University of Georgia Athletics
Dog Notes: Edwards' Offense Erupts In Win
December 01, 2015 | Men's Basketball
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By John Frierson
UGAAA Staff Writer
Mike Edwards had been doing some good things for the Georgia men's basketball team prior to Tuesday night's 86-82 win over Oakland at Stegeman Coliseum. He'd been getting rebounds, serving as a screener on the offensive end and when he attacked the basket the moves were good, just seldom successful.
Entering Monday's game, the 6-foot-9, 225-pound freshman forward was 3-for-9 from the field this season and had a high of 3 points. Against the Golden Grizzlies, like him from Michigan, Edwards came alive. He was 7-for-8 from the field and scored a career-high 14 points.
"It felt really good," the soft-spoken Edwards said. "I started getting in that rhythm and that's when everything starts going."
After starter Houston Kessler picked up two early fouls Edwards was in the game, and he seldom saw the bench again. He played a career-high 29 minutes and also grabbed six rebounds.
"They guarded Yante Maten with a crowd and took half a man off Mike Edwards," Georgia coach Mark Fox said. "He was open a lot and he took full advantage of it. He's growing up and he's played a lot of minutes, and learned on the fly. He was very good tonight."
There was certainly nobody near Edwards on his first basket, which came on a flying, breakaway dunk with 9:00 left in the first half. That play seemed to relax Edwards, who played like a different Dog the rest of the way.
"It definitely relaxed me and made me more confident," he said.
To have a breakout game in a tight Georgia (3-2) win is nice. To have a breakout game against Oakland (3-3), which is located in the Detroit suburb of Rochester, Mich., about 45 miles from Edwards' home of Westland, well that's just the cherry on top.
Among the Golden Grizzlies Edwards faced off against Tuesday was a former high school teammate, guard Nick Daniels. They played one year of high school ball together and Tuesday's result will likely result in some good-natured taunting, Edwards said.
"Yeah, I probably will when I get back," he said.
Georgia has another Michigan man in junior forward Yante Maten, who had a huge game with 21 points (tying a career high) and a game-high nine rebounds. Maten is from another Detroit suburb, Pontiac.
A Richt Tribute
Fox started out his postgame news conference by mentioning that it has been a "hard week." Not good when it's only Tuesday night. Fox was referring to Sunday's announcement that Georgia football coach Mark Richt and the Bulldogs were parting ways after 15 seasons.
Fox and Richt have been close since Fox was hired in April 2009. When speaking about the imminent departure of his friend, and a coach he so admires, Fox got quite emotional.
"We talk a lot here about the `Georgia way' and it's not lip service," Fox said. "We try and help these young people find the higher road in life, and every day that I've known Coach Richt, he has taken the high road. He ingrained that in many of us. And whether you realize it or not, like you, Coach Richt made me a better man.
"And it was an honor to be his colleague and a privilege to be his friend."
They will be colleagues for a little while longer because Richt will coach the Dogs in their bowl game, which has yet to be determined. Fox that he will help the next football coach any way he can, "because we can't lose the `Georgia way.'"
Cold Front Passes
Prior to Tuesday, Georgia's last game at Stegeman featured a dismal shooting performance from the field. The Dogs shot 13-for-44 in their Nov. 25 49-46 win over High Point. And it looked like Georgia was headed down that road again early on against Oakland.
The Bulldogs hit just three of their first 13 shots and trailed by as many as nine points in the first 12 minutes. Then they got hot, red hot. Georgia finished the game 32-for-61 (52.5 percent) from the field, including a scorching 19-for-29 in the second half. At one point the Dogs made 20 of 33 shots, and for good reason, said junior guard J.J. Frazier, who led five Dogs in double figures with 23.
"We were getting better shots and we were making extra passes," Frazier said of the change in the Dogs' offense. "Once we realized we could pass up a good shot for a great shot, we started doing that."
A Long Review
The most pivotal moment of an exciting, back-and-forth game with 20 lead changes didn't happen on the court, but at the scorer's table.
With 36.1 seconds left and the game tied at 82, Maten hit a pair of free throws to give the Dogs the lead. Oakland's Max Hooper attempted a 3 from the right corner and miss, with players from both teams going after the rebound. The ball caromed out of bounds on the baseline and possession was initially awarded to the Golden Grizzlies.
The officials then went to the monitors courtside to take a close look at the play, trying to determine who touched the ball last. They looked and looked, then met at mid-court for a few moments to talk, following by more looking at the monitors. In all it took several minutes to made a decision and the ball was given to the Dogs.
"I had no idea which way it would go, to be honest with you," Fox said. "I saw the play live out of the corner of my eyes, I was turning my head on the rebound, and I didn't see it great live. It wasn't agonizing. We had a response either way and fortunately it worked out for us."
Oakland pressed on the ensuing inbounds play and after some initial difficulty, Georgia got the ball to Frazier, who was fouled. Frazier then drilled two free throws to seal the win.
Odds And Ends
Derek Ogbeide, the 6-foot-8, 250-pound freshman forward, went through pre-game warmups for the second time this season, though he did not play. He suffered a shoulder injury right before the season began and has missed every game. ... Mann scored 15 points to pass Joe Ward and tie Travis Leslie with 1,094 career points, good enough for No. 30 on Georgia's all-time list. ... The Dogs are back at Stegeman on Friday when they host Kansas 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.
