ATHENS, Ga. — The University of Alabama men’s basketball team got a career night from freshman Trevor Lacey with 19 points, all but two of those in the first half, in defeating Georgia 74-59 Saturday night in the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams.
By halftime, Lacey had made 5 of 6 from the field, including 3 of 3 3-pointers, and 4 of 4 free throws.
“I had a good pregame and just felt comfortable shooting the ball,” said Lacey, “and my teammates did a good job of getting me the ball when I was open. I wasn’t doing anything that I hadn’t been doing all season, but my shots were just falling.”
The Crimson Tide (12-3, 1-0) won their fourth straight game while snapping the Bulldogs’ five-game winning streak.
Alabama also got 17 points from Tony Mitchell, who had a vocal Swainsboro, Ga. cheering section, and Trevor Releford scored 12.
Despite trailing by as much as 15 points, Georgia (9-6, 0-1) put itself into position to win.
The Bulldogs trailed the Crimson Tide 52-48 with 9:20 to play, setting the team up for a run down the stretch. But Georgia did not score a field goal for nearly five minutes, and Alabama ran away to the victory.
“I felt that we needed to stay out of foul trouble, that we needed to guard their key guys, and get to the last part of the game with a chance to win,” Georgia coach Mark Fox said. “We did a decent job on (JaMychal) Green, Mitchell and Releford, and we had the game right where we wanted it. We were not in foul trouble, but they made the plays and we didn’t.”
The Bulldogs got a career night from freshman Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who scored 22 points.
“Kentavious is a good player,” said Fox. “He has been thrust into a huge role. He made some freshman mistakes, but he is growing up on the job and doing an admirable job.”
Georgia trailed 38-26 at halftime, and was still behind 48-37 with 15:36 to play.
Caldwell-Pope led a an 11-4 rally that closed it to within four points on Donte Williams’ stuff tip of his own miss, making it 52-48 Alabama with 9:20 to play.
However, the Bulldogs went nearly five minutes between baskets as Alabama went on a 12-2 run over the next 4 1/2 minutes, capped by Mitchell’s three-point play with 5:00 to go, to lead 64-50.
“We made some freshman mistakes, and our inexperience showed in the moment of truth,” said Georgia forward Namanja Djurisic, who scored 10 points.
“We played hard and got it back to four,” said Caldwell-Pope. “I guess we just slacked up a little, and we played sloppy on the defensive end. They scored some easy baskets.”
Gerald Robinson scored 11 for Georgia, but missed twice as many baskets as he made.
“It’s always big to pick up a road win in this league,” said Alabama coach Anthony Grant. “They’re hard to come by, but we found a way to get stops and get a win.”
Georgia opened the game in a zone defense, and the Tide responded by hitting six of 12 3-pointers in the first half.
The teams traded the lead back and forth four times in the early going. Georgia’s last lead came at 11-10 when Robinson beat the shot clock with a layup with 13:08 showing.
The Crimson Tide made three straight 3-point shots in the midst of a 16-4 run that built a 26-15 lead with 6:23 remaining in the half. Lacey’s acrobatic scoop and free throw put the Tide up 31-17 at the 4-minute mark.
Georgia’s Caldwell-Pope followed that up by converting a four-point play, but no rally followed.
Alabama dominated the Bulldogs in rebounding, 35-20. Georgia played its third straight game without 6-foot-7 Marcus Thornton, the team’s leading rebounder.
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