Alabama shoots lights out in the second half, Georgia ends regular season with loss
ATHENS-- With the SEC Basketball Tournament just four days away, Georgia has no positive momentum following two-straight losses to complete the regular season.
Alabama (21-6, 16-2), the SEC’s regular season champion, swept Georgia (14-11, 7-11) on the season after taking them down 89-79 in Stegeman Coliseum. The arena had an increased capacity for this game, and there was an immediate difference in the noise and energy. The game was loud and physical in the first half, but Alabama was too much to handle.
Georgia led the Crimson Tide 36-30 at halftime after the Bulldogs knocked down 51.7% of their field goals and 50% of their three-point attempts. However, the second half showed that Georgia winning the first half had more to do with the poor play of Alabama.
Alabama had an uncharacteristic shooting performance in the opening 20 minutes, finishing 2/12 from beyond the arc. They completely turned that around in the second half. Alabama shot a ridiculous 8/10 from three-point range in the second half, which is along the lines of how they played against Georgia in their first matchup in February.
Alabama opened up the second half with a 9-0 run and never looked back after that. The Crimson Tide had complete control of the game once they took the lead.
There were a few moments of hope for Georgia in the final two minutes, but Keon Ellis drilled a three that killed the Bulldogs’ chances of winning. Freshman K.D. Johnson provided spark off the bench with 16 points on 50% shooting from deep.
Sahvir Wheeler, per usual, led Georgia with 18 points and 10 assists. He was matched up against the plethora of talented guards that play for Alabama.
Georgia is usually the team with more turnovers when the final buzzer sounds, but Alabama turned the ball over more in this contest with 22. This does not excuse the Bulldogs, as they committed 20 turnovers- a number that makes games extremely difficult to win.
Up Next
The SEC Basketball Tournament is being held at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville from March 10-14. Georgia looks to be locked in as the 10th overall seed in the tournament, which means they will play the seventh seed in the first round.
Right now, that seventh seed will be one of the following: Kentucky, Ole Miss or Missouri. Georgia has defeated all three of those teams this year, including beating Ole Miss twice.
Following two losses, Georgia does not have momentum going into this tournament. Their potential first round opponents are all winnable matchups, but a lot needs to improve if they want to make a deep run and win the SEC championship.