Turnovers doom Bulldogs in loss to Wofford

With 39 seconds remaining, Aaron Cook's pass floated out of bounds.

The turnover marked Georgia's 13th of the second half in Sunday's contest with Wofford. It came with the Bulldogs trailing by two in the final minute. That helped send Georgia (2-5) to a 68-65 loss to Wofford (5-2) at Stegeman Coliseum.

Georgia head coach Tom Crean noted after the game that the coaching staff "underestimated" how unhealthy a couple of players on the team were. Whatever the reason, execution mishaps on both ends sent the Bulldogs to their fourth straight defeat.

"There were times where we couldn’t get over our own adversities and circumstances trying to make some plays that weren’t there. It was clear early it was going to be a grinder for us to get through this," Crean said. "We had some that gave their very best, and some that just weren’t up to the challenge of it. We’ve got to keep finding ways to keep making the game simpler for them and not try to make plays that aren’t there."

The Bulldogs played a relatively clean first half with just six turnovers. In the final 20 minutes, however, the wheels fell off.

Georgia turned the ball over 13 times in the second half. Two came in the final two minutes as the team looked to claw back from a deficit.

"Once you try to build some momentum to take that lead, potentially stretch it—the turnovers, that definitely hurts it, especially if they execute on the turnovers," grad transfer forward Jailyn Ingram said. "Just limiting those turnovers would have definitely helped us. It’s definitely frustrating to continue to turn the ball over in the matter of us trying to come back."

Even more frustrating for Georgia is that the offense actually shot the ball very well. The Bulldogs made 54.3% of their shots overall and shot 14-of-20 (70%) in the second half.

However, that many miscues will doom a squad no matter the shooting percentage.

The Terriers came into Athens planning to shoot plenty of 3-pointers. Of their 59 shot attempts on Sunday, 29 came from behind the arc.

The visitors got plenty of good looks through crisp ball movement. As a result, the Bulldog defense often had to scramble to get in position.

"When you’re playing a team like that, your whole deal is not to help. You’re not trying to be in an overhelping situation," Crean said. "Whether it’s the switching, whether it’s staying in position with early help and early recovery, that’s the key. We had some guys get out of position, and then you end up chasing the ball on certain possessions."

For the game, Wofford made just 24.1 percent of its 3-point attempts. But the ball movement created plenty of opportunities inside as well.

The Terriers converted on 16-of-30 2-point attempts throughout the game. In the second half, they made 9-of-13 shots inside the arc.

"No matter who I had in, we struggled with guarding the post and being in the position that we needed to be," Crean said. "It’s doing your work early and being in a position to be proactive rather than reacting. We weren’t as good at that today."

Ingram called the defensive mistakes "just will, honestly."

"I don’t feel like we came out as focused as we should have," Ingram said. "That definitely has to change."

The early part of this season has been a struggle for sophomore transfer Jabri Abdur-Rahim. Through six games, he averaged just 4.2 points per game on 22 percent shooting.

Against Wofford, however, he had his best night as a Bulldog. He poured in 20 points on 6-of-7 shooting, including 4-of-5 on 3-pointers.

"The thing about basketball is it’s just makes and misses. Shots are going to come and go," Abdur-Rahim said. "You can’t put too much emphasis on makes and misses."

Abdur-Rahim said he tries to keep his confidence level despite the ebbs and flows. He has the full confidence of his coaches and teammates, all of whom have implored him to keep shooting despite the misses.

Against Wofford, Abdur-Rahim tried to kick-start his game by getting more involved on the defensive end. That led to a 12-point effort in the first half.

Going forward, the Bulldogs will need more of that from Abdur-Rahim to compete in the SEC.

"It was nice to see him shoot the ball that way," Crean said. "He’s really capable; he works extremely hard. Hopefully that’ll build confidence in him and it will help him on the defensive end as well. He did a good job."

Georgia returns to action Wednesday night when the Bulldogs host No.9 Memphis at Stegeman Coliseum. The game is set for 7:15 p.m. and will be televised on SEC Network.