Georgia Falls to Gardner-Webb, 77-60, in Non-Conference Finale

Wednesday, December 29

Athens, Ga.

7:00 p.m.

University of Georgia

5-8,0-0SEC

Gardner-Webb

6-7,0-0Big South

Gardner-Webb

Georgia

Georgia Falls to Gardner-Webb, 77-60, in Non-Conference Finale

December 29, 2021 | Men's Basketball

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Coach Crean

ATHENS, Ga. – In its final outing before Southeastern Conference play, the University of Georgia men's basketball team fell, 77-60, to Gardner-Webb before 6,476 spectators Wednesday evening at Stegeman Coliseum.

Redshirt senior Braelen Bridges led Georgia (5-8) with 17 points on 7-for-13 shooting, along with a team-high seven rebounds. Sophomore Kario Oquendo tallied 12 points and five rebounds, while redshirt senior Noah Baumann pitched in with 11 points and five boards. For the evening, the Bulldogs shot 37.3 percent from the field.

"We got off to a slow start," said Georgia head coach Tom Crean following the game. "So, we have to figure out what kind of adjustments we're going to make to that and regroup it a little bit because we can't afford to get off to bad starts. We play hard. There's no doubt about that."

Both teams opened the game with quick tempos as Gardner-Webb (6-7) assembled a 18-8 lead in the first seven minutes of play, while Bridges paced Georgia with six quick points. The Runnin' Bulldogs extended their lead to 12 before a 3-pointer from Baumann kickstarted the Georgia offense and narrowed the margin to eight midway through the period.

Coming out of the under-8 timeout, Gardner-Webb's offense accelerated, running off a 10-2 run and bringing the lead to 39-23 with five minutes to play in the half. After a Baumann four-point play cut the lead to 12, the Runnin' Bulldogs responded with a triple of their own. In the final seconds, Bridges broke a scoreless drought for both teams with a jumper, setting the halftime score at 44-31.

The Georgia attack came out strong to open the second half, scoring nine unanswered to bring the deficit back to single digits, led by Bridges and Oquendo. Gardner-Webb then responded with an 8-2 run as Georgia struggled from the field, with the advantage eventually reaching 21 with eight minutes to play.

The Bulldogs worked to close the gap and spark a comeback as the game wore down, with graduate Aaron Cook and Oquendo each posting tough scores at the rim. With less than two minutes remaining, freshman Tyrone Baker drove hard for a contested layup, but the deficit was too steep to overcome as Gardner-Webb sealed the victory.

Georgia remains home next week as it begins the conference season against Texas A&M on Tuesday, Jan. 4 at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on ESPNU.