Georgia Bulldogs drop SEC opener to Florida, 77-63
By John Buhler
The Georgia Bulldogs have still yet to win a game away from Stegeman Coliseum this year, dropping their SEC opener in Gainesville to Florida, 77-63.
The Georgia Bulldogs fall to 7-4 on the year, as they dropped their SEC opener in Gainesville to the Florida Gators, 77-63 Saturday night. Florida had the sweet stroke from three (9-22, 40.9%) while Georgia did not (2-12, 16.7%).
Georgia had held opponents to 11% under their normal shooting percentage, but the Gators were just too lethal from three to cut the double-digit deficit for most of the night, despite the similar shooting percentages from the field (UGA 35.6%, UF 42.3%).
The Georgia Bulldogs had three players in double-digit scoring on Saturday night down in Gainesville. Sophomore power forward Yante Maten led the Dawgs with 20 points and seven rebounds. Maten shot 6-12 from the field and 8-11 at the free throw line. He continues to grow in his second season under head coach Mark Fox.
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Senior guard Kenny Gaines had 13 points and three rebounds. He was 6-13 from the field and had one of the Georgia Bulldogs’ two three-point field goals tonight, shooting 1-4 from beyond the arc.
Junior guard J.J. Frazier did a bit of everything on Saturday night, like he does most nights for the Georgia Bulldogs. He had 12 points on 4-8 shooting from the field, 1-2 from three, and a perfect 3-3 at the line. Frazier had seven rebounds, four assists, and four steals.
Charles Mann continues to struggle shooting from the field. Of his nine points tonight, he was 1-7 shooting from the field, didn’t attempt a three-pointer, nor had an assist. He did however shoot well from the free throw line, going 7-8 and corralled three rebounds against the Gators.
Off the bench, freshman forward Derek Ogbeide is starting to become an important piece in Fox’s bench rotation. He had eight points on 4-7 shooting, four rebounds, an assist, and a block. After dealing with a shoulder injury for most of the non-conference part of the schedule, he could become a go-to scoring option off the bench on the inside.
Next: Yante Maten: Georgia Bulldogs' non-conference MVP
Georgia’s next game will be back in Athens when the Dawgs take on the Missouri Tigers on Wednesday at 6:30 PM ET. That game will air on the SEC Network and maybe the Georgia Bulldogs will get their first SEC win of the 2015-16 NCAA season against the 7-6 Missouri Tigers. It wasn’t that Georgia looked bad tonight, it was more that the Gators had an outstanding game from beyond the arc on Saturday night. Better luck on Wednesday. Go Dawgs!