ATHENS, Ga. — The Georgia men's basketball team dropped a 77-67 decision to Florida on Tuesday in the Bulldogs’ home finale at Stegeman Coliseum. Kario Oquendo led a trio of Bulldogs in double figures with 20 points, his fourth 20-point performance of the season.
Justin Hill added 16 points and four assists, while Braelen Bridges chipped in 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds for Georgia (16-14, 6-11 SEC). Will Richard paced the Gators with 24 points.
“(It was) one of those nights, for us, an odd game,” head coach Mike White said. “Credit to Florida, they came here and did what they needed to do, shot it well and executed, and held on, on the road, despite a pretty good effort, I’d call it, from our guys. It felt like there was a lid on the rim for us. I thought we played really hard, and responded to some runs. Late in the first half, that run that they made, of course, with the threes - the proficiency from three, I thought, was the difference in the game. We struggled at the rim. We struggled from the foul line. We struggled from three and allowed them to probably play more zone than they have all year, and we struggled to convert. I am proud of our guys’ effort physically. They fought until the end. I thought they really stayed connected. (We) just couldn’t score enough to overcome at the end.”
Florida (15-15, 8-9 SEC) gained the game’s first significant lead by using an 11-0 surge to go up 37-28 with 2:18 left in the first half. The Gators completed the period with a 3-pointer to grab their first double-digit advantage, 43-33, at the intermission.
After extending its lead three times in the opening moments of the second period, Georgia rallied to pull within 52-46 at the 11:30 mark. The Bulldogs got within a single possession on three occasions. Lastly, 60-57 with 6:50 remaining. Florida answered with back-to-back jumpers and never allowed Georgia closer than five points thereafter.
Florida shot 53.7 percent from the field, including a 36.8 clip from 3-point range. The Gators outscored Georgia 17-9 in points off of turnovers. After shooting 42.9 percent from 3-point range in the first half, the Bulldogs were 1-of-15 from beyond the arc in the second stanza.
Hill notched his 300th career assist during the contest. With 16 points, he also upped his career scoring total to 993 points.
The Bulldogs wrapped up their home slate with a 13-4 record at Stegeman this season, equaling the third-most regular-season home victories in the venue’s 60-season history.
Georgia will complete its regular-season schedule on Saturday when the Bulldogs face South Carolina at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia. S.C. Tip-off is at 1 p.m.
