The party started on the court, continued down the hall behind the stands at Stegeman Coliseum, and carried on to the Georgia locker room.
You can bet it did not stop there.
For players like Kario Oquendo, Georgia’s 82-79 win over No. 18 Memphis Wednesday night was certainly worth celebrating.
“It was everybody, really,” Oquendo said. “It was Coach (Tom Crean) coming in, saying we were not going to lose this game. It just was a different kind of energy. We didn’t want to lose.”
Improbable? Perhaps.
The Bulldogs (3-5) entered the contest losers of four straight games before taking the lead for good with 1:56 to play.
After a three-pointer by Jabri Abdur-Rahim put the Bulldogs up by one, Oquendo came up with a steal on Memphis’ next possession and drove in for the layup giving Georgia a three-point advantage.
A free throw by Jailyn Ingram with 17 seconds left and one by Christian Wright at the 5 second mark kept the margin at three, before a desperation heave by Emoni Bates bounced off the rim at the buzzer.
“We needed something good to happen for us,” Crean said. “We had a to have a belief because we’ve been close. We’ve had too many games that have been close, and many times those wounds have been due to ourselves. But that tonight that did not happen.”
Not only did the Bulldogs get the much-needed win, but the victory also gave head coach Tom Crean the 400th win of his college coaching career.
Down by four at the half, Georgia rallied back in the second half, getting a pair of three-pointers by Oquendo and Abdur-Rahim to reclaim a brief 48-47 lead with 12:04 to play.
However, the Tigers (5-2) answered, getting back-to-back threes from Landers Nolley II and Alex Lomax to push their advantage to five.
But Georgia would not go away.
Subsequent drives by Wright and Oquendo brought Georgia back to 74-73 with 3:18 remaining to play.
“There’s a work ethic, there’s a maturity and there’s a desire; when you have those sort of things you get better and better,” Crean said. “We never walk into a day of practicing saying none of those guys can’t get better. That’s what we’ve got to continue to do, and these guys are buying into that.”
Oquendo led the Bulldogs with a career-high 24 points, followed by Wright with 17 and Abdur-Rahim with 15. Jailyn Ingram and Braelen Bridges chipped in with 10 apiece.
Georgia also showed it’s capable of cutting down the turnovers, an area that’s plagued the team all season.
After committing 11 turnovers in the first half, the Bulldogs only committed two in the second half. The team also shot 14 of 27 from the field (51.9 percent) and converted 18 of their 22 free throw attempts in the second half.
Second-half adjustments aside, the Bulldogs found themselves at a disadvantage before the ball was even tipped.
Graduate transfer Aaron Cook – the team’s second-leading scorer – missed the game due to an illness. His absence resulted in Jaxon Etter making his first career start, but it was Wright who helped fill the loss of Cook.
The true freshman played a career-high 38 minutes, tying for the team lead in rebounds with six to go along with his 17 points. He also committed just one turnover.
“I knew Aaron wasn’t feeling well so I knew I had to take care of the ball,” Wright said. “Memphis was leading the nation in forced turnovers, so I knew I had to do my job and not try to throw home run passes or make passes that were not there. I got a little tired with the minutes, but once I saw we were in it to win it, I had to push through.”
Georgia actually led for most of the first half, getting back-to-back three-pointers from Abdur-Rahim and Ingram to go up 19-14 at the 10:17 mark.
The Bulldogs would go on to hold the advantage for the next seven minutes before four turnovers in just over a minute allowed the Tigers to close within one at 28-27.
For Georgia, it was a familiar theme. Turnovers have been a huge issue for the team, and the 11 in the first half ultimately allowed the Tigers – despite a poor first half from the field (38.2 percent) – to go in the locker room with the lead.
The Tigers did exactly that, thanks to a slam by Jalen Duran and a three-pointer by Bates gave Memphis a four-point edge only to have Abdur-Rahim answer with a drive and bucket to cut the Tigers’ halftime advantage to 34-32.
Georgia returns to action Tuesday against Jacksonville.
