Georgia is almost finished with its 21-point comeback in enemy territory, trailing Florida by just 98–102 points.
On Saturday, the Georgia men’s basketball team returned to the Sunshine State to play the Florida Gators, Mike White’s former residence. The Gators defeated the Dawgs 98-102 in the end, despite their valiant effort.
Georgia got the game underway slowly. without making a conversion on any of their initial four attempts. The Florida defense got things going right away. In the opening five minutes of the game, they scored six points on four turnovers. With the Dawgs behind 5–12, Mike White called his first timeout of the match.
With back-to-back three-pointers, RJ Melendez helped the Dawgs get back into the game, bringing the score to 15–24. The Gators used their first timeout after Florida lost the ball out of bounds during this 6-0 run.
After a Georgia turnover and a Florida four-point play, Micah Handlogten of Florida made a three-pointer, capping a back-and-forth first half. The Gators went up 16 points during this sequence, their largest advantage of the half. In response, Justin Hill fired back three of his own.
When Florida’s Kugel shoved Georgia’s Abdur-Rahim, two technical fouls were called—one for each side.
To end the first half, Florida had the last possession and converted a mid-range buzzer-beater. With 13 points at the half, RJ Melendez led the Dawgs in scoring. At halftime, Georgia was behind by a score of 13.
The Dawgs didn’t fare any better at the beginning of the second half. Florida consistently led by ten points or more. At 13:22 left, Silas Demary Jr. fouled out. With nine minutes left, Georgia was behind by 21 points.
With 2:44 left, Blue Cain and RJ Melendez made consecutive three-pointers to cut the Florida lead to seven points, which made things interesting. Blue Cain had another opportunity to drive down and score after a Florida miss.Following a foul, Cain made both of his free shots. With 2:02 remaining and down 80-85, Georgia called a timeout. Blue Cain’s corner three turned the game into a one-possession contest. The next possession for Florida resulted in a shot-clock infraction. Once more, Blue Cain drove down and finished with a basket to knot the score at 85. The shot clock stopped working. In the last possession, Georgia possessed the ball, but they turned it over. Florida hurled a prayer toward the buzzer, but it missed. The game was about to go into overtime.
In overtime, Florida was the first team to score with a and-one layup. Melendez scored two right away. One was behind the Dawgs. Once more, Florida managed to dribble under the hoop and made a simple layup. Once again, Russell Tchewa drove in and got Georgia within one. With 3:12 left, Mike White had to use one of his two timeouts due to another Florida layup. Another mid-range jumper by Blue Cain gave the Gators a 5-point advantage after he missed a corner three. With two minutes remaining, Justin Hill stumbled and hurt his leg, giving Florida a five-point lead. Throughout this game, Florida’s two of the SEC’s top five rebounders were evident. Will Richard of Florida had a clutch.
51 seconds remained, put-back layup to extend the Gator lead to 7. RJ Melendez scored with a right-hand drive. Florida was on the line when Jabri Abdul-Rahim used his fifth foul to stop the clock, and they converted both of their free throws. Georgia scored a layup once more, this time from Noah Thomasson. There were 22 seconds left, and the Dawgs were within 5. Georgia fouled Alex Condon, a rookie. His two free shots were made. After a Florida turnover and another layup from Thomasson, RJ Melendez made a deep three. Georgia was 2 seconds behind. Zyon Pullin, an 83% free throw shooter, was put on the line after this prompted another defensive foul. With 5.7 ticks remaining, the Dawgs were behind 4 once more. After that, the clock reached zero.
The game’s last shot was a deep three try by RJ Melendez.
RJ Melendez scored a career-high 35 points to lead the scoring effort. In the end, Georgia shot 52% from the field, including 42.3% from three. In the end, Florida’s field goal percentage was 54.9% (35% from three). The Dawgs lost by a score of 27–48.
Georgia plays Alabama at home on Wednesday starting at 6:30 p.m. EST.