The University of Georgia men’s basketball team lost to the Missouri Tigers 64-39 in Stegeman Coliseum on Wednesday night.
Nicolas Claxton led the Bulldogs with nine points and 10 rebounds, his 11th double-digit boards game of the season.
“We have had so much good in the sense of improvement, and we’ve had a bunch of really good practices,” said Georgia head coach Tom Crean. “We have to work at it, and correct it to get ourselves ready for South Carolina and beyond.”
The first half was heavily defensive. Georgia (11-19, 2-15) established the edge in the first two minutes of the game. Missouri (14-15, 5-12) came back to tie then take the advantage 4-3 at the 13:26 mark. The Bulldogs narrowed the gap to one but were unable to catch the Tigers. Both teams maintained pressure resulting in the 25-14 score going into the half.
Coming back to the court, Missouri remained dominant going on a four-point run. The Bulldogs answered with two free throws from Derek Ogbeide bringing the score to 29-16 with 16:29 remaining. The Tigers continued to maintain a steady scoring pace, upping their advantage to 19.
JoJo Toppin nabbed Georgia’s first three of the night followed by a Claxton jumper bringing the score to 41-21. A Tyree Crump jumper ignited a 7-0 run for Georgia with 4:09 remaining.
The Bulldogs will wrap up their regular-season schedule on Saturday, Mar. 9, at South Carolina at 1:00 p.m. on the SEC Network.