Georgia basketball held its own in the first half, but could not keep pace with an explosive offensive performance from Ole Miss in an 85-68 loss Saturday at Stegeman Coliseum.
The Rebels (13-14, 4-10 SEC) shot 33 of 59 from the field and had just 7 turnovers. The Bulldogs (6-21, 1-13) finished 24-of-50 shooting with 13 turnovers.
“We didn’t guard the dribble well enough and they got hot,” UGA coach Tom Crean said. “We needed to do a better job of being in the gaps, control the ball better, being a quicker closeout, and challenging better.”
Braelen Bridges led UGA with 17 points while dishing out 5 assists and 3 rebounds.
Ole Miss was also without its top three scorers in Jarkel Joiner, Daeshun Ruffin, and Matthew Murrell. Murrell and Joiner, who lead the team in scoring in SEC play, were sidelined with flu-like symptoms. Ruffin suffered a season-ending injury on Feb. 3.
Austin Crowley, Tye Fagan, and Jaemyn Brakefield stepped up in their extended duties. Fagan, a former Bulldog, led the team with 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists.
Georgia nabbed its first lead of the game on a Noah Baumann four-point play at the 6:30 mark of the first half. The two squads traded blows throughout the first half, but a scoring drought from the 2:21 mark to halftime left the Bulldogs behind the Rebels.
Brakefield buried a 3-pointer at the buzzer to put Ole Miss ahead 42-38 at the break.
Georgia turned the ball over nine times in the first half. Ole Miss turned it over twice.
UGA trailed the Rebels closely until an Ole Miss 13-4 run from the 8:58 mark to the 5:57 mark gave Ole Miss a 15-point lead, its largest of the day to that point. Fagan capped the run with a 3-pointer.
A Luis Rodriguez 3-pointer at the 1:59 mark earned Ole Miss its first 20-point lead of the game. Bridges scored the game’s final points on a three-point play before the buzzer sounded on the loss.
Crean also briefly addressed the situation involving first-year assistant coach Wade Mason’s suspension in his postgame press conference. The coach did not discuss Mason any further.
“Obviously, it’s an unfortunate situation that we’re dealing with,” Crean said. “It was all handled correctly and we try to keep our focus on basketball and unfortunately today, we just didn’t play very well.”
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Georgia returns to action 7 p.m. Saturday against Texas A&M at Reed Arena.
