Written by Brian Pohl
Athens, GA- After consecutive losses at the end of the Cayman Islands Classic, the Georgia Bulldogs returned home to Athens and got back in the win column with an 84-51 win over the Kennesaw State Owls.
It’s been an up and down start to the Tom Crean era at UGA, as the Dawgs entered the game with a 3-3 record after two consecutive losses. A return to Stegeman Coliseum is all the Bulldogs would need as they gained a comfortable lead early and never looked back.
UGA head coach Tom Crean on the win, “I thought our players came out with an excellent mindset. For us, we have to come out and create our own energy and the fans will feed off of that.” He continued, “I’m really proud of how the guys played tonight. Especially because we have had long, hard days since we’ve been home getting ourselves better.”
Things started slowly for UGA, who committed four early turnovers which allowed Kennesaw State to stay in the game at the first under-16 timeout. Following the stoppage, however, the Bulldogs would settle down and shots would begin to fall, allowing UGA to get out to a fast pace and quickly pull away from the Owls, taking a 39-20 lead at halftime.
The fast pace continued in the second half, and coach Crean talked about how he wants his team to improve in that area, especially taking threes in transition saying, “We’ll get to a point where we’re firing [three pointers] off the break, but we’re not their right now. We practice it all the time but we’re not there. Your threes have got to come on inside-out.” He continued, “Tonight, I thought we did a better job of drawing help.”
The Dawgs benefited from 20 fastbreak points because of the pace, allowing them to get out to the early lead and cruise to a 33-point win.
The Bulldogs really dominated in every aspect of the game, shooting a high percentage while playing suffocating defense that really shook the Kennesaw State shooters. UGA shot 52.2% for the game, and any time you make over half of your shots taken, more times than not you will come away with the win. On the glass, the Dawgs outrebounded the Owls 53 to 35 and really used the size and length to their advantage.
The player of the game was forward Nicolas Claxton. The sophomore has been having a breakout season early on for the Bulldogs and continued his strong play against KSU. Claxton led the team with 16 points while giving his team great action on the glass by reeling in 15 rebounds.
Coach Crean on Claxton’s performance, “You know what I love about Nic too? He had zero turnovers.” He continued, “That’s one reason the ball is in his hands so much, and it’s been there for a while.”
Claxton has stepped up on this young team to become a leader as an underclassman and will be looked at to continue his strong play as they head to the bulk of the season.
The win moves Georgia over .500 on the season at 4-3, but coach Crean believes his team needs to come out to practice tomorrow with a drive to work that much harder to get better.
UGA’s next game is on Monday, December 3rd when the Dawgs welcome the Texas Southern Tigers to Stegeman Coliseum with a chance to move another game over .500.
