J.J. Frazier couldn’t watch Klay Thompson’s show Friday night on television, so he put on his own show Saturday at Mississippi State’s Humphrey Coliseum.
Golden State’s Thompson set an NBA record Friday night with a 37-point third quarter that included perfect shooting from the floor, including 9-of-9 from 3-point range. He finished with 52 points. Frazier and other Georgia players were getting texts about the performance at their team hotel in Starkville, but were unable to watch it.
“I still haven’t seen the highlights, but I know he had a great game,” Frazier said.
Frazier, a 5-foot-10 sophomore guard, did his best impression of Thompson on Saturday against Mississippi State. And Frazier looked a whole lot like him for long stretches. He poured in a career-high 37 points and was 7-for-7 from 3-point range as Georgia held on for a hard-fought 72-66 SEC road victory.
His 37 points were the most by a Bulldog in an SEC game since Dominique Wilkins scored 37 against Florida in January 1981. His 7-for-7 shooting from the 3-point line equals Ezra Williams’ UGA single-game record, set against LSU in 2003.
“I honestly haven’t felt like that for a long time,” Frazier said. “I had a few games like that when I was a senior in high school. But really, I’d rather me score 10 and us win by 20 rather than have a close game like that.”
The thing about it is, Georgia needed every one of Frazier’s points. Kenny Gaines was the only other Bulldog to score in double-figures. The rest of the team was 11-of-33 from the field while Frazier was 12-of-14. He also made the most free throws (6-of-8) and tied for the most rebounds (7).
“He was big for us today, and we’re fortunate that he saved us,” said senior forward Marcus Thornton, who had a season-low 3 points. “He had more than half the team’s points. He won it for us today.”
The ironic part is it’s what Frazier did after one of his rare misses that made the biggest difference in the game. The Bulldogs were clinging to a 69-66 lead with 30 seconds to play when Frazier went to the free-throw line for a one-and-one opportunity. His first free throw was too strong, but Frazier quickly shot down the lane to corral the rebound and was fouled again.
This time Georgia was in the double bonus, and Frazier knocked down both free throws to give put them up by five with 26.8 seconds to play. He made one more with 11 seconds to go for his final tally and the Bulldogs’ margin of victory.
“This is a team, and tonight J.J. did his part when needed,” Georgia coach Mark Fox said. “We’ve had nights when Marcus Thornton carried us. We’ve had nights where Charles (Mann) has carried us. Tonight was J.J.’s turn. He was big.”
It’s hard to remember that Frazier is in the starting lineup at this point only because of injuries. Mann, the Bulldogs’ regular starter at point guard, has moved to small forward while Juwan Parker (Achilles) and Kenny Paul Geno (wrist) are sidelined with injuries.
Saturday’s game was Frazier’s fourth consecutive start. The Bulldogs have won all four games, and Frazier is averaging 17.5 points in that span.
But Frazier has never had a game like he had Saturday against State. He established his career high when he scored the first seven points of the second half to give him 21. Then proceeded to score five more to account for Georgia’s first 12 points of the second half and give the Bulldogs a 48-36 lead.
“Our guys did a good job of getting me the ball and giving me good shots to take,” Frazier said. “I wasn’t even thinking. There was nothing going through my head. I just wanted to take good shots. … It just felt good when the ball left my hand every time. When you get that feeling you just want to keep shooting.”
The only thing that stopped Frazier was Fox. He took Frazier out to give him a rest at the 14:58 mark. By the time Fox put him back in the Bulldogs’ lead had dissipated to four points.
“I was sitting by him on the bench and I asked him if he had fouls,” Thornton said. “I was trying to figure out why he wasn’t in the game. He know he needs to get some rest, too, but man.”
It was a big win for the Bulldogs (13-6, 4-2 SEC), who came into the contest with the SEC’s second-highest RPI (27). They have won four in a row heading into Tuesday’s home game against Vanderbilt (11-7, 1-4). Georgia beat the Commodores 70-67 in Nashville on Jan. 14.
“Certainly J.J.’s performance was a big part of the game,” Fox said. “Not that he played out of character. We’ve seen him shoot like that in practice a lot. It certainly was nice to have him shooting the 3s like he was today and we feel like we’re leaving here with a good win.”
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