ATHENS – Georgia basketball could not keep up with George Mason on Tuesday night at Stegeman Coliseum, falling 80-67.

The Bulldog offense kept itself in range of a comeback throughout the game but struggled to find a rhythm, shooting 20-of-59 with 12 turnovers.

“The problem for us at times was we didn’t follow the game plan defensively,” UGA coach Tom Crean said. “We’ve got to be more physical. We’ve got to be more tuned in to what we have to do awareness-wise, what we have to do game plan-wise.”

The Patriots, notorious for their 3-point shooting, were more successful from deep. George Mason rode a barrage of early 3-pointers to take a 19-4 lead and never looked back. It finished 11-of-26 shooting from the 3-point line.

The Bulldogs appeared to catch momentum several times in the game before a couple of turnovers and Patriot scores would fan the flames of a comeback.

The Bulldogs cut the deficit to six points just before halftime and went into the locker rooms trailing 38-30. A Braelen Bridges turnover at the start of the second half followed by a George Mason 3-pointer put Georgia back in its place, about ten points behind.

Georgia’s final run started to pick up with less than four minutes to go before a couple of consecutive 3-pointers courtesy of D’Shawn Schwartz and DeVon Cooper buried the Bulldogs for good.

Georgia also missed eight of its last nine field goals in the loss.

“The hardest thing in basketball is to keep playing really hard and really good defense if your shot is not falling,” said Crean.

Braelen Bridges led the way for the Bulldogs, scoring 13 points and pulling down 7 rebounds.

Noah Baumann started at the forward position in place of Jailyn Ingram, who tore his ACL in Georgia’s last contest. The USC transfer made his presence felt from behind the arc, shooting 3-of-5 from 3-point range. He scored 11 points and grabbed 3 rebounds of his own.

“I watched a little of film about (Ingram) and how he approached the game,” Baumann said. “I tried to do a little bit of that, but I know I’m a spot up shooter and just being ready to shoot.”

Dalen Ridgnal also saw an uptick in minutes in the absence of Ingram. The Cowley College transfer finished with 6 points and 7 rebounds.

Schwartz led George Mason offensively with 21 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists. Josh Oduro scored 20 points with 11 rebounds and 6 blocks.

The Bulldogs will play host to Western Carolina Monday night.