Georgia Bulldogs endure tough loss at Ole Miss, 72-71
By John Buhler
The Georgia Bulldogs went ice-cold from the floor in the second half and lost a tough game to the Ole Miss Rebels at The Pavilion, 72-71 Saturday night.
The Georgia Bulldogs drop to 8-5 on the year, 1-2 in SEC play, and 0-3 on the road, as the Dawgs’ road woes continue, falling to the Ole Miss Rebels, 72-71 at the brand new Pavilion Saturday night.
Georgia squandered a nine-point lead at halftime to fall to the Rebels on the road in SEC play. While the Dawgs were electric from the field in the first half with 44 points, they could only muster 27 in the second half. Poor free throw shooting on both sides made this a long and agonizing game, as fouls came at nearly ever second half possession.
Junior guard J.J. Frazier hit a clutch three-pointer inside of the final 90 seconds to give the Georgia Bulldogs are four-point lead. However, Ole Miss would immediately answer with a three of their own to make it a one-point game with UGA in the lead. Then Ole Miss’ best player and one of the best guards in the SEC senior Stefan Moody hit an improbable layup with 3.8 seconds to play to give the Rebels the one-point home victory over the Dawgs.
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This loss stings, as it could stand as the loss that could end up keeping the Georgia Bulldogs out of the NCAA Tournament. UGA has to figure out how to play with conviction for an entire game on the road. Otherwise, this team will waste the explosive starting veteran backcourt, as this is both Kenny Gaines and Charles Mann‘s last season in Athens.
Again, sophomore power forward Yante Maten led the Georgia Bulldogs in scoring with 20 points on 7-15 shooting, including his first three-pointer of the season. He had nine rebounds and was the go-to scorer early, as head coach Mark Fox found a way to exploit Ole Miss in the paint.
However, when Maten fouled out inside of four minutes on a questionable call, UGA lost its firepower to keep Ole Miss at least a possession behind them in this game. Frazier’s three-pointer was all that UGA had left and that should have sealed the victory had it not been for the heroic effort of Stefan Moody, one of the best players in the conference without question.
If Fox wants to understand how his team lost a sure-fire SEC victory, all he has to do is look at the team’s shooting percentages. UGA shot 36.2% from the field, 38.9% from three, and an awful 64.7% from the free throw line. Ole Miss wasn’t great shooting either with their .362/.300/.686 split Saturday evening.
Next: Georgia Bulldogs to play Ole Miss at The Pavilion
UGA could have given Ole Miss its first loss ever at The Pavilion. Instead, they’ll have to think about how they let this one get away for the next couple of days. Perhaps this will inspire the Dawgs to play a strong game from beginning to end against the Tennessee Volunteers on Wednesday night at Stegeman Coliseum.