Georgia’s lack of a low-post presence proved extremely detrimental in the Bulldogs’ opening round game of the Maui Invitational against Dayton.
The Bulldogs had absolutely no answers for 6-foot-9 Flyers standout Obi Toppin, who led a trio of players in double figures with 26 points, to roll to an 80-61 win at the Lahaina Civic Center.
“We were not good at defending the post,” Bulldog Head Coach Tom Crean said. “We did not do anything we needed to do to Obi Toppin to start the game. We played behind, which is the last thing you want to do, and we weren’t aggressive with our hands.”
Toppin scored 14 of his team’s first 16 points of the game as the Flyers (4-0) quickly jumped out to a 16-4 lead and never looked back.
Sophomore Ty Fagan led the Bulldogs (4-1) with 11 points.
“Just playing at this level, this intensity, the amount of fans that are into it, the pressure that’s on to us—it’s not really any pressure—but just what’s at stake at this level, especially in this Maui Invitational, it’s a first for all of us,” Fagan said. “Maybe we weren’t used to that.”
The Bulldogs will play No. 3 Michigan State, which dropped a 71-66 decision to Virginia Tech.
Turnovers didn’t help Georgia’s cause. The Bulldogs committed 23 turnovers that led to 22 Dayton points.
Dayton led 42-25 at the half.
“I knew we were going to be coming in against a whole different level of intensity, physicality, the way guys play,” Crean said. “That’s where we’re at and we got exposed by that.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
