Olivia Sayer
With 3:27 left in the second quarter, the Bulldogs were given an opportunity. Ole Miss’ Rita Igbokwe grabbed an offensive rebound, but she stepped out of bounds while doing so. The beneficiary of the turnover, Georgia, got the ball in the hands of its leading scorer Javyn Nicholson, who tossed the ball through the rim for the layup.
The basket marked Georgia’s first points of the quarter and two of the eventual three the team tallied before the buzzer sounded.
The Bulldogs came into the game fresh off a back-and-forth battle with undefeated South Carolina. After a troublesome season thus far, Georgia looked rejuvenated and nearly pulled off the upset over the consensus No. 1 team.
Against the Rebels, the Bulldogs looked deflated.
“I do not know what is going on with this Georgia team,” SEC Network analyst Lindsay King said on the broadcast. “I had a feeling they would be tired, playing back-to-back road games, [and] playing South Carolina takes a lot out of you.”
The biggest evidence of this analysis came in the second quarter, when the Bulldogs only scored three points. Consistent offense has not been a strong suit for Georgia, but that statistical line is rare nonetheless.
The Bulldogs’ poor play in the second quarter can be partially attributed to not playing complementary basketball. When a team’s offense is scorching, it is most likely playing solid defense as well.
Limiting turnovers is key when trying to keep a game close. Georgia was unsuccessful in this category, as the Bulldogs turned the ball over six times in the second quarter and 18 times overall. On average, Georgia has 16.2 turnovers per game.
The Bulldogs’ were also unable to capitalize on Ole Miss’ lack of success defending behind the arc. Coming into the matchup, the Rebels allowed their opponents to shoot an average of just 32.5% on 3-point attempts, which ranked eleventh in the conference.
In the second quarter, the Bulldogs only had two 3-point attempts, as both De’Mauri Flournoy and Asia Avinger’s shots missed the net. Overall this season, Georgia has shot 27.6% from beyond the arc, only ahead of Texas A&M and Ole Miss in the SEC.
In the second quarter, the Bulldogs shot 11.1% from the field on only nine attempts.
The Bulldogs next return to Stegeman Coliseum Sunday to face their SEC rival, the Florida Gators. The game provides a perfect opportunity for Georgia to get back on track, as the Gators currently rank thirteenth in the SEC in scoring defense, allowing an average of 70.84 points per game.