Georgia basketball made a statement to the SEC on Saturday, wrestling a conference opener win away from Missouri to silence a raucous Mizzou Arena.
The Bulldogs (11-3, 1-0 SEC) stifled Missouri’s offense late, allowing just five points in the last five minutes. The 75-68 win was particularly encouraging to UGA fans who saw the Bulldogs earn just one win as a true away team last season.
“Down the stretch defensively, we were pretty sharp,” Georgia coach Mike White said. “I thought our communication was at an all-time high.”
Georgia traded blows with the Tigers (8-6, 0-1 SEC) throughout most of the second half before taking control late with a 9-0 run.
Veteran guard Justin nailed a clutch 3-pointer at the 4:19 mark to kickstart the run. Freshman Silas Demary Jr. followed Hill’s 3-pointer with one of his own and center Russel Tchewa nailed a trio of free throws to take a 72-65 lead with 1:11 left.
Tchewa dominated the paint, leading the Bulldog attack with his first double-double of the season.
Missouri struggled to find an answer for the 7-foot, 280-pounder, who finished with season-highs in points (18) and rebounds (11). The Bulldogs outrebounded the Tigers 34-30.
“I thought Russ got us some extra possessions,” White said. “You shoot with a little more confidence when it’s your second time shooting it in a possession, when you’re getting open looks off offensive rebound kick-outs.”
UGA also flexed its depth in the win, as its bench outscored Missouri’s 23-3.
Justin Hill led Georgia’s reserves with 16 points in his 29 minutes off the bench. Known for his vicious scoring in the paint, Hill expanded his horizon with a season-high four 3-pointers.
Georgia exploded in the first half, leading by as much as 17 points before the Tigers roared back to cut the lead to 40-38 at halftime.
The Bulldogs were particularly impressive from 3-point range. The same UGA team that entered Saturday shooting 34 percent from beyond the arc made eight 3-pointers on 13 attempts.
Thomasson led the red-hot half, sinking a trio of 3-pointers on 13 points. The Niagara transfer’s back-to-back stepback 3-pointers gave Georgia a 28-18 lead at the 8:58 mark.
“I get the player comparison to James Harden,” Thomasson said. “It’s something I work on all the time, so it was going for me today, so I kept going to it.”
Thomasson chased the deep shots with a floater before another couple of Bulldog buckets took a 35-18 lead with 5:18 remaining.
Missouri shot 0 for 8 during Georgia’s 16-point outburst. Then the Tigers got hungry, as a couple of strong paint buckets sparked Missouri’s lightning-quick offense.
Mizzou Arena roared as the Tigers entered the locker room riding a 17-2 scoring run.
Georgia will look to start 2-0 in SEC action when it plays host to Arkansas at 9 p.m. on Wednesday.
“Georgia wasn’t scared, and I think it’s as simple as that,” SEC Network analyst and former SEC Player of the Year Ron Slay said. “You come into this SEC weekend to start it off, and it’s a ‘Real Recognize Real’ weekend.
“Forget all that nonconference schedule. This is where it’s going to show up.”
