Georgia falls to Florida in SEC Tournament, likely ending season
Georgia Basketball fell to Florida in the second round of the SEC Tournament Thursday night in Nashville, likely ending the season for the Bulldogs. Leading the Gators at the half for the second straight matchup, the result was the same as it has been the last 11 in the rivalry, falling 85-80.
Four Georgia players scored in double-figures while five did so for Florida. Walter Clayton‘s 22 led all scorers, and the 17 from both Tyrese Samuel and Will Richard were more than any Bulldog with 14 from both Noah Thomasson and Silas Demary the most on UGA’s end. RJ Melendez (13) and Justin Hill (13) joined them with 10+ in the losing effort.
How It Happened…
Florida jumped out to an early lead thanks to hot shooting from Will Richard out of the gate. The Atlanta native playing against his home-state school and Belmont transfer back in Nashville knocked down a 3-pointer on the Gators’ opening possession and scored 13 of the team’s first 21, putting Florida ahead by nine 10:00 into the contest.
That’s when things started to change however. A made 3-pointer from RJ Melendez, his second of the game, sparked a 9-0 run for Georgia to tie things up. RJ Sunahara also hit from deep while Noah Thomasson and Blue Cain connected at the free throw stripe.
Georgia’s first lead of the game came with 6:57 to go in the first half on a layup by Jalen DeLoach, who returned to the game after being knocked to the floor and attended to by trainers earlier on. He would go on to hit another jumper during a 7-0 Georgia run that was part of a larger stretch that saw the Bulldogs scored 18 of the game’s 21.
Georgia would lead for the remainder of the first half, going into the locker room ahead by three (37-34) after the Gators did their best to close the gap.
Frank Anselem-Ibe picked up his fourth foul with 13:10 to go and allowed Florida take its first lead of the second half on an and-one from Tyrese Samuel. Then, just moments later, fellow big man Russel Tchewa picked up his fourth foul too while DeLoach had three of his own. The Gators were able to capitalize and continue their run, extending it to 12-2 in a 4:30 stretch while building the lead out further.
With Georgia missing the big men even more after DeLoach picked up another foul – plus a technical called on Mike White – Florida began to run away with things.
Georgia didn’t go down without a fight. Silas Demary scored five straight to make it a one possession game moments after the under-8:00 timeout. Then, a Tchewa and-one made it a two-point game with 6:03 to go before a layup by Demary less than a minute later tied it at 68.
A 3-pointer from Walter Clayton Jr. on the next possession broke the tie just past the 5:00 mark, and the Gators held that lead the rest of the way. Justin Hill did it his best to try and keep the Bulldogs in it, scoring five straight, but it wasn’t good to get closer than within one. Clayton and Richard converted down the stretch, and while Riley Kugel was clutch at the free throw stripe to seal the deal on the Florida win.
Assuming no postseason play, Georgia’s season comes to a close with a 17-16 record and a 7-13 mark against SEC competition. It’s just the second winning season for the Bulldogs in the last seven years. Falling to the Gators does however extend a losing streak to Florida to 11, last winning in the rivalry in March of 2019.
UGA improved one game in both categories as compared to Mike White’s first season on the job and has plenty of potential headed into his third campaign, assuming retention of the right parts of the roster. Georgia will lose both the team’s leading scorer, Noah Thomasson, and leading rebounder, Russel Tchewa, along with RJ Sunahara while others have decisions to make with a COVID year of eligibility remaining and/or the ability to enter the transfer portal, which opens on Monday.
