Georgia basketball must channel their grit to beat the Gators
Georgia basketball lost a heartbreaker to No.1 Auburn this past Saturday, and now they will travel to Gainesville, Fla., to take on the Florida Gators. While there were moments of greatness against the Tigers, they couldn’t close.
However, one of the biggest takeaways from that loss had to be this team’s grit and determination to fight for each other.
Head coach Tom Crean may have said the group lacked maturity, but how they played against Auburn showed this team wants to do better than they currently are.
Georgia basketball has to stay gritty even through the struggles.
Kario Oquendo leads the Dawgs averaging 13.4 points a game and has been an absolute force. He has stepped up in a way Georgia desperately needed, and it’s been great to see him flourish.
Close behind him is Braelen Bridges, who averages 12.5 points a game, and rounding out the three guys averaging double-digits is Aaron Cook at 10.5 points.
Both squads average 71 points a game, but Florida’s defense is better than Georgia’s. The Dawgs are shooting 44.3% from the floor, 32% behind the arc and 74% at the foul line.
As for the Gators, they average 42.7% from the floor, 30.5% from the arc, and 72.6% at the line, so Georgia is doing a better job offensively, yet the Dawgs have twice as many losses.
The defense has been an issue all season long, but the grit and determination against Auburn need to go with them to Gainesville.
Oquendo and company need to go down there and play with the biggest chip on their shoulders and show our biggest rival who they are playing. The Dawgs beat Alabama, and they can do the same against Florida. However, it will take them focusing and, more importantly, playing for themselves.
Georgia has talented basketball players on this team, and they showed it can hang with the best program in college basketball right now, even with a coach on the fans’ hot seat. All the outside noise has to be tough, so being gritty, determined, and playing within themselves, they might be able to win this ball game.
The Dawgs and Gators will tip-off at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 9, with the game set to air on the SEC Network.
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However, Georgia could also lose the next eight games, and that would be a dagger into the heart, but at the same time, the spirit this group possesses is far too powerful to go down without a fight.