Georgia in need of season-closing run to back in NCAA Tournament conversation
ATHENS -- One 34-point loss is bad enough.
Yet with seven games left in its regular season, Georgia has now had two following the 82-48 drubbing it took against Kentucky on Tuesday.
Kentucky, despite its No. 22 ranking, can be considered among the better teams in the country. It's a young group which has played incredibly well in the past two games, and, as expected, proved too much for Georgia to handle.
But at the same time, Georgia looked far worse than anyone could have thought. The Bulldogs (13-9, 6-5 SEC) missed 22 consecutive shots in a stretch of 18:17 from the first half into the second. Georgia hit only 11-of-50 shots, which is never a recipe for winning -- considering the Bulldogs also made only 11-of-50 shots in an almost-derailing 67-50 loss to South Carolina a year ago.
Yes, Georgia needs to regroup, but it goes far deeper than that. This team has seven games remaining to impress the NCAA Tournament selection committee, which very well may not care that Kentucky -- or Texas A&M -- defeated Georgia by 34 points once early March rolls around.
But based on the performances Georgia's had in its two biggest games, it's hard to feel excited for this team's postseason prospects at the moment.
"We need to get back on a mission," sophomore forward Yante Maten told reporters after the game. "This definitely could send us in the wrong direction, or it could bring us all together, and we need to make sure it brings us together."
That mission can't afford too many more losses, especially against the teams Georgia will be expected to beat, like Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, Auburn, Mississippi and Alabama. The Bulldogs could get away with losing to Florida and South Carolina as long as they reach the semifinals of the SEC Championship. And if Georgia can somehow reach 20 wins for the third consecutive season for the first time since 1995-98, it could be in good shape.
Then again, considering the all-important eye test, it still might not be enough if Georgia isn't able to show significant signs of improvement soon.
Never in Mark Fox's seven preseasons has he seen the kind of expectations as offered back in October and November. The reasoning had to do with a veteran backcourt and an emerging scoring presence in Maten.
Four-star center Derek Ogbeide was expected to play early, but his development was stunted due to a shoulder injury on the Monday before the season-opener against Chattanooga, a game Georgia lost 92-90 in overtime.
In fact, Georgia probably isn't in this position if it escapes the Chattanooga game with a win and picks up victories against Kansas State and Mississippi. Throw in losses against Seton Hall and LSU, games that easily could have gone Georgia's way, and it's clear how close the Bulldogs really are from being a tournament lock rather than a team hoping to work its way back in.
What has occurred this season, however, is reality for Georgia. Sure, there were some early-season injuries that set Georgia back -- namely Ogbeide's and losing Juwan Parker due to his lingering Achilles ailment. But the kind of injury setbacks that kept popping up last year haven't been present this time around. Georgia has only been able to put away one quality opponent in South Carolina while claiming just one road victory, against Missouri, the SEC's last-place team.
Despite the setbacks Georgia has placed on itself and even with the two blowouts against its top two competitors, Georgia can still prove its worth in the season's final month.
"I think I know what kind of team we have," Fox said after the Kentucky loss. "I think we've known all along that this team would be a team we hope would keep getting better over the year. (Tuesday) was the night where we should some of the deficiencies we still have.
"We have to play very mistake-free basketball to have a chance to win any night."
This story was originally published February 10, 2016 at 9:41 PM with the headline "Georgia in need of season-closing run to back in NCAA Tournament conversation ."