Georgia comes up short vs. Wofford

ATHENS — Georgia head coach Mark Fox received a parking ticket Tuesday morning and his first loss at Georgia hours later, falling to Wofford 60-57.

Needless to say, Fox had a bad day.

Bulldogs point guard Dustin Ware missed the potential game-tying three at the buzzer, after Georgia (1-1) scored five of the game’s final seven points in an attempted comeback.

“We had the exact shot we wanted,” Fox said. “It just didn’t go in.”

Georgia trailed 58-53 with a minute to play, handling the final minute in much more collected fashion than the previous 39.

Georgia guard Travis Leslie hit a 3-pointer to make the score 58-56 with 17 seconds left, and the Bulldogs forced a five-second call on the Terriers’ inbound attempt.

Georgia had three chances to tie the game but didn’t connect. Forward Trey Thompkins had a layup blocked. Ware made only 1-of-2 from the free-throw line with six seconds left, leaving Georgia down by one.

After two Wofford (1-1) free throws, Ware missed the final shot.

“Late in the game, I think we did a lot of things very well,” Fox said. “We missed a few close ones that would have tied the game. But with experience, those shots will fall for them. I told Trey he would get another chance to hit a big shot. I told Dustin he would get another chance to hit a big free throw.”

Leslie led Georgia with 17 points and continued his improvement with ball control. The sophomore had four assists and no turnovers.

Thompkins had a double-double, with 14 points and 16 rebounds. No other Bulldogs player reached double digits in scoring.

“We see how hard we can play and what can happen when we do play hard,” Thompkins said.

Wofford had four players score in double figures, led by forward Corey Godzinkski (13)

Georgia scored first and led 8-3 with all the Bulldogs’ points coming from Leslie and Thompkins.

Wofford went on a 16-0 run to take control midway through the opening half, forcing Fox to call two timeouts before Georgia settled back into a scoring rhythm.

“There was a lot of mental unattachment early in the game,” Fox said. “We made a lot of mental errors early that we have not made in practice.”

Georgia trailed 29-26, staying within reach of the Terriers, from the Southern Conference, in large part because of 16 combined points from Leslie and Thompkins.

“The lesson learned (Tuesday) is to play hard from the jump,” Thompkins said. “We just weren’t mentally in tune in the first half. You can’t wait for the second half against anybody or they will take advantage of it.”

Georgia players said they expected tough losses to come and pointed out some positives. The Bulldogs had only 10 turnovers, outrebounded the Terriers and had a better shooting night percentage wise.

But Georgia was 2-of-14 from 3-point range and 11-of-20 from the free-throw line.

“We’ve got to take a lot from this game,” said forward Chris Barnes. “We’ve got to come out strong and not lackadaisical.”

Georgia plays Saturday at Alabama-Birmingham. And Fox will look for safer parking on campus for the remainder of the week.