The Missouri Tigers handed Georgia their fourth straight loss on the hardwood Tuesday night, as they defeated the Bulldogs 72-69. With the win, the Tigers snapped a four-game losing streak.
The Tigers jumped out to an 8-2 lead in the first three minutes, but the Bulldogs went on a 33-12 run than over the course of the next thirteen minutes. Georgia’s standout freshman Anthony Edwards and senior Tyree Crump led the way for the Bulldogs on that run.
With 4:42 left in the first half, Missouri’s Mitchell Smith and Javon Pickett hit back-to-back three-pointers, followed by another basket by Pickett. After that quick 8-0 run, Georgia senior Jordan Harris answered with a jumper of his own.
Georgia led at halftime 42-30 and were shooting 52 percent from the field (14-27). The Bulldogs were lead by Edwards in the first half with 14 points and Crump with 11. Crump was perfect from beyond the arc going 3-of-3. Missouri shot 34.5 percent (10-29) in the first half led by Smith with nine points followed by Pickett with eight.
Georgia’s led by 20 with 13:33 left, but Missouri started to chip away at that lead. The Tigers cut the lead to single digits with 7:04 to go on a pair of Dru Smith free throws.
Harris made a pair of free throws, but the Bulldogs didn’t have a field goal for nearly seven minutes until Edwards answered with a layup with 5:04 left. In that span, Georgia went 0-7 from the field until Edwards’ basket. Edwards and Crump went cold in the second half, but graduate transfer Donnell Gresham Jr. picked up the slack scoring seven of his nine points in the final half.
The Tigers took the lead with 2:20 left after trailing by 20, but Gresham answered right back with a layup inside the paint. Dru Smith completed an old-fashioned three-point play to go up 69-67 with 1:31 left. The next trip down the floor Camara tied the game, but Missouri’s Xavier Pinson hit the eventual shot that gave them the lead. Pinson finished with 16 points as all of his points came in the second half.
Georgia was led by Anthony Edwards with 23 points, 10 rebounds, and three assists. Tyree Crump was the Bulldogs’ second-leading scorer with 13 points and 2 rebounds. Junior Rayshaun Hammonds was the only other Georgia player in double-digits with 12.
Georgia falls 11-9 on the season and 1-6 in the SEC. The Bulldogs return home on Saturday to take on the Texas A&M Aggies at 1 p.m.