The Georgia Bulldogs (4-3) fought and clawed all the way to the final horn before coming up short in their second straight loss, losing 70-68 to the Colorado Buffaloes.
In his post-game interview, Coach Mark Fox cited “critical errors” – like missing a block-out assignment or not covering an in-bounds play down the stretch – as some of the reasons his young Bulldog team lost to the Buffs on Monday night.
The Bulldogs took a 38-34 lead into the intermission, only to come out flat (once again) for the first four minutes of the second half. Colorado went on an 11-1 run after the break, holding the Dawgs without a field goal until nearly eight minutes had passed in the second half. Georgia played from behind for the remainder of the game, unable to cut into the Colorado lead (until it was too late).
After shooting nearly 50% from the floor in the first half, the Dawgs went ice-cold after the intermission, connecting on just 34.5% of their field goals.
Georgia was unable to slow down Colorado big Andre Roberson, who carried the Buffs with 15 points and 15 rebounds. Roberson’s biggest board came at a critical juncture in the game, with his team leading the Dawgs 63-56 and running out of shot clock time. He beat Marcus Thornton to the ball off of a miss, drawing a foul on Thornton in the process. After making one of two from the free throw line, Johnson’s team was now up 64-56 with less than 2 minutes remaining.
Thornton had another tough night offensively, going 0 for 5 from the floor en route to zero points. He did bring down 5 rebounds, but also managed to commit 2 turnovers.
Coach Mark Fox did get some nice production off the bench from a couple of his frontcourt reserves. Sophomore center John Florveus had his best night as a Bulldog yet, hauling down 7 rebounds and chipping in 4 points in 22 minutes of play. Freshman Nemanja Djurisic scored 6 points and grabbed 6 boards in only 14 minutes on the court.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope led the Dawgs in scoring with 15 points, but he shot a dismal 6 of 17 from the floor. After a strong first half that included 10 points on 4 of 7 shooting, Pope couldn’t find the basket after the break.
The biggest bright spot for Coach Mark Fox’s team was the improved play of senior guard Gerald Robinson, Jr. GR2 was once again not in the starting line up, but he responded by pouring in 14 points and dishing out 3 assists (on 6 of 9 shooting). Robinson looked in control when he was on the court, and most importantly, he committed just one turnover.
After a four-game stretch away from Athens, the Bulldogs return to Stegeman this Friday night as they take on the Cincinnati Bearcats at 7:00pm. This game is probably being looked at by most Dawgs fans as more of an appetizer before Saturday’s main course that is the SEC Football Championship in Atlanta.
For a UGA basketball team that has dropped 3 of its last 4 games, however, the contest on Friday represents an opportunity to get a quality win over another Big East opponent.