Coming off their first back-to-back victories against ACC opponents since 2000, the Bulldogs topped the Robert Morris Colonials 79-67 Tuesday night at Stegeman Coliseum.
In the Bulldogs’ last non-conference matchup before they open their SEC schedule at Florida on Saturday, Robert Morris (2-11) gave the Bulldogs (7-3) a fight as one Georgia’s non-conference opponents that played into March last season.
Here are six observations from the victory:
1. A Frazier burst before half
Instead of being up by seven at the half, J.J. Frazier stretched the Bulldogs’ lead to 11. With four seconds left in the first half, Frazier hit a 3-pointer and was fouled by the Colonials’ Isaiah Still. Frazier hit his free throw, his only attempt of the game, to increase Georgia’s lead 38-27 at the half.
“That’s always good to score last,” Bulldogs forward Yante Maten said. “That really helped us a lot because they just made a (3-pointer) over me. It kind of put us down, but then J.J. scored.”
Frazier finished the game shooting 6 of 8 from the field and 4 of 5 beyond the arc.
2. A second-half scare
In the first four minutes of the second half, the Colonials outscored the Bulldogs 7-2, closing the Bulldogs’ lead to six points.
“They kept competing,” Georgia coach Mark Fox said. “(Playing from ahead) is something this team needs to improve on quite frankly.”
Over six minutes beginning at the 16-minute mark, the Bulldogs revived their offense and extended their lead to a more comfortable 12.
With two dunks by Kenny Paul Geno in the second half, the Bulldogs surged with energy.
“I think they just had a fighting spirit to them. They weren’t going to give up easily,” Maten said.
3. Bulldogs lacked dominance
Coming off two ACC victories and with Florida awaiting, he Bulldogs know they were lacking the kind of performance they will need in the SEC.
“We didn’t play with the intensity we played with the last two or three games and it showed,” Frazier said.
There was a consensus of Frazier, Maten and Derek Ogdebie that the Bulldogs need to play better defensively after allowing 40 points in the second half.
“I don’t think we played particularly well, to be honest with you,” Fox said. “We were fortunate to play from up front, but we had a lot of rust it looked like.”
4. UGA foul trouble
With 11 team fouls by 10 different Bulldogs in each half, the Colonials scored 20 points off free throws. Maten had a team high of four fouls. And the Bulldogs had five fouls in the first five minutes of the second half, including four in 16 seconds.
5. Freshmen support
Leading all 40 minutes, the Bulldogs were supported by their freshmen.
Ogbedie played only 13 minutes and tied the team high of seven rebounds with Maten.
“Coach mentioned to us (in practice) that we either step up now, or we get left behind,” Ogbedie said. “I like how we all stepped up.”
Ogbedie finished with four points.
“I got more and more faith in that group to play,” Fox said. “I think they all gave us a good performance.”
6. Geno plays his best
Geno had two dunks in the second half that helped revive the Bulldogs.
He finished with six points and a team high of seven assists
“Kenny Paul Geno is a very willing passer. He’s a good shooter, a good 3-point shooter,” Fox said. “For certain tonight, I thought he played the best of anybody.”
