Mike White on what caused Georgia's second-half collapse: 'I wish I knew'

For a half, all was going well for Georgia basketball. The team led South Carolina 40-38 at the break and the tempo of the game was where the Bulldogs wanted it.

Everything flipped in the second half.

Georgia lost 72-62, scoring just 22 points after the halftime break. Nothing was working right. Even coach Mike White was at a loss for words after the contest.

“I wish I knew. I don’t,” White said. “I’m not sure I’ve got a great answer for you right now. Obviously by our body language, by the way we shot it down the stretch, our level of confidence, our level of swagger, whatever you want to call it, we didn’t shoot it the way we needed to shoot it down the stretch.”

After shooting 46.9% from the floor in the first half and 44.4% from 3-point range, Georgia completely fell apart in the second half. It was like a lid was placed on the rims.

The Bulldogs shot just 29.2% from the floor in the second half and finished 1-of-10 from 3-point range.

Despite the lack of shot-making, White didn’t want to point to that as the primary reason his team lost the game. South Carolina flat-out executed, as well.

“We didn’t lose the game because we didn’t make shots,” White said. “South Carolina’s really good. Really good. Really connected, tough, physical, sound. Twenty-five assists to nine turnovers, and I mean we pressed most of the game. Man, solid. They can beat anybody in the country when they’re playing well.”

There was one other change that South Carolina made that worked almost to perfection against Georgia. The Gamecocks trotted out a zone look on defense that they’d only used a smattering of times the rest of the season.

It caught Georgia off-guard, and the poor shot-making followed as a result of an inability to get many clean looks.

“Their zone is really effective,” White said. “They only played it a few possessions all season. It was a great call by coach (Lamont) Paris. And after those first couple offensive possessions we lost some mojo for sure.”

Georgia, having lost three straight games now, will look to bounce back with a difficult road stretch coming up. First up is a game against Mississippi State on Wednesday night. That game will be played at 9 ET, with a broadcast on the SEC Network.