COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Georgia gave up an early 15-0 run and never recovered in an 82-57 loss to Texas A&M at Reed Arena before a crowd of 12,640 in Southeastern Conference play on Saturday.
Despite the loss, Jabri Abdur-Rahim and Justin Hill both had strong outings for the Bulldogs (14-9, 4-6 SEC). Hill led all scorers with a season-high 20 points, nine of which came from the free throw line, while Abdur-Rahim scored 18, connecting on three 3-pointers. Texas A&M (16-7, 8-2 SEC) picked up 15 offensive rebounds on 30 of its missed field goals.
“I thought Justin Hill was terrific,” said head coach Mike White. “He played as well as he’s played as a Bulldog. I was really proud of his effort. He played with a lot of toughness and confidence, really led us offensively and defensively. … Texas A&M was terrific on the offensive glass, which was the difference in the game, in my opinion. It seemed like when we forced a miss or when we had made a couple of shots in a row, they would get all of the important offensive rebounds and converted a lot of them.”
The Aggies raced out to a commanding lead behind a 14-0 run within the game’s first seven minutes, which was broken by a corner 3-pointer for Mardrez McBride. While Texas A&M was able to put up another run, the Bulldogs responded with a trio of threes to cut the deficit to 12, two of which came from Jabri Abdur-Rahim.
Abdur-Rahim would go on to finish with 10 points in the first half, leading Georgia in scoring and also adding in two rebounds. Texas A&M took a 16-point lead into the locker room, holding a 38-22 advantage at halftime.
Out of the break, Abdur-Rahim would pick up where he left off by knocking down a long three less than two minutes into the half to cut into the Texas A&M lead. After responses by the Aggies, Braelen Bridges got a transition layup and earn his first bucket of the night.
Georgia’s shooting woes would continue to allow Texas A&M to grow the lead through paint points, finishing the evening by outscoring the Bulldogs in the statistic 38-20. At the under-12 media timeout, The Aggies led 62-36. After returning from the timeout, Justin Hill was able to get a layup in transition to up his scoring total to 15. Minutes later, he would knock down a jumper to put the score at 70-50 with just over five minutes to go. The Bulldogs finished the evening shooting 30.4% compared to the Aggies’ 50%.
Georgia will return to Stegeman Coliseum to take on Ole Miss this Tuesday, Feb. 7 at 7 p.m. ET after a three-game road swing. In the first matchup of the season, the Bulldogs defeated the Rebels inside The Pavilion on Jan. 14, 62-58, for the team’s first road win of the season. Georgia holds a 74-47 record against Ole Miss.
