Hoops: Georgia uses quick start, hot shooting to blow past Alabama

Alabama won the opening tip and allowed freshman standout guard Collin Sexton to do what he does best – shoot the ball.

But on his first shot, he missed and Georgia forward Derek Ogbeide brought down the rebound.

It was go time.

Georgia guard Turtle Jackson sprinted down the court and found his leading teammate Yante Maten standing at the top of the 3-point line.

Swish.

A sold-out Stegeman Coliseum crowd erupted to a roar and Georgia had full momentum. There would be no further swing from there as the Bulldogs rode a 44-point first-half offensive outburst to a 65-46 victory over the Crimson Tide. Part one of the weekend's tilt between the two universities went in the Bulldogs’ favor as the finale moves to the gridiron for Monday night's national championship football game.

Three who mattered

Maten: The senior once again led the team in scoring. It’s seemingly something Maten does on a nightly basis, but finding success from deep caused problems for Alabama and gave Georgia an early boost. Maten finished with 26 points and 11 rebounds – his seventh double-double of the season.

Sexton: After considering playing at Georgia, Sexton had success in his return back home. The potential one-and-done guard tallied 23 points in 33 minutes.

Georgia forward Rayshaun Hammonds: After being held scoreless and only playing eight minutes due to foul trouble against Mississippi, Hammonds bounced back in convincing fashion. The freshman was contributing in an assortment of ways and matched a career-high with 13 points – all of which came before halftime.

Turning point

Georgia jumped out to an early 14-5 lead and it quickly became too large for Alabama. The Bulldogs grew the margin to as large as 23 by the intermission, and did enough to comfortably hold on in the final half.

Observations

Solid performance against former teammate: Georgia forward Derek Ogbeide had the first opportunity to play against Sexton, his former teammate at Pebblebrook. The Bulldogs’ junior finished 3-of-5 from the field (8 points) and recorded 7 rebounds.

No more rebounding worries: Georgia head coach Mark Fox had been displeased with his team’s “poor rebounding” efforts in recent games, but it reverted to form as a frontcourt advantage was present against Alabama. The Bulldogs out-rebounded Alabama 49-30 and it was an important factor in their victory.

All Sexton, no support: Georgia knew it had to key in on Alabama’s standout freshman, and that game plan paid off as Alabama had very few to support him. Sexton did his job as he finished with 23 points, meanwhile the Crimson Tide’s second-leading scorer Avery Johnson Jr. only had 8 points.

Worth mentioning

Hot early on from deep: Georgia (11-3, 2-1 SEC) has had bouts of trouble from the 3-point line but found its stroke against the Crimson Tide (9-6, 1-2) in the first half. The Bulldogs finished 9-of-28 from deep (8-of-16 at the half) and had five different players convert. Georgia then got cold, however, as it shot 1-of-12 from the perimeter in the final period.

Extended minutes for Hightower: Freshman guard Teshaun Hightower may have solidified his spot as Turtle Jackson’s backup. He logged 10 minutes and was productive with a 3-point conversion. Tyree Crump, who had been in the guard rotation, played in the final minute.

Stifling defense continues: In Georgia’s 4-1 stretch since losing to UMass on Dec. 16, the defense has seen a significant growth in production. In its last five games, opponents have shot under 40 percent and Alabama was the latest as it recorded a 30-percent shooting percentage.

They said it

Fox on Maten’s performance: “He set the momentum for the game with his play in the first half, and Yante was determined to win today. I thought he really led our team this afternoon with action and his voice in timeouts. When your best player is a good leader and played like he did tonight, it brings momentum to your team.”

Alabama head coach Avery Johnson on offensive performance: “We came over here for early-morning shootaround and we made every shot, but the wide-open shots didn’t go in today. I don’t know if Georgia slowed Sexton down, but we have to have more guys contribute. I didn’t see that confidence in some of our other guys.”

Fox on the team's performance since the Massachusetts loss: “If our mentality didn’t change after that game, I wasn’t sure if we would’ve decided to just play intramurals. It needed to change, and we have been committed to defending and have been more consistent in that area during the last couple weeks.”

Hammonds on bounce-back performance: “I normally don’t have games like that (against Mississippi), but when it happened, I just had to grow from it. I dropped it into the trash and moved onto the next game. I just had to play team ball.”

What's next?

Georgia will travel to Missouri Wednesday for a 9 p.m. tip.

This story was originally published January 6, 2018 at 2:07 PM with the headline "Hoops: Georgia uses quick start, hot shooting to blow past Alabama."