ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia basketball had the two best players on the floor in J.J. Frazier and Yante Maten. For the Bulldogs game against Furman, it was enough to get by.
The Bulldogs relied heavily on the senior guard and junior forward, as the duo combined for 55 of the Bulldogs’ 84 points Thursday. No other Bulldog had more than 8 points, that allowed Furman to hang around. But Frazier and Maten got buckets when the Georgia basketball team needed them, as the Bulldogs prevailed 84-78.
The Bulldogs took a 36-31 lead into the half thanks to Maten and Frazier’s 28 combined first half points. In the second half Furman was able to take a lead, albeit by one-point. Frazier finished the game with 28 points just ahead of Maten’s 27. The Bulldogs improve to 2-1 on the year and head to Kansas City, Mo., to participate in the CBE Hall of Fame Classic.
Player of the game: J.J. Frazier
The honor really could’ve gone to either Frazier or Maten. Maten add 6 rebounds while Frazier finished with 3 assists. Frazier get’s a slight edge because Frazier only missed one free throw while Maten missed four.
Stat line of the game: J.J. Frazier’s 3-pointers
Frazier had an excellent shooting game, as he knocked down four of his nine 3-point attempts. He started the second half off by knocking down a 3-pointer. That was big for Georgia because the rest of the team shot just 1-for-11 from 3-point range.
Turning point: Juwan Parker’s back-to-back buckets
After scoring just 2 points in Georgia’s first two games, Parker had Georgia’s two biggest baskets in the game. With Georgia leading 62-59 with less than five minutes to play, Parker made a bank shot to give Georgia a 5-point lead. On the next possession, Parker hit another shot to give Georgia a 7-point edge and forced Furman to take a timeout. Parker only had 8 points on the night, but his baskets put away Furman.
What’s next for Georgia basketball
The Bulldogs have the weekend off before traveling to Kansas City to play in the CBE Hall of Fame classic. Georgia will join George Washington, UAB and No. 7 Kansas as participants. Georgia will also have a former player and coach inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame, as Dominique Wilkins and Hugh Durham will go in together Friday. Georgia and George Washington to play on Monday at 7 p.m. ET. ESPNU will broadcast the game.
What head coach Mark Fox said
“We had a lot of guys chip in. We had our two big guns (Frazier and Maten) show up like they should, but we had some other guys chip in which was nice to see.” — Georgia head coach Mark Fox.
Georgia and Furman box scores
