Missouri’s defense too much for Georgia

Athens — Georgia’s Terrance Woodbury scored a career-high 27 points and Trey Thompkins added 18, but Missouri had better athletes and more of them and that was the difference as the Bulldogs fell 83-76 at Stegeman Coliseum on Saturday.

Georgia (9-5) simply couldn’t withstand the pressure and the pace presented by the swift-footed Tigers, coached by Nolan Richardson protege Mike Anderson. The Bulldogs held leads halfway through both the first and second halves but wilted with turnovers and missed free throws as the game pressed on.

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Georgia’s Trey Tompkins (33) pulls down a rebound over Missouri’s J. T. Tiller. Thompkins had 18 points in the loss.

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“They brought it. We knew they were going to bring it,” said Georgia point guard Zac Swansey, who had seven assists and two turnovers after missing the last game with a knee injury. “That’s their thing, 40 minutes of hell. That’s what they preach. I think we handled it well at times. If you go back and look you’ll see the times we handled it we got easy baskets. A few times we rushed and we had turnovers and left easy baskets for them.”

Missouri scored 30 points off 23 Georgia turnovers. The Dogs also were 8-of-16 from the line. Otherwise they shot 52 percent from the field and won the rebounding battle 38-30.

The Tigers (12-2) had five players in double figures, led by DeMarre Carroll and Zaire Taylor with 17 each. Point guard J.T. Tiller of Marietta had 10 with four assists and three steals.

Georgia led 46-45 when a timeout was called at 11:43. Before the next one was whistled 3:55 later, the Bulldogs had committed turnovers on six of nine possessions and Missouri had taken control of the game at 59-50.

The Tigers stretched their advantage to 15 points with 4:02 to play. Georgia chipped away at the end but got no closer than 77-72 with 48 seconds left.

“That’s how a team like that can get to you,” Georgia coach Dennis Felton said. “They can wear on you and fatigue you. I do think fatigue affected us a little bit, especially Zac, who’s been out for four or five days. The style they play, the way they play can do that to anybody.”

Woodbury missed the previous four games with an ankle injury, but it wasn’t evident. The senior captain was 9-of-13 from the floor and 5-of-8 from 3-point range in 28 minutes.

“I was in the gym getting up a lot of shots,” Woodbury said of his strong shooting effort. “Since I’ve been hurt, that’s all I could do. I really couldn’t jump or run, but I felt like I was a step behind today.”

Georgia was in control the first 10 minutes of the game, building a 21-16 lead. But Missouri turned up the intensity and pace, and the Bulldogs couldn’t match.

Georgia failed to come away with any points on 13 of their last 16 possessions, missing seven shots and committing six turnovers. In the meantime the Tigers put together a brief 7-0 run to end the half with a 32-28 lead.

“Today was a big win on the road against an SEC team,” said Anderson, in his third season at Missouri. “After Georgia got off to a quick start, we responded very well. We showed great energy and played smart basketball.”