ATHENS — Georgia’s primary concern entering Saturday night’s game was Alabama’s big frontcourt, led by senior forward JaMychal Green.
Turns out the Crimson Tide have some pretty good guards, too.
One, in particular gave the Bulldogs a hard time. Freshman Trevor Lacey scored 19 points — including 17 in the first half — to lead Alabama to a 74-59 victory over Georgia on Saturday night in Stegeman Coliseum. The 6-foot-3 point guard from Huntsville, Ala., last year’s Mr. Alabama basketball, entered the game averaging 6.6 points per game.
The Bulldogs got 22 points from their own fab freshman, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. But it wasn’t enough as Georgia (9-6, 0-1 SEC) lost for the first time in six games and dropped their SEC opener.
“It was a hard-fought game,” Georgia coach Mark Fox said. “I have to give Alabama credit tonight. They were better than us tonight. It’s a disappointing loss.”
The Crimson Tide improves to 12-3.
The Bulldogs — and Nemi Djurisic and Donte’ Williams in particular — did a pretty good job on Green. The 6-foot-8, 240-pound forward, who passed on an NBA draft opportunity after last season, finished with only eight points and got little of that through Alabama’s offensive sets. He also committed nine turnovers.
But Green wasn’t neutralized on defense. He snatched 10 rebounds as the Tide dominated the glass 35-20. Fellow forward Tony Mitchell, a junior from Swainsboro, added 17 points and five rebounds.
“I felt like we needed to stay out of foul trouble, guard their key guys and get to the last part of the game with a chance to win,” Fox said. “We did a decent job on Green and Mitchell and [Trevor] Releford. We had them where we wanted, but at that point they made the plays and we didn’t.”
After trailing by 12 at halftime — and that only with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Dustin Ware — Georgia methodically played its way back into the game. The Bulldogs got to within 52-48 on Williams’ put-back dunk at the 9:19 mark. But Alabama pulled away from there.
Two minutes later the Bulldogs had fallen behind by nine on a dunk by Green and were forced to call timeout. By the 4:16 mark they trailed 66-52.
“We made some freshman mistakes, and our inexperience showed in the moment of truth,” said Djurisic, who scored 10 points while playing 29 minutes filling in for injured starter Marcus Thornton. “We got them down to four, but they’re a great team and they beat us on the boards so much it was hard to overcome.
Said Fox: “At that point forward their experience took over. They made the plays in the clutch, and you have to give them credit for that.”
It gets no easier for the Bulldogs. Now they hit the road to face Florida on Tuesday and Vanderbilt on Saturday.
“Looking at the schedule in the offseason we knew we’d be starting against three of the best four teams,” Fox said. “And we get two of them on the road. But it all evens out. This group knows they’re going to have to grow up and continue to improve throughout the year.”
