University of Georgia Athletics
Dog Notes: Fouls, Missed Free Throws Pivotal
November 13, 2015 | Men's Basketball
By John Frierson
UGAAA Staff Writer
In a game in which 63 fouls were called and the Georgia and Chattanooga men's basketball teams attempted a combined 76 free throws, what happened at the line played an enormous role in the outcome Friday night at Stegeman Coliseum.
The Bulldogs did some good things in their season-opening 92-90 overtime loss to the Mocs: Georgia shot 54.2 percent from the field, 50 percent from 3-point range and had 11 blocks and 11 steals.
What Georgia (0-1) didn't do well, among other things, was shoot free throws. The Dogs finished 28 of 45 from the line, including 9-for-17 in a second half that ended with the game tied 74-all.
"We've got to be better defensively, certainly, to win," Georgia coach Mark Fox said. "And we've got to do a better job shooting free throws. We obviously got there a lot, but we didn't complete the percentage that ... if you make free throws you win the game."
Guard J.J. Frazier, who led the Dogs with 22 points and eight assists, was 6-for-7 from the line. Forward Yante Maten, who finished with 17 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks, was 7-for-10. The rest of the Bulldogs were a combined 15-for-28.
Guard Charles Mann was 10-for-16 at the line and made 1 of 2 with 12.8 seconds left in regulation. He missed the front end and made the second, tying the game at 74.
The Mocs (1-0) finished 20 of 31 at the line, making some clutch free throws during some stretches and then missing some late in overtime when they had a chance to put the game away. Instead, those misses gave Georgia a chance. The game ended with Williams Jackson II missing a half-court heave as time expired.
While the late fouls and free throws were part of Georgia's efforts to rally after getting behind by seven, 84-77, with 1:57 left in overtime, the flurry of fouls throughout regulation were part of what may be the new normal in men's college basketball. Last season, Georgia's games featured an average of 39.1 fouls. There were 27 by halftime Friday.
Officials are calling the game tighter this season, with the ultimate goal of getting players to play cleaner, which will in turn make the game better and more appealing. Not much was clean Friday and it may be a while before the officials' whistles fall silent.
"They called a good ball game, they really did," Fox said of the officials. "The game is going to be officiated differently and as coaches and fans and players we have to understand it's going to be a new world.
Georgia committed 30 fouls and had two players (senior guards Mann and Kenny Gaines) foul out of the game. Maten said the frequent foul calls and subsequent stoppages in play made it hard to get in much of a rhythm.
"They kept calling so many fouls and it is a little bit difficult to (get in a rhythm) because when you get going up and down, you do get in a rhythm after a while," he said. "But you've just got to play the game."
Frazier Flurry
When the Mocs went up 84-77 with 1:57 to play, things looked bad for the Dogs. But there's one thing to remember, Frazier can get hot in a hurry.
The junior made two free throws with 1:45 left to make it 84-79. He then missed on a drive, but Kenny Paul Geno was there for a tip-in, making it 84-81. Later, with Georgia down 89-84 with 35 seconds left, Frazier hit a 3.
Later still, after two UTC free throws made it 92-87 with 15.2 seconds left, Frazier hit a very long 3, cutting the margin to 92-90. Georgia fouled with 7.0 left and the Mocs' Dee Oldham missed both free throws, but after Maten got the rebound all Jackson could do was fling up a half-court prayer.
"It was in my range and I shot the ball," Frazier said.
What's Frazier's range?
"It doesn't matter," he said. "When you're in a mode like that, you don't think about where you are or how close you are. You're just trying to put the ball in the basket. It wasn't enough."
Short-lived Lead
Chattanooga jumped out to a 13-3 lead and it took the Dogs a while to get going. For a long while in the first half and then the second, Georgia was inching its way back, and then, to coin a word, milli-metering.
Multiple times in the final 10 minutes of the opening half and the first 10 minutes of the second, Georgia had it down to a one-possession game. It wasn't until Frazier drove in for a layup with 10:21 to play that the Dogs went in front, 53-52. But then UTC tied it with a free throw 13 seconds later.
Frazier converted a 4-point play with 9:16 to play, giving the Dogs a 58-55 lead. The Dogs' largest lead, 66-60, came with 5:57 to play, after freshman E'Torrion Wilridge scored inside. The game was tied by the 3:50 mark and the Mocs were back in front down the stretch until Mann tied it at 74, forcing overtime.
"It was a bad performance from the line," Frazier said, "and it was a bad performance from the overall game standpoint. We didn't play well in any area of the game of basketball and you're not going to win games if you don't play well in every area of the game."
Odds And Ends
Injuries to forwards Juwan Parker (Achilles) and Derek Ogbeide (shoulder) , who did not play, forced Georgia into a smaller lineup Friday. Chattanooga outrebounded Georgia 37-36, with the Mocs getting 15 offensive rebounds to Georgia's eight. ... On the perimeter, UTC had a lot of open looks and went 12-for-30 on 3s, including 2-for-3 in overtime. Twelve of UTC's 30 field goals were 3s. ... The Dogs will try for their first win next Friday at Stegeman when they host Murray State.
John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
