Struggling Texas A&M gets well against Georgia basketball for Bulldogs 5th home loss in row
Winning in March can define teams with postseason aspirations.
Georgia basketball hasn’t had much to write home about in recent years.
That continued Saturday night when Texas A&M pulled away late for a 70-56 win against a cold-shooting Georgia team in Stegeman Coliseum. It snapped a five-game Aggies losing streak.
It was Georgia’s ninth loss in the last 10 games.
The Bulldogs have also lost eight straight games in March, with their last win in that month coming in its opening game in the SEC tournament in 2020 before the event was shut down to COVID.
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Familiar fade for Georgia basketball
Georgia basketball fans have seen this ending before.
The Bulldogs faded away down the stretch, particularly on the offensive end.
In a game where Texas A&M led for much of the game, the Aggies never pushed the lead beyond single digits until the final stretch, when Georgia couldn't find any offense.
"Not mature enough, not mentally tough enough to overcome missed shots and maintain what we were doing, staying the course defensively and being really competitive on the glass," coach Mike White said.
Georgia went the final 6 minutes and 35 seconds without a point as the Aggies scored 10 straight points to close out the game. Georgia went 0-for-9 during that stretch.
"I feel like we got some good looks, we just weren't able to put them in the basket," said guard Jabri Abdur-Rahim. "That's the way it goes sometimes, especially when you shoot a lot of 3s."
It was a team effort, with Silas Demary, Blue Cain, Noah Thomasson and Abdur-Rahim contributing to the shooting woes down the stretch. The Bulldogs were 10 of 41 on 3s.
"I never would have guessed that me, Jabri and Blue had not the best shooting night," said Thomasson of a trio that combined to go 10 for 35 from the field. "We've just got to knock down some shots and I think the game would have gone in a different (way)."
Georgia shot a season-worst 32.3% from the field. The Bulldogs were 2-of-20 on 3-pointers in the second half.
Guard Tyrece Radford had a game-high 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Aggies and forward Andersson Garcia had 11 points and 10 rebounds. Texas A&M that outrebounded Georgia 50-37 and had 17 offensive rebounds. Texas A&M had 27 second-chance points.
"We did a really poor job in the second 20 with our fight, with our attention to detail blocking out and finishing stops with rebounds," White said.
"I think they played a little bit harder and we didn't do a good job on the glass in the last couple of minutes," Abdur-Rahim said.
Avoiding the bottom four
Both Georgia and Texas A&M are jockeying for SEC Tournament seeding but the Bulldogs look headed for a bottom four finish in the league standings, which would mean playing in the 11-14 or 12-13 game Wednesday March 13 in Nashville.
Georgia (15-14, 5-11 SEC) began the day in 11th place, but Texas A&M (16-13, 7-9) got more breathing room. Ole Miss could also open a two game lead on Georgia if it takes care of business in a late game at Vanderbilt.
Arkansas is tied with Georgia at 5-11. Missouri and Vanderbilt are in the last two spots in the standings.
The Bulldogs host Ole Miss on Tuesday and close out the regular season going to No. 11 Auburn on Saturday.
"We'll keep swinging away at this thing," White said. "Tuesday night is another opportunity."
Texas A&M and Ole Miss have probably played themselves out of NCAA Tournament at-large bids, but they are positioned to get the two SEC automatic NIT spots as the highest-rated teams in the NET after the seven projected NCAA Tournament teams from the league.
Texas A&M began the day at No. 58 and Ole Miss at No. 78 with Georgia at No. 98.
Georgia has played on the first night of the SEC tournament in five of the last six years.
Senior Night comes early
Georgia’s last home game isn’t until Tuesday, but the Bulldogs held their Senior Night ceremonies before Saturday’s game.
It was freshman Blue Cain who led the team in scoring with 11 points on 5 of 12 shooting. Abdur-Rahim had 10 points on 3 of 11 shooting.
Seven seniors were honored prior to tipoff, but only three are out of eligibility after this season: Thomasson, Russel Tchewa and RJ Sunahara. The other seniors: Abdur-Rahim, Justin Hill, Frank Anselem-Ibe and Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe.
Abdur-Rahim said, "I love it it here. I love UGA," but was noncommittal when asked if he plans to play college basketball next season.
"I haven't given that any thought," he said. "I'm just focused on being here for my teammates for the final games of the season.
White started an all senior lineup.
"Losing is never fun, but I love my teammates and I enjoy playing for my coaches," Abdur-Rahim said. "When you go through tough times like this, I just think of the things I'm grateful for."
The Bulldogs have lost five straight home games.
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Texas A&M snaps losing skid as Georgia basketball's skid continues
