Georgia Bulldogs Survive High Point, 49-46
By John Buhler
The Georgia Bulldogs move to 2-1 after holding off the High Point Panthers’ second half surge, 49-46. The back court trio carried the Dawgs tonight.
This was a tale of two halves for the Georgia Bulldogs Men’s Basketball team. The Georgia Bulldogs went into halftime the day before Thanksgiving up 33-22 at home and nearly blew an 11-point cushion. UGA managed only 16 points in the second half, but thanks to solid free throw shooting (17-20) were able to hold off the High Point Panthers, 49-46 Wednesday night.
HC Mark Fox again elected to start PF Houston Kessler over G J.J. Frazier, with PG Charles Mann, SG Kenny Gaines, SF Kenny Paul Geno, and C Yante Maten rounding out the starting five. UGA wasn’t great on the glass tonight, being slightly out-rebounded by High Point 41-40, but Frazier was able to provide a spark off the bench with 10 points as the entire UGA starting front court only managed an 11 combined points.
-= Related: Georgia Bulldogs Host High Point Panthers =-
The saving grace from the UGA front court was Maten’s free throw shooting (4-4) and reserve Mike Edwards‘ work on the glass (8 rebounds). It will take time for the UGA front court to come together this season, but through hard work and continuity in Coach Fox’s system, hopefully something will manifest.
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In the third game of the Georgia Bulldogs’ 2015-16 NCAA season we finally saw the back court trio of Frazier, Gaines, and Mann all play decently in the same game. Frazier’s 10 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 assists went a long way in keeping UGA’s lead. He does need to shoot from a higher clip though going forward: 3-10 from the field and 1-5 from three.
Gaines’ continues as the team’s most consistent shooter. He shot 50% from the field, 50% from three, and 50% from the free throw line (albeit 1-2) tonight for the Dawgs to go along with his 5 rebounds. Kenny Gaines through three games is shooting 50% from three-point land (13-26). I’m not saying that he’ll shoot that consistently all year, but wouldn’t it feel great to know that the Georgia Bulldogs have a shooting guard that is at least a 40% shooter from three? That could help get him to the next level potentially.
Wednesday night was also Charles Mann’s best game on the season. While he is still shooting abysmally from the field (2-7 tonight), he did drain all 8 of his free throw attempts. That should amplify his 60% free throw shooting on the year. Mann’s work at the charity stripe helped him get a team-high 13 points tonight. He’s very skilful at drawing contact, but if he can become a more consistent free throw shooter, UGA could stand as a difficult team to beat in crunch time while having the lead.
Next: Charles Mann: Early Shooting Struggles a Concern?
The Georgia Bulldogs will have two days off before playing their first road game of the year. Unfortunately, they’ll have to go against the 4-1 Seton Hall Pirates of the Big East. Seton Hall is an improving program over the last few years and expect the Prudential Center to rock for Saturday night’s Big East/SEC matchup. Tipoff is at 7:30 PM ET in Newark, New Jersey. The game will air on FS1. Go Dawgs!