UGA Men’s Basketball: Georgia Falls to East Tennessee State, 86-84

Team Statistics

Game Stats	ETSU	UGa
FG%	.531	.483
3FG%	.520	.412
FT%	.278	.778
RB	32	39
TO	8	13
STL	7	5

ATHENS, Ga. – Despite a valiant comeback effort, the University of Georgia men’s basketball team dropped an 86-84 result to East Tennessee State Wednesday evening before 6,418 spectators at Stegeman Coliseum.

Senior Noah Baumann led Georgia (5-7) in scoring with a season-high 25 points on 8-for-10 shooting, tying his career high with seven 3-pointers, while also leading the team with seven rebounds. Graduate Aaron Cook tallied 17 points and six assists, while sophomore Kario Oquendo notched 15 points. For the game, the Bulldogs shot 48.3 percent from the field and made 14 3-pointers, the most in head coach Tom Crean‘s tenure.

“We had a rapid last 15 minutes defensively, and we played much better,” said Crean following the game. “We have to learn how to play a complete game. Defensive pressures, making other teams feel us in a way, bringing physicality. We only practiced for about 45 minutes yesterday, but our defense was physical and aggressive. Today’s walk-though was great. We just didn’t get off to a great start.”

East Tennessee State (8-5) opened the game firing as senior David Sloan posted nine quick points to race out to an early 12-4 lead. Following a timeout, Georgia rebound with six unanswered to narrow the margin, but ETSU moved back ahead with consecutive threes. After the Bulldogs brought the score to within one, the Buccaneers rattled off a 9-2 run to lead 27-19 with under nine minutes to play.

The Bulldogs fought back as the half began to wind down, retaking the lead on a Baumann 3-pointer from the top of the key. Even as ETSU responded once again, Baumann kept Georgia in the game with four threes in the first half. Nonetheless, the Buccaneers were able to close the half with a 10-3 run, heading to the locker room with a 48-39 lead following a buzzer-beating layup from freshman Mohab Yasser.

ETSU began the second half in similar fashion to the first, extending its lead to 14 in the first minute, while Oquendo stepped up for Georgia with three straight scores. Combined with Baumann’s continued shooting success, the Bulldogs closed to within two at one point, but the Buccaneers were able to maintain a slight advantage. Finally, with just over eight minutes to play, Baumann made it a one-point game with his seventh trey of the evening, followed by a go-ahead layup from Cook.

Cook eventually scored nine straight points for Georgia, helping the Bulldogs build on their newfound lead. Aiding in the Bulldogs’ comeback was ETSU’s struggles at the foul line – the Buccaneers eventually finished 27.8 percent from the charity stripe for the night. Cook continued to shine as he connected on a 3-pointer with four minutes to go to give Georgia its largest lead at eight.

However, ETSU made one last rally in the final minutes as it tied the game with eight unanswered points, but Baumann broke the tie with a driving layup with 35 seconds to play. With the game and shot clocks running down, Sloan put the Buccaneers back in front with a step-back triple. On the other end, Baumann’s corner attempt rimmed out as ETSU secured the win.

Georgia closes its non-conference slate with a matchup against Gardner-Webb on Wednesday, Dec. 29 at 7 p.m. at Stegeman Coliseum. The game will be streamed live on SEC Network+.