GEORGIA TECH 67, GEORGIA 62: Pressure, frontcourt get to Dogs

Everything seemed set up perfectly for Georgia.

The Bulldogs had a double-digit lead, a big, gold yellow jacket was painted at midcourt, a tornado watch was issued outside.

But the gods weren’t smiling on Georgia on this trip to Alexander Memorial Coliseum, scene of its unlikely, tornado-interrupted SEC tournament triumph in March. This time the Bulldogs’ final shot was an air ball. Georgia Tech came back from a double-digit deficit to win 67-62.

“I didn’t know that,” said Georgia point guard Zac Swansey, informed that a tornado watch was issued shortly before the game. “But I thought that last shot was going in just like last time we were here. We were hoping for a break.”

Trailing by three, Georgia’s Terrance Woodbury missed a rushed, fall-away 3-pointer from deep in the corner with 4.3 seconds left. The only thing the ball touched was the waiting hands of Tech’s Lewis Clinch on the other side of the basket. It was the last of the Yellow Jackets’ 53 rebounds.

“Basically it shouldn’t have come down to that,” said Woodbury, who scored 15 points —- but only four after halftime. “That last-minute stretch shouldn’t have happened. I missed that shot. I didn’t get the loose ball at the end of the game. I’ll personally take responsibility for this loss.”

The Bulldogs’ senior captain needn’t do that. There was plenty of blame to go around.

The game made plainly clear what Georgia (9-6) needs to work on before its SEC opener against Tennessee on Saturday. The Bulldogs gave up 23 offensive rebounds and committed 19 turnovers off Tech’s trapping defense, 12 of those steals.

“I told our team our immediate challenge is right in front of us; it’s very easy to identify and it has reoccurred a couple of times this season,” Georgia coach Dennis Felton said. “It’s taking care of the ball against pressure and rebounding the ball consistently. We defended extremely well, but their second shots killed us.”

That was true of Zach Peacock and Gani Lawal in particular. They had 27 boards between them, 15 on offense.

On one possession Tech had four offensive boards, with Clinch missing three successive layups. Peacock was fouled on a fourth try and made both foul shots to tie it at 56-56 with three minutes left.

“For me, the play when they had four offensive rebounds is the one I’ll remember,” said forward Trey Thompkins, who led the Bulldogs with 20 points and nine rebounds. “That’s when we fell apart.”