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NIT thread - no don't run away!
sethemerson
Posts: 686 ✭✭✭✭ Senior
in General
Do people really want an NIT game thread? I'm not sure anyone is clamoring for it, so I probably won't have the amount of in-game updates I usually have. Of course, we start off with a very big one:
https://www.dawgnation.com/mens-basketball/maten-parker-georgias-nit-game
Comments
Georgia's revised starting lineup:
G-Turtle Jackson
G-JJ Frazier
F-E'Torrion Wilridge
F-Mike Edwards
C-Derek Ogbeide
We're about to start here. Crowd is about what it was for the two previous NIT first-round games, in 2014 and 2016. It's only a few thousand, but because it's general admission the fans will be right on top of the court, so it's actually a decent atmosphere.
You can already tell how each team will live today: Belmont opens by hitting a 3, while Georgia opens with two inside baskets, both off put-backs. Georgia, even without Maten, is just so much bigger.
Houston Kessler scored.
J.J. Frazier’s first points came at 10:25 on a layup. He missed his first four shots.
But Belmont keeps hoisting and making 3s, and has a 19-15 lead. Belmont has scored 15 of its 19 via 3s.
Experimental rules update: Neither team reached the bonus (five fouls or more) in the first 10 minutes. And now the fouls reset to zero for the rest of the half.
Gotta say, some good minutes from Houston Kessler, who's leading Georgia with four rebounds.
That said, without Maten the interior defense for Georgia is pretty horrid. Belmont getting too many easy baskets around the rim.
Georgia finally got going, and ties it at 28 on a Crump 3 - only to have Belmont answer with a 3 on the other end. It's going to be one of those games. That's what Belmont does. The plucky mid-major that gives you fits with the outside shot.
(And I still say Georgia should see if a couple of these Belmont shooters can graduate transfer.)
Halftime: Belmont 37, Georgia 34.
JJ Frazier's long heave at the end goes in, but was after the buzzer. Frazier made a bunch of shots that didn't count, mainly continuation shots on fouls that officials didn't count.
Officials being booed off the court, mainly not for that ruling, but for perceived bad calls throughout the half. Not sure what they expected. NIT games, you get NIT refs.
Anyway, Frazier has 12 points, and Crump has eight. The story is Belmont scoring 21 points off 3s, but also too many second-chance points and inside points, with Georgia struggling not only with Maten out, but Ogbeide sitting the final six-and-change with two fouls.
The second half starts with the same Belmont player, Dyland Windler, hitting consecutive 3s from the same corner. Belmont is expert at driving and passing out, Georgia is not expert at recognizing it.
Geez. Belmont just can't miss beyond the arc, and now has five 3s in the first five-plus minutes of the half, taking a 54-43 lead. Mark Fox calls timeout.
Once again, 3-point defense killing Georgia, and this was rather predictable. It's been a problem much of the season. And Georgia doesn't have the shooting to answer.
And amidst all that 3-point shooting, Belmont is somehow able to convert a backdoor alley-oop. Nothing going right for Georgia right now.
3-point defense has been Georgia's biggest deficiency all season, or maybe perimeter defense in general. That's where the losses of Charles Mann and Kenny Gaines may have been underestimated.
J.J. Frazier is now up to 25 points, but it looks like it's not going to be enough. Georgia still down 10 with 6:22 left.
It looks like we're watching the last four minutes of J.J. Frazier's college career. He's at least going out with a bang.