Once again, we have realized the downside to the Georgia Bulldogs playing with such vigorous pace under Mike White on the hardwood. While it can wear the opposition down overtime due to a deep rotation, it does not help when you cannot get buckets at the rim with any regularity, or losing your best defender in Somto Cyril to an awful ejection. So why did Georgia lose? It missed its free throws...
Yes, that is the one glaring stat that jumps off the page from Georgia's 76-72 loss to the Ole Miss Rebels in the early stages of the SEC Tournament. Georgia may have nearly overcome its worst first half of the season in the second, but the Dawgs shot an atrocious 60 percent at the charity stripe on 15-of-25 shooting. It was not a good shooting night all around for Georgia, but that is where it stings.
Outside of Dylan James who made both of his, everybody else who got to the free-throw line for Georgia made 66 percent or worse of their attempts. Even sure shooters like Kanon Catchings, Marcus Millender, and Jeremiah Wilkinson combined to miss four at the free throw line. It did not help that Blue Cain could not buy a bucket from the floor, or even get to the charity stripe vs. Ole Miss...
Yes, the officiating on Thursday night from Nashville was horrible, but Georgia's shooting was worse.
Georgia has to be more mentally locked in to get out of the first round
Even in defeat, Georgia finds itself at a respectable 22-10 on the season. While this was the second loss on the year to a sub-.500 Ole Miss team, it will go down as a Quad 2 defeat because it was a neutral-site affair in Nashville. Georgia is still ranked 31 in the NET. With a dazzling record vs. Quad 1 and Quad 2 opponents, the Dawgs are essentially a lock to make the NCAA Tournament anyway.
Following Joe Lunardi's latest Bracketology update for ESPN in the wee hours of Friday morning, Georgia is still projected to be a No. 8 seed, but it sort of trending down. He has UGA taking on No. 9 TCU out of the Big 12 in their first-round game over in Greenville. Should Georgia win that first-round game, they would likely take on top-seeded Duke in the Round of 32. They are gettable, but not really.
Overall, Georgia has the talent to hang with just about anyone on the basketball floor. Unfortunately, this team is far too inherently reckless to be trusted in multiple win-or-go-home scenarios in a row. It is why in the absolute best-case scenario, Georgia could have gotten to the Sweet 16. Sadly, it will not be given a favorable series of potential matchups in the NCAA Tournament. So Round of 64 it will be...
Unless Georgia plays inspired basketball around this time next week, it might go one-and-done again.