Georgia falls to UAB as Blazers break out in second half
Georgia Basketball fell in the championship game of the Greenlight Sunshine Slam on Tuesday 87-73 to UAB. Jordan “Jelly” Walker took over for the Blazers, especially in the second half, as he poured in 30 points to lead all scorers.
Four UAB players scored in double figures while the Bulldogs were led off the bench by Justin Hill‘s 17. Braelen Bridges had 10 off the bench as well while Kario Oquendo led the starters with 12. Oquendo however only made four of his team-high 14 attempts in the game including a 1-for-5 performance from 3-point range.
“We were decent defensively in the first half, and I think in the second half it was more about UAB’s offensive output,” Georgia head coach Mike White said the postgame. “They got it going. We missed a couple of layups, we missed a couple of open ones, they went on a run to build a lead and the game was just different from then on. I don’t know that we have the competitive composure, the poise at this point to overcome that, the run that they made. We just didn’t respond really well unfortunately, but credit those guys. They went on that run, live ball turnovers haunted us, some missed block outs by our guards haunted us, and then we left Jelly Walker a couple of times. They leave you a small margin for error in trying to defend those guys. They’re terrific offensively, and they’re going to win a lot of games this year.”
Georgia kept things close in the first half, actually leading 42-41 at the break. Bridges, who was kept off the scoreboard entirely last game, had eight points while Hill kept his hand hot from yesterday’s win over Saint Joseph’s by making three of his first four attempts from the field, including a 3-pointer. The two teams traded blows out of the gate with each team leading by as many as seven, but back and forth runs kept it close. Then, in the second half, UAB took the lead on a Ledarrius Brewer 3-pointer less than two minutes in and never looked back. The Blazers led by as many as 18 late in the game and were up double-digits the final 8:51. Walker had 19 of his 30 after the break as he shot 7-of-11 with three 3-pointers in the final 20 minutes.
Georgia, now 4-2 on the season, returns to action on Sunday at Stegeman Coliseum after returning from the trip to Daytona Beach. The Bulldogs take on East Tennessee State at 1:00 p.m. ET on the SEC Network. They’ll play four games in a matter of 10 days before taking an extended break during the University’s final exams.
