Alabama Hasn't Forgotten 'Embarrassing Loss' to Georgia Last Season
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Last season, Georgia went 1-17 in SEC play. The lone win? An 82-76 victory over Alabama in late January 2022.
Now, the two teams get ready to face for their only regular season matchup of the year this Saturday. Both teams look different from a year ago with the Bulldogs having a new head coach and roster. Alabama had a lot of roster turnover as well, but some players who were on last year's team like Jahvon Quinerly haven't forgotten.
"We’re looking forward to this game," Quinerly said during Friday's press conference. "They beat us last year, so we’ve got that in the back of our heads.”
Alabama (22-4, 12-1 SEC) is coming off its first loss of SEC play, and Georgia (16-10, 6-7 SEC) is riding back-to-back wins including a home victory over Kentucky.
By record alone, one can tell that Georgia has made large strides under Mike White this season compared to a year ago. The Bulldogs are led by senior guard Terry Roberts, who averages 14.3 points per game. Former Alabama guard Jusaun Holt transferred to Georgia in the offseason and has started the last six games for the Bulldogs.
"They’re markedly improved to be honest with you," said Alabama head coach Nate Oats. "They’re better on the defensive side of the ball. They've got better depth. Seems like they’ve got better chemistry. They’re playing harder.”
The loss to the Bulldogs last season did not derail the season for Alabama, in fact the Crimson Tide beat No. 4 Baylor the very next game, but it may have been a sign of things to come. Alabama had some of the best wins in the country last year and made the NCAA Tournament as a 6-seed, but fizzled out in the month of March, losing its final four games.
In last year's meeting, Alabama held a six-point lead at halftime, but got outscored by 12 points in the second half. The Crimson Tide only made three field goals over the final 5:30 of the game and turned the ball over 19 times.
"We gave them their only win in SEC play," Oats said. "I would hope the guys that are returning from last year that that would be sitting in their minds because that was an embarrassing loss last year.”
Even with the loss to Tennessee on Wednesday, this Crimson Tide team still has all its goals in front of it like winning the SEC regular season and earning a 1-seed in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history. Revenge might not be a huge motivating factor in this game with larger aspirations on the table, but a loss to Georgia this season would be extremely detrimental to those goals.
Alabama returns to Coleman Coliseum for its second home game in the month of February and first home Saturday game in over a month. A soldout crowd awaits the team ranked No. 1 in the country for the 5 p.m. showdown with Georgia on SEC Network.
See also:
Alabama Basketball's SEC Title Chances Are Still Great, But The Race Is Much Tougher
2022-23 SEC Men's Basketball Power Rankings: Week 15
Alabama Viewer's Guide to First Full Weekend of Spring Sports
