UGA Men’s Basketball: Georgia Tops FIU, 58-51, in Season Opener

Team Statistics

Game Stats	FIU	UGa
FG%	.339	.351
3FG%	.333	.200
FT%	.500	.714
RB	36	46
TO	16	15
STL	9	9

ATHENS, Ga. – Powered by a second-half rally, the University of Georgia men’s basketball team opened the 2021-22 regular season with a 58-51 victory over Florida International Tuesday evening before 6,023 spectators at Stegeman Coliseum.

Graduate Aaron Cook led Georgia (1-0) in scoring with 10 points, along with eight assists, six rebounds, and three steals. Senior Braelen Bridges, junior Jaxon Etter, and sophomore Kario Oquendo each tallied nine points, with Bridges hauling in a team-high eight boards.

For the evening, the Bulldogs shot 35.1 percent from the field, although their clip rose to 41.4 percent in the second half. On the defensive end, Georgia outrebounded FIU (0-1) by a 46-36 margin and held the Panthers to 33.9 percent shooting.

“I thought our guys did a really good job of having tremendous intensity throughout the game,” said Georgia head coach Tom Crean following the game. “It certainly amped up in the second half with our defense, even when our shooting wasn’t going the way that it needed to be. We had three stops in a row eight times, which is a huge number for us. It’s right up there with deflections. We had 42 deflections. Aaron Cook had 10. We had three stops in a row eight times. That’s big. That’s the kind of thing that’s the game within the game for us on the bench.”

After graduate Jailyn Ingram scored the first points of the season, FIU controlled the early portion of the game with strong shooting from beyond the arc, building an 11-4 lead by the second media timeout as the Bulldogs went nearly six minutes without a score. Following a 3-pointer from Etter to stop the drought, the Georgia offense heated up thanks to Bridges, retaking the lead with six minutes remaining in the half. However, the Panthers pulled back ahead with their outside shooting, capped off by a buzzer-beater to take a 27-22 lead into the locker room.

Beginning with a 3-pointer from Cook, Georgia rattled off seven unanswered points in the first 90 seconds of the second half to retake the lead, quickly building up to five by the first break. FIU transitioned to an inside game in the second, kicking off a back-and-forth style that would continue for the remainder of the night. The Panthers continued to lead throughout the middle portion of the period before freshman Christian Wright put the Bulldogs back on top with a beautiful baseline spin move with under eight to play.

Following the timeout, a pair of pivotal moments shifted the game’s momentum as FIU’s Clevon Brown missed two free throws, followed by a flagrant foul on teammate Aquan Smart that allowed Georgia to regain the lead. The Bulldogs eventually extended the lead to eight with five minutes remaining, but the Panthers responded with one last challenge and cut the lead to three with two minutes left. Nonetheless, Georgia was able to seal the contest with a turnaround jumper by Ingram, punctuated by a reverse layup from Oquendo.

“Our shooting will get better, but tonight it was our defense,” said Crean. “It was our rebounding. They are a very good team, a very good three-point shooting team. Our guys, for the most part, did a pretty good job of the adjustments we were trying to make to guard them over the last few days”

Georgia now heads on the road for a matchup against Cincinnati on Saturday, Nov. 13 at 7 p.m. EST. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+. Last season, the Bulldogs bested the Bearcats, 83-68, on Dec. 19 at Stegeman Coliseum.

POSTGAME NOTES
• Tonight’s game was the first ever meeting between the Bulldogs and the Panthers. Georgia is now 19-9 against current Conference USA opponents.
• The Bulldogs improve to 84-33 all-time in season openers.
• Tom Crean improved to 22-1 in openers as a head coach, including 4-0 with the Bulldogs.
• Tonight’s win highlighted Tom Crean’s first time coaching against the Panthers in his head coaching career.
• In his first regular season collegiate game, freshman Christian Wright added seven points off of the bench for the Bulldogs
• Senior Aaron Cook tallied double-digit points for the 47th time in his career.
• Sophomore Jabri Abdur-Rahim totalled a career high in minutes with 16, beating his previous best of 11 against Saint Francis last season.
• Junior Jaxon Etter totalled a career-high in minutes with 28, beating his previous best of 20 against Alabama last season. Etter also matched his career-high in points with nine.
• Freshman Kario Oquendo scored nine points in his first regular season collegiate game.
• The Bulldogs held the Panthers to only four free throw attempts in the game, equalling a season-low from last year’s game against Northeastern.

POSTGAME QUOTES

Georgia head coach Tom Crean
Opening Statement… 
“I thought our guys did a really good job of having tremendous intensity throughout the game. It certainly amped up in the second half with our defense, even when our shooting wasn’t going the way that it needed to be. We had three stops in a row eight times, which is a huge number for us. It’s right up there with deflections. We had 42 deflections. Aaron Cook had 10. We had three stops in a row eight times. That’s big. That’s the kind of thing that’s the game within the game for us on the bench. For us, when we make it hard is when we don’t try and make the extra pass, or we try and drive into traffic. When we make it right, we’re trying to make the next pass, the ball is moving, we’re cutting. We got better at that tonight. We had to make some adjustments in the lineup at times to make sure we had that. Our guys just have to learn that that is how we play. The ball sticking or the ball not being thrown to the cutter, not reversed from side-to-side, not going through the paint are things that we can’t do. We have to continue to get better at that. Our shooting will get better, but tonight it was our defense. It was our rebounding. They are a very good team, a very good three-point shooting team. Our guys, for the most part, did a pretty good job of the adjustments we were trying to make to guard them over the last few days”

On Aaron Cook… 
“I thought he did a really good job. The rebounds were big, the eight assists, the 10 points. He came out, and he was really moving. I was worried because we’ve been going straight since Wednesday. We practiced Wednesday, Thursday. We played Friday. We practiced Saturday, Sunday, Monday. We played today. Our guys aren’t used to that. I thought the energy that they played with, the way that he came out, the intensity that he had, the way that he moved the ball. With Christian [Wright] and Aaron [Cook] the other night, it was good, but it wasn’t great. Tonight, I thought it was much better. Aaron [Cook] has a lot to do with that because he can get out. We put him on the other team’s best three-point shooter, number four to start the game. He’s getting dogged the entire way up the court with the pressure. Sometimes we brought a screen up, sometimes we didn’t. He played a lot of minutes, and he never wore down. That shows the kind of veteran that he is.”

On how the team’s energy helped propel them to victory… 
“I thought they really went well. I always worry about legs, especially with the shooting. They came out, and they were really moving defensively. The game is always giving you something. For us, it got us into bonus at the 10:07 mark in the second half. Then, you have to play according to that. Our guys are learning. It’s going to take a while with the chemistry. It’s going to take a while with rotations. We still do not understand all the game plan aspects that you have to have night-in and night-out. Tonight’s game plan will be different than what Saturday’s game plan is. You have to make adjustments, and that will take some time. To play that hard and that intense, and I thought our crowd was really good. They really helped us, really helped us. We’ll get better from that.

On a realistic timeframe of getting the chemistry between the team…
“I don’t think you put a timeframe on it. I mean it’s a lot of new guys, you know, some young, some old. They’re all new. It just takes time but we work at it every day, and you get better at it every day. If you improve a little bit every day, I know it sounds corny, but it’s really the truth, right? If you improve a little every day over a period of time, you’ve got something. The trick is that you don’t take a couple steps forward then take a couple steps back or take two or three steps forward then one step back. If you do take a step back, you got to kick it in, you got to go again. That’s where we’re at so I don’t have any crystal ball or any real view of that yet. I know they’re really hard working young guys. I know they’re in that gym a lot when they don’t need to be here, when they don’t have to be and that’s good. When you have that kind of spirit and work ethic, and we’ll get our togetherness right, and we’ll get our unity right, we’ll learn and it just takes time.”

Georgia Senior Aaron Cook
On the difference in the second half….
“Our coaches made a really good adjustment going into the second half. We knew that they liked to drive and kick so they told us to stay home on shooters and really forced them to take tough shots. Once we locked in on that our defense started our offense and that’s what got everything going.”

On the energy level…
“Having that crowd in there was definitely a big help for us, just their energy kind of brought our energy up and made us want to play even harder. Our team did a really good job of coming together defensively and we really just got it going defensively and that’s what got our energy going and got us going on offense.”

On how the chemistry is progressing on the team….
“It’s a constant thing, it’s almost never-ending, it’s going to be throughout the entire season where we’re trying to figure out how to play with one another and trying to understand who does what well. That’s one of my jobs as a point guard is figuring out how to get guys in position and make plays for everybody. With ten new guys, we’re all doing a really good job, we’re coming in and working hard every day so that’s all we can really ask for and just continue to make that chemistry go.”

On coming from Gonzaga…
“The number one thing is experience, and I think that’s one of the main reasons Coach Crean came after me so hard is the experience that I gained from playing at my first school at SIU and playing at Gonzaga. Just being able to teach these younger guys that are coming in that aren’t as experienced and helping them to pick the game up a lot faster. Other than that, leadership is another big one, just finding a way to get guys going and make plays for everybody but also being in their ear telling them to forget about that, next play, we’re still going. The game keeps going on so I think little things like that is why Coach Crean came after me so hard and it’s not always about the scoring and the defense but the small things as well.”

Georgia Freshman Christian Wright
On the defensive effort tonight…
“We did a good job in scouting before the game. I just came into the game trying to get stops for my team. I am not really thinking about offensive stuff. I have to be the defensive stopper. Our team did a great job of stopping them, making them get tough shots and staying home on the shooters.”

On his role on the team…
“I am trying to be the energy guy. Coach has been on me about being more vocal as a leader. Naturally, I am not that loud. If they need me to be the energy guy or the defensive guy, I think I can play defense and score the ball. If I have to play defense I will and just bring energy. That has been me on any team, consistent energy. I can control that, but I cannot control my shot going in or anything like that. I can control how hard that I play.”

On his first home game as a Bulldog…
“It was very exciting. I was kind of nervous before it started, but I got more comfortable as the game went on. Having my team just keep me under control and getting my energy and my going on defense, it was really good. I am excited for the rest of the season.”

On Aaron Cook and his leadership…
“Aaron is big every day in practice. He leads us and tries to be vocal with us. Especially with me playing the same position. He tells me to be vocal and try to lead the team. Yelling out plays, or even if it is just telling people to get their hands up, just lead every day. He is big on that. He is a great leader. He is one of our best leaders.”

On what impacted the 12-point scoring run in the second half…
“Definitely our defense stopping them and the fans. They got us going. I appreciate the fans for coming out. Listening to Coach Crean, following the play book, and we finally started hitting some shots. I just want to thank our fans for coming out.”