J.J. Frazier needs to see one 3-pointer fall to get him going. That’s all it takes.
“If I see one go in and it feels good, I think the second, third and fourth are going to go in,” Frazier said. “That’s how I’ve always been, and it’s worked for me.”
Coach Mark Fox looked to Frazier and the rest of his bench early during the Bulldogs’ 63-50 win against Norfolk State (9-7) on Saturday, rotating 10 of his players into the lineup by the 7:43 mark in the first half. By halftime, Frazier led the Bulldogs in points with eight off the bench and finished the day with a career-high 20 points.
The Bulldogs’ performance at shootaround Saturday morning left Fox frustrated leading to his team’s 2 p.m. tipoff.
“You’ve got to be mature enough to show up every day and be a mature enough competitor to show up,” Fox said. “The fortunate thing is J.J. did. J.J. came to play.”
Frazier saw 25 minutes of court time because of his preparation and played a crucial role in extending Georgia’s winning streak to six games, the most consecutive wins for the team since the 2011 season.
Georgia (9-3) never relinquished the lead after the 17:56 mark in the first half, increasing the point differential to as much as 13 on three separate occasions, including just before halftime.
After shooting 41.4 percent from the field in the first half, the Bulldogs tried to regroup. Georgia’s second-half shooting hardly trumped its first-half performance, as it took the Bulldogs over six minutes to score in the second period.
“I thought we started the second half very poorly,” Fox said. “We were just a step behind many plays today.”
Once senior Nemanja Djurisic sank a jumper to get his team’s first points of the second half, Frazier surged. Djurisic kicked off a 12-7 run, but Frazier accounted for eight of those points (six of them off 3-pointers) before Mann subbed in for him.
Georgia’s win over Norfolk State was the first game this season in which Frazier led the team in points. While scoring his 20 points Saturday, he made four of five 3-point attempts.
“J.J. has a terrific ability to shoot the ball, so he has a green light to shoot it just about every time,” Fox said.
Frazier’s first 3-pointer came, the 8:18 mark in the first half, gave him all the confidence he needed. His teammates knew he was in a shooting groove from there on and tried to get him the ball when they could.
“If he’s open and I’m not necessarily feeling it, then why not give it to the man that’s hot?” junior Kenny Gaines said.
Without Frazier, the Bulldogs may have been in hot water against the Spartans. Georgia’s largest lead of the first half — 13 points — came at halftime, but the Bulldogs did not reach that margin again until there was less than a minute left to play. Norfolk State got within four points at the 13:32 mark in the second half.
Mann was the only other Bulldog to shoot in the double digits, scoring 10 points and getting his second career double-double with 10 rebounds. But it was Frazier’s willingness to carry the load for his team that saved the Bulldogs from a loss just before their SEC schedule begins.
The team and its fellow UGA students return to the classroom Monday. The Bulldogs first conference game will be played the next day against Arkansas. The Razorbacks are tied with LSU for the second-best record in the SEC, only behind undefeated Kentucky.
When Arkansas comes to town, Fox may look to his bench again for the energy the Bulldogs initially lacked against Norfolk State. Frazier be patiently waiting to bring a boost, something he calls his “one key job” as a bench player.
“If there’s a great energy, you keep that energy up, and if there’s not as much as you need, you need to create a lot of energy,” Frazier said. “That’s what I do and try to do consistently, and so far it’s worked.”
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