—this was it.
It definitely made the grind worthwhile.
