So much for the notion that Saturday’s big win at Florida might inject some late season spice back into what so far been a forgettable first year for head coach Tom Crean.
For as good as the Bulldogs played during their victory in Gainesville, it’s hard to imagine a team – any team – playing much worse than Georgia did during Wednesday’s 64-39 loss on Senior Night to Missouri.
“One of the reasons that we’ve been playing so much better is we’ve been able to overcome hurdles in the game, able to overcome when we were struggling, not playing as well or not making shots,” Crean said. “Tonight, we didn’t. Tonight, we didn’t.”
Where to begin?
Whatever competitive edge the Bulldogs brought to Gainesville must have been left in north Florida as Georgia – for one of the few times this year – failed to play with the same drive and intensity fans – despite the team’s record - had gotten somewhat used to seeing.
The stat sheet told the story.
Georgia – which only scored 14 points the first half – missed its first 14 three-point attempts, and wound up shooting a measly 25.5 percent from the game.
Making matters even worse was the fact the Tigers (14-15, 5-12) dominated the Bulldogs on the class, out-rebounding Georgia 50-28.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever been part of something where the rebounding has been that lopsided,” sophomore Nicolas Claxton said. “Rebounding is a big thing, just making sure that all five guys are on the court are out there giving it there all.”
Crean didn’t disagree.
“These have been Achilles heels for a lot of the year, we’re not physical enough at times and we don’t talk enough,” Crean said. “We gave up some baskets in threes and we gave up some shots where we were just not locked up on our man. What happens, when you lose your spirit a little bit and your offense isn’t going the way you want it to go, you’ve got be mature on the other end and overcome it. We had a been getting a lot better at that. Tonight, we weren’t.”
Claxton was the only Bulldog to finish in double-figures, scoring a game-high 10 points. Jordan Geist led the Tigers with 18 points, followed by Torrence Watson with 17.
Those attending the game hoping to see a flawless exhibition of quality collegiate play were left disappointed.
It was anything but.
It’s not often your opponent can show 32 percent and still lead by 11 at the half, but that’s exactly what happened to the Bulldogs, who went into the locker room down 25-14.
Brutal? You bet.
Over seven minutes into the game and Georgia only had a measly three points, until Claxton slammed home two to cut the Tigers’ advantage to 6-5.
For fans hoping the worst was over, it wasn’t.
After scoring on a layup by Jordan Harris at the 6:20 mark, the Bulldogs would only manage one more field goal and three points the rest of the way.
“We were both setting basketball back offensively,” Crean said. “That’s where you’ve just got to keep going, you’ve just got to keep going. We were searching and pushing, trying to find different buttons, and if I could have pin-pointed it I would have done it during the game.”
NOTES: Claxton tallied 10 rebounds and nine points. It marked his 11th-career double-digit rebounding game, which occurred all this season. Entering the game, Claxton was third in SEC in rebounding with an average of 8.6 rpg. … Defensively, Claxton had one block and one steal. He has recorded at least one of each in 21 of the 30 games this season. … Freshman guard Jojo Toppin tied his career high in points with six. He scored his first three of the sea- son, which was also just his eighth field goal of the season. It marked his first points since the Florida home game (1/19/19). … Harris chipped in seven points, three rebounds, a steal and a block in his 11thstraight start. In that span, he has averaged 11.9 points per game.
