Georgia players Jabri Abdur-Rahim and Noah Thomasson mentioned this week that they thought their comeback win over Florida State on the road earlier this season had prepared them for whatever might await them in Saturday’s SEC opener against Missouri in Columbia. That proved prescient as the Bulldogs hung on for a 75-68 victory over the Tigers at Mizzou Arena.
Georgia trailed FSU by 17 points in the second half before rallying for a 68-66 victory Nov. 29 in Tallahassee. This time, the Bulldogs led Missouri (8-6, 0-1) by 17 in the first half, but fell behind 65-63 with 4:45 to play with the Tigers’ home crowd roaring. Then back-to-back 3-point shots by Justin Hill and Silas Demary fueled a 9-0 run over the next 3-1/2 minutes. Finishing 15-of-21 on free throws, Georgia was able to put the game away from the foul line.
“If we don’t come out on top in Tallahassee, I’m not sure that you win this game,” coach Mike White said, alluding to that 68-66 win over the Seminoles on Nov. 29. “That helped us. After that game, we talked about being down 17 late and there were going to be games we were up 17. It’s how you respond mentally and emotionally, how connected are you when adversity hits, whether you give up a big lead or you’re in a big hole. And we did that. We gave up a big lead, and I love the response.”
The win was the ninth in a row for Georgia, the longest streak since the 2010-11 season and fifth longest in school history. The Bulldogs (11-3, 1-0 SEC) host Arkansas at 9 p.m. Wednesday at Stegeman Coliseum (ESPNU). The Razorbacks (9-5, 0-1) lost to No. 25 Auburn in Fayetteville 83-51 on Saturday.
Russel Tchewa was a huge difference-maker for Georgia. The 7-foot, 280-pound graduate transfer had his best game as a Bulldog, recording his first double-double, with 18 points and 11 rebounds, and producing a near-perfect stat line with only one missed free throw. He did that while playing 29 minutes and nearly all of the second half as Georgia used only nine players.
“We just trusted what we did in practice the last two weeks,” said Tchewa, who had nine double-doubles at South Florida. “We’ve been going hard and having really, really good practices. So we trusted that if we did that, we’d win. We came here ready to play.”
Tchewa led four Bulldogs in double figures, including Hill with 16, Noah Thomasson with 15 and Demary with 10, plus six rebounds. Georgia made a season-high 12 3-pointers, led by Hill on 4-of-8 shooting, and won the rebounding war 34-30. The Bulldogs matched 12 turnovers with 12 assists and went to the free-throw line 21 times to Missouri’s seven.
Missouri also had four double-figures scorers, led by Sean East with 18.
“We knew they were a team that was going to press us the whole game, pick us up full court and work our guards, so the goal was to limit our turnovers,” Thomasson said in an SEC Network postgame interview. “We knew if we limited our turnovers, we have a good chance of scoring on offense.”
It was the first time Georgia won an SEC opener on the road since defeating Auburn 96-84 on Dec. 29, 2016. The Bulldogs have started SEC play 1-0 in back-to-back years for the first time since 2002-03.
Last year, Georgia had trouble closing close games such as Saturday’s. The key now is to stay even-tempered and stick to what works.
“Every game is different, and we’re going to have another game plan for Arkansas,” Tchewa said. “So, every game has a different approach. I know our coaches will have a good game plan on the table for us.”
