The Good, Bad and Ugly from Georgia's Win over North Georgia
Georgia basketball improved to 2-0 in the 2020 season after beating North Georgia 84-61 at home Wednesday night.
The Nighthawks were a recently scheduled opponent on Georgia's schedule, replacing Columbus State, the school the Bulldogs were set to open against last Wednesday. Georgia's next game is Friday against Jacksonville.
Here is where Georgia excelled, struggled and failed Wednesday against North Georgia.
The Good
Offensive rebounds
Two games into the season, offensive rebounds look like a strength for the Bulldogs. Georgia dominated the boards overall, beating UNG 48-27. Fourteen of Georgia's rebounds came on offense and the Bulldogs cashed in for 14 points while also drawing three fouls.
Leading the charge for Georgia was Toumani Camara who grabbed four offensive rebounds. He finished his night with seven rebounds overall and a team-high 19 points. Freshman Josh Taylor came into the game late and grabbed three offensive rebounds.
Another double-double for Sahvir Wheeler
Georgia's best returning player, Sahvir Wheeler, is off to a hot start in the 2020-21 season. He scored 17 points and handed out 10 assists Wednesday. Wheeler was instrumental in helping Georgia beat a zone defense designed to stop him early in the game.
The Bulldogs had only one point four minutes into the game when Wheeler drove the lane against the tight zone knowing a hit was coming. He drew a foul and sank a pair of free throws to tie the game 3-3.
Wheeler missed his next layup attempt, but it was another chip into North Georgia's defense. He kept chipping for a few more minutes until the North Georgia defense finally broke. Wheeler drained another pair of free throws six minutes in and followed with a layup 20 seconds later to extend Georgia's advantage to 12-5. The game was all Georgia the rest of the way.
The Bad
Georgia didn't do anything that was just bad against North Georgia. The Bulldogs dominated after first taking a double-digit lead 10 minutes into the game. There's no need to nitpick.
The Ugly
24 Turnovers
Georgia has to start taking better care of the basketball. North Georgia wasn't going to make the Bulldogs pay for carelessness, but the SEC teams will. Georgia traveled, lost the handle while dribbling and stepped out of bounds after catching passes. Anyway a team can give up possession, Georgia found a way to make it happen Wednesday.
Turnovers are an issue that go back to SEC play last season. Of course, without stalwart Rayshaun Hammonds and superstar Anthony Edwards, and with eight newcomers, sloppiness is to be expected. But there's no excuse for committing 24 turnovers against a Division II opponent.
