Georgia playing best basketball at season's end against all odds

ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia Basketball was supposed to be over. Most thought they’d be sitting on the couch by now. An unexpected invite to the NIT last Sunday extended the season some. Now, having taken advantage of that opportunity, against all odds, the Bulldogs are dancing into April and the NIT semifinals after a Tuesday night win over Ohio State.

Mike White’s squad is playing its best basketball at season’s end. He would’ve preferred to see it earlier, potentially helping Georgia to hold on to games it let slip. It might’ve had the Bulldogs in NCAA Tournament. However, he’s not complaining about seeing it now with an opportunity to continue building momentum on the NIT run with business to attend to in Indianapolis.

“Unique team to say the least. Resilient team. We’ve said it all year. Consistent team. We’re really proud of these guys – I mean really proud of these guys,” White said after the win over the Buckeyes. “Really tough environment the other day, and an even tougher environment tonight. We’ve been on the road for a while. It feels like a month because we flew here straight from Winston-Salem … Our resiliency, our toughness, our willingness to want to continue to compete and keeping fighting to win another was on full display. I’m just really proud of this group. NIT Final Four, very honored to get to Indianapolis and be a part of this thing. It’s really cool, and I’m happy for our guys.”

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Georgia led Tuesday night’s contest for nearly 27:00, but the Bulldogs found themselves trailing with 2:02 to go. That came at the end of a sequence that saw three lead changes and two ties in less than 5:00 as Ohio State finished up a 17-0 run before a back-and-forth affair down the stretch.

Graduate transfer guard Noah Thomasson hit a jumper with under a minute remaining that put Georgia ahead by one. For Thomasson, there was a sense of desperation as he willed the ball into the basket, knowing that coming out of Columbus with a loss would mean an end to his collegiate career.

“We really like each other. Matter of fact, we love each other. I think the biggest thing is, you know, guys like me, Russ, and Sunny, if we lose tonight, that’s it for us. The opportunity to keep playing is always the biggest thing,” Thomasson said. “You know, we just try to keep coming in every day to practice with good vibes, smiles, and laughter and keep working hard, and you know never know what’s going to happen. Like you said, we didn’t even know we were going to go to the NIT. We practiced the day of Selection Sunday like we for sure had a game. That’s just what it is about this team: we love being on the floor with each other and we love being off the floor with each other.”

White reiterated that message from one of his team’s top leaders. He complimented the effort of Thomasson, who’s been consistent for the Bulldogs all season. However, to White, Tuesday night was another example of UGA finding a way to play with the cards dealt to them.

“We’ve won different games with different guys. We’re out there, Russ barely produced for us as he’s fighting illness. Jabri doesn’t play, he’s banged up. Sunny doesn’t play, he’s banged up. Those three guys in November were three of our best players, all pegged to start,” the head coach said. “I just think it’s a collection of guys that have character on the court and off the court and want to compete, like each other and are taking advantage.”

“We’re playing a little bit more loose now,” he added. “Nothing to lose. We’re in the NIT. Let’s have some fun. That might be a factor too, especially for these young guys. But yeah, it’s coming together a little bit with us playing our best basketball … We’ve just gotten a little bit better, incrementally and individually and collectively throughout the whole year. Got a bunch of contributions tonight from guys that were better versions of themselves than they were in November and December.”

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What’s next for Georgia? Well, first thing on the mind of the Bulldogs Tuesday night was getting home. After winning over Wake Forest on Sunday, UGA traveled straight to Ohio State for its next game. Since flying to Winston Salem on Saturday, they’ve dealt with some sickness and a couple of tough contests all while trying to keep the season alive. Mission accomplished.

The Bulldogs will have a little bit more time between games this week with their next one coming next Tuesday against the winner of Wednesday night’s Seton Hall-UNLV matchup. That’ll give Georgia’s coaches an opportunity to regroup and scout the opponent in a more traditional manner as opposed to the rush preparation there’s been throughout the NIT so far. They’ll also be working the phones recruiting with the transfer portal open and players entering by the hundreds daily.

“Oh my goodness, I haven’t even thought about it. I couldn’t tell you when we play, what day we’re traveling. I’m anxious to get home, regroup,” White said. “It’s a really, really busy time of year for obvious reasons in terms of phone traffic and also studying young people watching film. Balancing the recruiting and this team. Rest assured though, we’re going to have a bunch of focus, as much as humanly possible, to help these young men finish as strong as we possibly can.”

“This is a big deal for us in terms of rebuilding this program,” he continued. “We’ll balance it as best we can. We’ll get home really late tonight. We’ll get in that office tomorrow, and as a staff, we’ll plot as to how we balance these things.”