Georgia basketball’s grueling SEC schedule dealt another blow on Saturday in a 90-69 loss at No. 4 Alabama.
The Bulldogs (15-7, 3-6 SEC) started a daunting February with six of its seven next opponents in the top 25. UGA lost to its fourth top 10 team in its last six games.
The Crimson Tide (19-3, 8-1) took control in the first half and stayed several possessions ahead the rest of the day. Alabama’s top-ranked scoring offense imposed itself at Coleman Coliseum, shooting 30 of 57 from the field and 11 of 26 from 3-point range.
Alabama also benefited from the foul line, where it shot 19 of 23. Star point guard Mark Sears led the offense with 20 points, making all six of his free throws.
Georgia got to the line plenty, too, but failed to execute. The Bulldogs made just 11 of their 23 free throws.
“The empty possessions at the foul line continue to haunt us,” UGA coach Mike White said. “We’re past not talking about it. Through trial and error, we’re going to try something different and we’re just going to talk about it nonstop, and we’ll see where it goes.”
UGA did better protecting the ball than its last road loss, winning the turnover battle 20-6. Offensive execution proved to be an issue again, as Georgia had just nine points off Alabama’s turnovers.
Asa Newell led Georgia with 16 points, 7 rebounds and 5 steals.
White appeared visibly frustrated with several of Alabama’s beneficial calls, starting in the first half. The Crimson Tide kept going to the line – where they shot 83 percent compared to UGA’s 48 percent – further frustrating White.
That frustration came to a head to cut off Georgia’s best momentum of the second half. A controversial no-call on Sears set White off on an official, earning him a technical foul.
“At the end of the day, when a player jumps on another player who has a loose ball, it’s a foul, and we were just called for one,” White said. “I’m going to disagree as a head coach with a lot of calls throughout the game, as are most coaches, and I guess I disagreed a little too much.”
Newell and Sears wrestled for a rebound on the floor at the 13:59 mark, prompting a jump ball call instead of what White appeared to think merited an Alabama foul. White’s reaction set up two Alabama free throws, a dunk and a 3-pointer before the end of the minute.
Suddenly, the Crimson Tide led big again, 59-43.
Alabama took its halftime lead with an explosive 14-0 run in the middle of the first half. The teams were tied at 10 before the Crimson Tide shooters caught a rhythm.
Alabama was 1 of 4 from 3-point range before consecutive three balls sparked the run. The Crimson Tide sank a couple of free throws and ended the run with two more 3-pointers, shooting 4 of 5 from deep during the run.
Georgia hit back with an 8-0 run of its own but never got closer than five points. The physical Alabama offense racked up fouls late, ending the half with six unanswered free throws for the 39-28 advantage.
The Bulldogs are back in action hosting LSU, their only unranked February opponent, at 9:00 p.m. on Wednesday.
No doubt, White is focused on winning as many SEC matchups as he can. But the 10th-year SEC coach is sure to keep Georgia’s record in the perspective of its ridiculous conference schedule.
“You get beat by 20 on the road, that may be a surprise to you for me to use the word ‘positive’, but I’m talking to myself, as well, (and) I’m talking to our guys,” White said. “There are a lot of teams in college basketball that would have come in here today and got beat.”
“We’re going to keep all of this in perspective, but we’ve got to win some games, and we’ve got to make some shots.”
