Compared to getting hit by a car, playing basketball is nothing. Doing them both in the same week is not.
Georgia forward Yante Maten was cleared to play against Florida about two hours before Saturday’s tipoff. The freshman forward from Detroit had suffered a concussion when he was struck by a car in a pedestrian crosswalk Sunday evening on the UGA campus.
“I just thank God that I’m here and that I didn’t get too hurt,” said Maten, who played 15 minutes in Georgia’s 73-61 victory. “I just pray whatever the circumstance is. That’s what my mom taught me to do and that’s what I did. The doctor said to get some rest and everything should get back to normal. It did, and I’m grateful it did when it did.”
Georgia is, too, as Maten made one of the biggest defensive plays of the game.
The Bulldogs were fighting off another charge from the Gators when Micheal Frazier tried to drive the basket from the left wing. Maten stepped up and blocked his shot and gathered the loose ball. J.J. Frazier ended up with the ball on the offensive end and his fall-away 3-pointer gave Georgia a 54-41 lead with 11:51 to play.
Maten finished with four points and three rebounds and also had a steal and an assist.
“This is a hard game to play well when you don’t practice,” Georgia coach Mark Fox said. “I think he and Juwan (Parker) proved that to be true. But I give Yante a lot of credit. He still got some things done and it was good to have him back.”
Maten, Parker (Achilles tendon) and Kenny Paul Geno (broken wrist) all missed the Vanderbilt game this week with injuries. Parker tried to play Saturday but logged only six minutes and finished with one point and two turnovers.
That Maten was able to go was a bonus considering the scare he’d endured just six days before. He was thrown into a car’s windshield and suffered facial and ear lacerations after being struck in the lower legs crossing the street.
“I jumped because I saw it was getting real close,” said Maten, speaking to media for the first time since the accident. “It kind of hit my leg. My head hit the window, then I flipped over. It wasn’t the most hideous thing. Afterward I was, like, ‘I really just got hit by a car.’ It dawned on me. I’m just grateful I’m here because it could have ended up a lot worse.”
Maten wasn’t cleared until he passed UGA’s concussion protocol tests shortly before the team began pregame warmups at noon.
“I was real excited, real enthusiastic. I really wanted to play,” Maten said. “I wanted to play the next game (against Vanderbilt) but they didn’t allow me. So I just waited until my body was fully back to normal and they said I could play.”
ETC. … Georgia shot 64.7 percent from the field in the second half, its highest total since shooting 66.7 percent in the second half against Chattanooga earlier in the season. … The Bulldogs shot over 50 percent from 3-point range (53.3) for the second consecutive game and for just the third time this season. … Georgia had a season-low 26 rebounds on the day, one fewer than against Vanderbilt earlier in the week. … Georgia tied its season high with 11 steals. Marcus Thornton led the way with a season-best three.
About the Author
