Georgia loses to Temple

The loss means Georgia (3-2) will play Manhattan (2-3) in the seventh-place game at 4:30 p.m. Sunday. Manhattan (2-3) lost to Texas A&M 74-45 on Friday and has been outscored 124-75 in the first two games of the tournament.

Saturday’s day off should give the Bulldogs a chance to re-energize following draining back-to-back losses. Georgia, which lost in double overtime to Notre Dame on Thursday night, had never played a game the day after an overtime loss.

Fox said he thought both teams looked tired Friday night, but credited Temple with being able to make the plays it had to at the end.

Gerald Robinson had 16 points to lead Georgia. Travis Leslie had 14, and Trey Thompkins had 13. It was only the second game of the season for Thompkins, who missed the first three games with a high ankle sprain and was probably more affected by having to play back-to-back games than anyone else.

With only one practice since Oct. 30, the preseason SEC Player of the Year has logged 33 and 27 minutes the past two days.

“We argued about whether he should play or not,” Fox said. “He really wanted to play, and the trainer cleared him to play. He’s not quite healthy. I mean, he’s healthy enough to play, but he’s not 100 percent.

“We’ve got to get him some practice time, get his legs underneath him. I think he was fatigued tonight, but I am proud of him and the effort he’s given.”

After a back-and-forth first half in which the lead changed hands eight times, the Owls were able to take control in the second half. A Thompkins basket with 16:03 remaining cut Temple’s lead to 37-33, but the Bulldogs suddenly went cold as Temple scored the next five points and went on a 9-2 run that pushed the lead to 46-35 with 10:44 to play.

One night earlier, Georgia was outscored 14-0 by Notre Dame in a six-minute span.

The Bulldogs were able to rally to send that game into overtime, but there was no such luck on this night. Robinson made a pair of free throws and a driving layup with 41.1 seconds remaining to cut the Temple lead to four with just over one minute remaining, but with 41.1 seconds remaining Temple’s Rahlir Jefferson scored and was fouled. Jefferson missed the free throw, but on the rebound Temple’s Ramone Moore was fouled and he made a pair of free throws to push the lead back to eight at 63-55.

“We’re not quite in synch,” Fox said of his team’s six-minute lull. “Trey’s had one practice, and he’s played in two games, so he’s not in synch. But we’ll get there. We’ve carried some of our defensive problems down to the other end. We’ve just got to continue to grow as a group.”