The first possession of SLU's 64-56 loss at Georgia on Wednesday night in Athens kind of set the tone for what became a tough night down South.
The Bulldogs scored first as 6'4" forward Travis Leslie went over the top for an easy layup. The Bills got the ball inside on their first possession to their top inside guys, Brian Conklin and Willie Reed. Brian's first attempt was blocked. Willie got the rebound and went for one of his emphatic dunks. Instead, he was met at the rim by Georgia's 6'11" 265-pound senior Albert Jackson, who blocked the would-be dunk attempt.
It was an omen of things to come.
That early block-party turned out to be the theme for much of the game as the bigger, brawnier Bulldogs dominated us for nearly three quarters of the game. UGA led by as many as 20 points before the Billikens mounted a big rally in the second half, cutting the lead to five with just over three minutes left. However, that was as close as SLU would come as Georgia held on to hand the Bills their third loss in succession.
Boy, Georgia had some beef on the front line and they used it to lean on us, hard. Their four-man frontcourt rotation when 6'10" 247 pounds, 6'11" 265 lbs., 6'9" 250 lbs. and 6'8" 240 lbs. Plus Leslie goes at 6'4" 205 and plays above the rim. Our poor Billikids couldn't accomplish anything in that first half without one of those slabs of beef hanging on them.
Whatever happened to Southern hospitality?
The first half was just difficult to watch. We didn't get our first field goal until Femi John scored on a drive at the 10:37 mark. The Bulldogs used their significant height and weight advantage to pound the ball inside on offense and attack us with aggressive traps on defense. They seemed to challenge every shot we took inside the paint.
They really rocked us and we did not respond well, except for Femi, who had half of the team's 18 points and halftime as we trailed 31-18.
The second half didn't get much better to begin with as the lead ballooned to 40-20. The rout appeared to be on, but one thing we have learned about our young team, they will compete. And compete they did.
While we gave away height and strength, we did have a quickness advantage, which came into play during the final 10 minutes. The defense picked up, we created some turnovers, (Georgia had 19 for the game), which allowed us to get out in transition. That got us back into the game. We struggled mightily against UGA's physical half-court defense, but it was a different story when we got out on the break.
Kwamain Mitchell (pictured) started to heat up and Willie found some openings on the inside. Kwamain led the charge back, scoring all but one of his 16 points in the second half. Willie finished with 14 points and seven rebounds before leaving the game late after turning his ankle. (x-rays today will determine the severity of the injury).
We got the lead down to 55-50 with about three minutes to play when Kwamain scored on a 3-pointer, then a steal and a coast-to-coast layup. But the Bulldogs scored on their next two possessions as they pounded the ball inside to their top player Trey Thompkins and their other top post-man Jeremy Price, who scored to keep the Bills at bay. UGA's top player was point guard Dustin Ware, who scored a game-high 17 points. He hit three 3-pointers, all of them which came at a critical time when the Bills were mounting a challenge.
Femi was very solid in his first start as a Billiken, especially in the first half, when he scored all nine of his points. It was nice to see Kyle Cassity regain his stroke in the second half, when he hit two 3-pointers during the second half rally. Kyle had gone more than two and a half games without a field goal, so seeing him hit those two treys in succession was a welcome sight.
Justin Jordan came off the bench with five points, three rebounds and a team-high four assists. He even showed a little more energy on the defensive end after a little prodding by coach Rick Majerus.
Freshman Christian Salecich continues to struggle a little bit away from home. He went without a field goal and committed six turnovers. Christian is just pressing a little bit and just has to relax and let things come to him. it's a process with many youngsters and he's learning some tough lessons against athletic guards who get up in him. He just has to let it flow and he will start to have some success again.
It was a gutsy comeback, but we fell just a big short. We had only nine players on the trip as freshman Jeff Reid stayed back because of a head injury suffered in the Notre Dame game when he was clocked by Ben Hansbrough. We expended a lot of energy playing against those UGA bruisers and trying to come back from 20 down in the second half. The margin of error is so small when you're trying to do that. You almost have to be perfect.
That's why I have to give Bruce Weber and his Illinois team all the credit in the world for coming from 23 points down to win that game at Clemson last night. Unbelievable. Especially, considering the fact that Illinois was staring their third consecutive defeat in the face, but they found a way to come back and get it done.
We nearly did it as well, but we just didn't have enough gas in the tank to pull it off, although Georgia was very accomodating down the stretch with some timely turnovers and missed free throws. We might have pressed a little more down the stretch, but I think we were on fumes for the last few minutes of the game.
It will be nice to get home once again for the next six games. Southern Illinois is next on tap. Always a fun time when the Bills and Salukis get together.
I love this regional rivalry.
I'll have a preview on Saturday morning.
As always, Go Bills!
Kwamain Mitchell photo courtesy of slubillikens.com
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