Georgia Suffers First Loss of Season to Dayton, 80-61

LAHAINA, MAUI, HAWAII - The Georgia Bulldogs were handed their first loss of the season and of the Maui Jim Maui Invitational by the Dayton Flyers, 80-61, in the opening game of the tournament on Monday afternoon in the Lahaina Civic Center. 

Sophomore Tye Fagan paced the Bulldogs in scoring, tallying a career-high 11 points. Fagan was the sole Bulldog to score in double-figures. 

“We were not good at defending the post,” Georgia Head Coach Tom Crean said. “We did not do anything we needed to do to Obi Toppin to start the game. We played behind, which is the last thing you want to do and we weren’t aggressive with our hands.” 

Georgia got off to a slow start, only recording two points, a jumper from freshman Anthony Edwards, in the first four minutes. Meanwhile, Dayton’s Obi Toppin scored 14 of the Flyers’ first 16 points in the opening minutes of the game.

Baskets from two different Bulldogs, Fagan and freshman Sahvir Wheeler, cut the Flyer’s advantage to 10 within the first half of the period. Georgia would trail by double-digits for the remainder of the game.

Despite back-to-back buckets from Fagan, Georgia went into the locker room facing an 18-point deficit after a shot at the buzzer from Dayton, 43-25. 

Georgia quickly trailed by 20 at the start of the second half, but a 7-0 run over two minutes cut the Flyers’ lead to 13 (50-37) with 15:54 to play. The Bulldogs would get within 13 on two more occasions but would never cut the deficit further.

Dayton held on to its double-figure lead to down Georgia, 80-61. 

The Bulldogs now await their next opponent in Maui. Georgia will play the loser of the No. 3 Michigan State vs. Virginia Tech game on Tuesday, Nov. 26, at 2:30 p.m. ET, 9:30 a.m. HST. The matchup will be televised on ESPN2.