Georgia finishes off Saint Mary's to take third place at Wooden Legacy

Here are five observations following Georgia's 83-81 overtime win over Saint Mary's.

A big win that could be even bigger in four months

OK, so Saint Mary's, the Wooden Legacy favorite, didn't win the tournament. And it suffered an unexpected loss to unranked Washington State in the semifinals. But in recent years, the computer rankings have loved Saint Mary's. Even with the loss to the Cougars, the Gaels still were considered No. 32 in the early KenPom rankings.

Given recent history, Saint Mary's (5-2) should be a top-50 team come March. And those are the types of wins Georgia has been unable to come up with in the past two seasons.

The Bulldogs (5-1) put in a gritty effort throug 40 minutes plus overtime. Neither team led by more than double digits as there were 25 lead changes throughout.

Georgia finished 2-1 at the Wooden Legacy and took third place in the Fullerton, California tournament. While the Bulldogs will come back happy to close out a win over Saint Mary's, they will likely think of what could have been, considering the San Diego State game could have gone their way as well.

All in all, Georgia improved over the three-game span on the West Coast. The same team that played the first half against Cal State Fullerton was nowhere close to the squad that finished it out in crunch time over Saint Mary's. That will be a big deal heading into Saturday's tough road game against Marquette.

Turtle time

A developing storyline that is quite important to this year's Georgia team is how Turtle Jackson has played through five games. Yet again, Jackson scored in double figures with 15 points on 50 percent shooting from the field. He also had the biggest play of the game with 10 seconds to go in regulation.

Jackson, with Georgia down by two, drove right and put up a shot off the backboard while falling back. A case could be made that he drew contact, although a whistle wasn't blown, and therefore, a chance at a 3-point play didn't materialize. But Jackson's shot fell through and Georgia was able to go to overtime.

In the extra period, Jackson made two huge free throws to put the Bulldogs up by four. It did get close as the first attempt rolled around the rim momentarily. But the ball fell through the hoop and gave Georgia a big-time cushion.

Jackson's 3-point shooting has been stellar, too. Going 2-of-5 shooting from behind the arc against Saint Mary's, Jackson is now shooting 42.9 percent from the 3-point line through six games. A big question entering the year was how the Bulldogs would replace J.J. Frazier.

Jackson has stated an early case as to how.

Crump gets going

This is the kind of scoring output Georgia would love to get out of guard Tyree Crump moving forward. Crump was given the opportunity to spot up and shoot the 3-ball, and he made the Gaels pay with most of his chances. From behind the arc, Crump hit four of his seven 3-point attempts and also added a long 2 with his foot on the line.

Crump finished the game with a career-high 17 points on 6-of-13 shooting. A year ago, Crump didn't see the kind of immediate playing time many expected. A lot of it had to do with the Bainbridge native learning the defensive side of the court at the collegiate level.

Crump hasn't lost any confidence during his slow start from the perimeter as he routinely puts up shots when open. Entering the game, Crump made only five of his first 23 3-point attempts. With his game against Saint Mary's, Crump is now shooting 30 percent from behind the arc. Crump will look for that number to continue increasing over the next few games.

Turnovers limited

What killed Georgia in near-upset losses to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Cal State Fullerton were turnovers. That was cleaned up a bit in Friday's loss against San Diego State. Against Saint Mary's, Georgia took much better care of the basketball.

The Bulldogs ended the game with nine turnovers. Against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Georgia turned the ball over 24 times. In the first half against Cal State Fullerton, that number was 11. If Georgia can take better care of the basketball, good things will happen to the program this season.

Jock on the block

While Saint Mary's came up short, it got an impressive performance from center Jock Landale. Landale was a monster down low and a tough assignment for forward Derek Ogbeide, who drew him most of the game. Landale ended the game with 33 points on 16-of-25 shooting. The game-plan was clearly to feed Landale and let him go to work. He did so at a video-game type pace.

Considering Georgia's talent and size in the frontcourt, Landale should dominate the West Coast Conference this season.

Bonus five

-Like it was against San Diego State, Georgia was outscored inside. The Gaels posted 58 points in the paint to Georgia's 28.

-Georgia racked up six blocked shots against Saint Mary's, which included three from Ogbeide.

-The Bulldogs had five players score in double figures. Crump led Georgia with 17 points, Maten had 16, Jackson posted 15, Juwan Parker scored 14 and Ogbeide totaled 10.

- Parker earned his first start of the season after coming off the bench in the first four. In addition to his 14 points, Parker added two rebounds and an assist in 36 minutes. Parker averaged 15.8 minutes per game before Sunday.

-While Saint Mary's dominated the interior, Georgia's bench was more productive by a four-to-one ratio. The Bulldogs non-starters out scored Saint Mary's bench players 28-7.

This story was originally published November 26, 2017 at 7:46 PM with the headline "Georgia finishes off Saint Mary's to take third place at Wooden Legacy."