Giorgi Apologizes For ‘Horrible’ Performance In Braggin’ Rights Game
ST. LOUIS -- Let it be no mistake how Giorgi Bezhanishvili feels about his performance in the 2019 Braggin’ Rights Game.
Following Illinois’ 63-56 loss to Missouri Saturday in front of 15,259 at Enterprise Center, the sophomore forward apologized for ineffectiveness in his second straight loss in the annual rivalry game.
“I let my teammates down but now what can I do about it?” Bezhanishvili said. “I just have to work harder and get better. Personally I just think I just let everybody down, the whole team, but right now I just have to get better. Watch some film and do whatever is needed to get better personally to help my team.”
Bezhanishvili finished with just five points and went scoreless for his final 20 minutes of action. His six turnovers tied a career high that he’s only reached one other time in an Illinois jersey (a 95-71 blowout loss at Iowa on Jan. 20, 2019). In his 25 minutes against a physical Missouri team, Bezhanishvili failed to record an offensive rebound for only the fourth game this season.
“I was horrible,” Bezhanishvili said. “I just played bad, really terrible. I was just horrible.”
The 6-foot-9 sophomore from the country of Georgia has struggled throughout the 2019-20 season to adapt to the new power forward role alongside freshman Kofi Cockburn but early inconsistencies were simply brushed aside as a work in progress. Saturday’s effort that saw Bezhanishvili get in early foul trouble and statistically get individually matched offensively and on the glass by Missouri’s combination of Mitchell Smith and Kobe Brown.
After earning All-Big Ten freshman team honors last season, Bezhanishvili has only one double-figure scoring effort against a Power 5 Conference opponent. Bezhanishvili had just six points at Arizona, six points vs. Miami (Fla.), six points at Maryland and 12 points in the win vs. Michigan. In this 2019-20 season, Bezhanishvili’s scoring has dipped three points per game while his two-point shooting percentage has dropped slightly and his turnover percentage has risen by over 8 percent.
Illinois head coach Brad Underwood suggested that this Braggin’ Rights Game was an opportunity to prove this team could play around an uncharacteristically subpar game from Cockburn that included just three field goals and two defensive rebounds in 34 minutes.
“I get it. There are nights people are going to do a really good job on Kofi,” Underwood said. “I never thought I’d see a night where Kofi has two rebounds but that opens it up for everybody else if they’re paying attention to him. That’s just effort and playing the way the game is supposed to be played.”
Underwood also didn’t want to end the hope that Illinois could find the effort and energy level needed to compete in the Big Ten Conference as they soon turn the calendar to the early 2020 portion of its schedule.
“It’s 40 minutes in a very, very long season with 18 Big Ten games to play,” Underwood said. “I don’t put any more emphasis on this one than I do with the 18 or 19 more we have left.”