Alabama
9-6, 1-2
Georgia
11-3, 2-1
Alabama Men’s Basketball Falls to Georgia, 65-46
1/6/2018 2:17:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Freshman Collin Sexton recorded his ninth 20-plus point game, scoring 23 points
ATHENS, Ga. – The Alabama men's basketball team fell to Georgia, 65-46, at Stegeman Coliseum Saturday afternoon. Freshman Collin Sexton led the Tide with 23 points to register his ninth 20-point game of the season.
"Give them credit, they were fired up and played with a lot of energy," Alabama head coach Avery Johnson said. "They were ready to play. We were coming off of two really good practices, I thought, but we couldn't put anything together offensively. We lost Dazon Ingram and became a lot younger to start the game and we showed that inexperience. We need to have that confidence, especially on the offensive end."
The Crimson Tide (9-6, 1-2 SEC) struggled offensively, shooting just 29.8 percent from the field (17-of-57) and 17.4 percent from beyond the arc (4-of-23), all while playing without sophomore Dazon Ingram – the Tide's third-leading scorer and second-leading rebounder – who was out with the flu. The Bulldogs outrebounded the Tide, 49-31, and owned a big advantage at the foul line, hitting 16-of-21 from the charity stripe compared to Alabama's 8-of-11.
Georgia's (11-3, 2-1 SEC) top-ranked defense in the conference turned in another solid performance, holding the Tide to a season low in points, field goals made and field goal percentage. In addition, the Bulldogs blocked five of Alabama's shots while forcing 12 turnovers.
Georgia jumped out to a 9-2 lead at the 16:42 mark and never looked back. The Bulldogs extended its lead to double-digits on a three-pointer to push the lead to 22-10 with 10:24 left in the half. Georgia would go on to lead by as many as 23 points.
The Bulldogs controlled the first half, shooting 15-of-31 from the floor and connecting on 8-of-16 from three-point range to snatch a 44-24 lead at the break. Sexton scored 15 of Alabama's first-half points.
After trading baskets in the opening minutes of the second half, Alabama tried to chip away at Georgia's lead with a 6-0 run over 1:27 to trail 50-34 at the 13:52 mark. The Crimson Tide's defense played solid in the second half, holding the Bulldogs to just 5-of-27 (18.5 percent) shooting from the floor and just 1-of-13 (7.7 percent) from beyond the arc. However, Alabama was only able to outscored Georgia, 22-21, over the final 20 minutes.
Alabama junior Donta Hall added seven points and six rebounds, while junior Avery Johnson Jr. contributed eight points and two steals.
Georgia was led by Maten who recorded a double-double with a game-high 26 points and 11 rebounds.
Alabama will return to Tuscaloosa on Tuesday, Jan. 9, when it welcomes South Carolina to Coleman Coliseum. That contest is set to tip off at 6 p.m. CT and will be televised on SEC Network.
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