There was nothing wrong with Georgia’s energy or fight and the Bulldogs offered more than a few glimpses of basketball acumen. In the end, though, the same fundamental shortcomings that dogged them a year ago betrayed them in the 2023-24 season-opening loss to Oregon in Las Vegas.
Missed free throws, poor shooting, turnovers and woeful rebounding contributed to a 82-71 loss Monday in a Naismith Hall of Fame Series tournament game at T-Mobile Arena. Considering the gargantuan deficits the Bulldogs accrued in both the first and second halves, the fact that Georgia got the score to single digits at the end of both was a testament to both effort and skill.
“I loved the fight down the stretch,” Georgia second-year coach Mike White said after the game. “The press was really effective for us, and this is really not a pressing team. But we fought to the bitter end. If we get the ‘pick 6′ at the end it could have been a little more respectable than that. But we fought to the end.”
Freshman Blue Cain’s 3-pointer with 57.4 seconds cut an Oregon lead that had ballooned to 20 points nine minutes earlier to just 79-71. The Bulldogs looked to have gotten a turnover on the subsequent Oregon inbounds and could have sliced the lead further. But the Ducks alertly got a tie-up after initially losing possession and were awarded the ball via the possession arrow.
There were some good moments before all that. Senior Jabri Abdur-Rahim showed new-found offensive aggression and led the Bulldogs with 18 points, including three 3s. RJ Melendez overcame a slow first-half start to finish with 12 points and Cain scored 12 and had a pair of steals in his first collegiate game.
But Georgia was absolutely dominated on the back board. Senior N’Faly Dante, whose availability was uncertain due to a knee injury, pulled down a career-high 21 rebounds to go with 16 points and the Ducks out-boarded the Bulldogs 63-41.
“Yeah, they dominated us on the glass,” White said. “My goodness, those numbers are staggering. Unbelievable. Dante had 21 of them.”
Kario Oquendo, who left Georgia after last season to transfer to Oregon, was a non-factor. He played only nine minutes but did manage 7 points in that span.
The Bulldogs weren’t bashful about hoisting long-distant shots either. They tried 30, making only 10, and their shooting of all kinds was suspect. They were 33.8% from the field and 56.7% on free throws (17-30). Turnovers weren’t awful from a relativity standpoint, but Georgia had the same number in the first half as they had field goals (9), which contributed to falling behind so severely.
“I liked our spacing and I like that this team got off 30 3s. That’s what this team needs to do. Sixteen turnovers was too many and we broke off our some of our execution on four or five possessions, which bled us a little. When we run an action for someone and break it off because ‘I’ve got to go get mine,’ we’ve got to be more unselfish than that. This team has been incredibly unselfish in practices and (exhibitions). That message already has been delivered and I hope to see that Friday night.”
There’s no let-up for Georgia as it hosts Wake Forest in the home opener at Stegeman Coliseum on Friday (7 p.m.).
The Bulldogs’ only lead of the game came at 1-0 after Abdur-Rahim made one of two foul shots 42 seconds into the game. Georgia would trail the rest of the way - by as many as 17 points in the first half and 20 in the second.
Georgia came out of the gate firing. Trouble was, the Bulldogs weren’t landing many of their shots. They missed 14 of their first 17 shots from the field, many of those coming well away from the basket, and quickly fell behind. Oregon, which took the closer-to-the-basket approach, found itself ahead 28-11 by the 8:17 mark. By halftime, the Ducks had outscored Georgia in the paint 28-10.
But the Bulldogs were undeterred. They kept hoisting shots and, with increasing regularity, kept attacking the basket off the dribble. Eventually it started to pay off.
Freshman Blue Cain helped initiate the spark. When the long-haired guard from Knoxville finished a fast-break layup off a steal at the 3:55 mark, it completed an 11-0 run and got Georgia within four points at 32-28.
Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, that would be the last field goal they’d make. Free throws, a problem in the early-going, kept the game close at hand for the next couple of minutes. But then Georgia got sloppy late, failing to score over the last 1:12 of the first half. A 6-0 run by the Ducks pushed their lead back to 40-30 at halftime.
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