Georgia drops home date in front of sellout crowd to South Carolina
ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia was unable to put an end to a losing streak on Saturday – seeing it stretch to three for the first time in 2023-24 – as the Bulldogs fell 72-62 to South Carolina at Stegeman Coliseum.
Jabri Abdur-Rahim got back on track for Georgia, scoring in double-figures for the first time since his big night at Kentucky two weeks ago. The senior poured in 20 to lead all scorers. Blue Cain and Noah Thomasson each had big first halves to join Abdur-Rahim in double-figures. Meanwhile for South Carolina, it was a well-rounded team effort with four Gamecocks (Collin Murray-Boyles, Josh Gray, Meechie Johnson and Ta’Lon Cooper) scoring between 16 and 10 points in the win.
How It Happened…
Georgia was counting heavily on the 3-pointers to fall early on, and sure enough they were. Of the Bulldogs’ first 20 attempts from the field, 16 came from deep. It resulted in seven makes with 20 of the first 23 points coming from deep.
Jabri Abdur-Rahim, Noah Thomasson and Blue Cain each knocked down multiple shots from behind the arc in the first eight minutes of the game before Cain converted a third straight trip down the court into a made 3-pointer with 11:56 to go in the first half.
It took until pat the 10:00 mark for Georgia to hit its second shot from inside the arc, a put-back layup off of a Silas Demary missed 3-pointer from RJ Melendez. Starting a second straight game, Melendez scored six straight points for the Bulldogs converted in transition just moments later with a fast break dunk to put UGA up by 10.
South Carolina clawed back in as the Gamecocks got hot themselves from 3-point range. Three straight trips down the court turned into makes from deep, and the 9-0 run got them within one. A fourth straight bucket came from deep as well, but by that time, Georgia has responded with points of its own, ultimately helping the Bulldogs enter the locker room leading 40-38.
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The separation between the two teams stayed at two through the first media timeout. Between the beginning of the half and the break in action, the Bulldogs’ lead was never more than five. However, a 6-0 South Carolina run gave the Gamecocks their first lead with 15:19 to play. While Georgia did manage to tie and re-take the lead, it wasn’t for long as South Carolina went on an 8-0 run to jump back in front 57-51 by the 8:02 mark when Mike White had seen enough and called a timeout.
Georgia went almost 8:00 without a field goal and saw South Carolina extend its lead to as many as seven in between Bulldog makes. Only further highlighting the shooting woes for UGA, Georgia started the game 7-for-10 from 3-point range and proceeded to make just one of its next 16 from deep.
The Dawgs were down eight at the under-4 media timeout and needed stops. They weren’t able to get them – a game-trend they couldn’t break – as South Carolina finished shooting above 50% from the field.
After a couple of home games this week, next week sees Georgia on the road for two straight. The Bulldogs travel to Starkville to take on Mississippi State Wednesday at 9:00 p.m. ET (SEC Network) before a trip to Fayetteville for a second game against Arkansas (Saturday, 6:00 p.m. ET, SEC Network) after beating the Razorbacks earlier this season in Athens.
