Missouri no match for Georgia as Bulldogs win SEC opener 77-59

Missouri’s woes away from home and against high-major competition continued Wednesday with another inglorious defeat at Georgia.

Opening SEC play, the ice-cold Tigers were no match for the hot-shooting Bulldogs in a 77-59 loss at Stegeman Coliseum.

Missouri’s kept its streak of falling behind by at least 20 points against high-major opponents intact when Georgia’s Kenny Gaines drilled a three-pointer with 13:32 remaining in the second half for a 57-35 lead.

Second-year coach Kim Anderson’s squad also trailed by at least 20 against Xavier, Kansas State, Northwestern, Arizona, North Carolina State and Illinois in the season’s other six losses.

“Of course it’s frustrating,” said freshman Kevin Puryear — who scored a game-high 19 points, one off his career high. “It’s frustrating for all of us, and we’ve just got to be better.”

The Bulldogs, 8-4 and 1-1 in the SEC, bolted to a quick early lead, a common trend for Tigers opponents this season.

Missouri, 7-7 and 0-1 in conference, showed some fight, rallying back from double-digit deficits multiple times in the first half.

The Tigers’ good fortune ran out in the second half.

Missouri — which shot 34.5 percent for the game, going 19 of 55, and 15.8 percent from three-point range, going 3 of 19 — missed the first 10 shots after halftime before junior Wes Clark’s layup at the 12:38 mark.

“We had wide-open layups at the rim, putbacks at the rim — we’ve just got to finish,” Puryear said. “That’s it.”

By contrast, Georgia went 29 of 53 from the field, or 54.7-percent, and connected on 11 of 19 three-pointers, while also controlling the boards 35-29.

The Tigers have lost 22 straight games against NCAA Division I teams away from Mizzou Arena and are 0-13 in true road games under Anderson.

Missouri — which is now 2-2 in conference openers since joining the SEC with both losses against Georgia — has dropped 18 straight road games, dating back to the final season under Frank Haith.

The Tigers’ last road victory was Jan. 28, 2014, at Arkansas.

“Hopefully, the guys will learn from this and move on,” Anderson said. “There’s no magic. I can’t go in there tomorrow and wave a wand and say, ‘OK, now you’re going to be better.’ You’ve just got to keep working at it.”

Georgia scored the game’s first 10 points and led 13-2 before Missouri stirred to life.

Particularly frustrating for Anderson were the back-to-back threes that Georgia junior J.J. Frazier, who finished with a team-high 16 points, and senior Gaines opened with.

“What’s disheartening is we worked exactly on the exact play that they ran for three days,” Anderson said. “They ran it the first two possessions, and we didn’t do what we’re supposed to do.”

Sophomore Jakeenan Gant, who needed a few minutes to settle down playing back in his home state, helped ignite one of several mini rallies from Missouri.

Gant — a Springfield, Ga., native who grabbed a game-high six rebounds — connected on a reverse layup, kicking off an 8-0 run for the Tigers.

Puryear later scored eight straight points for Missouri during a 1:55 stretch late in the first half, but Georgia pulled away again in the closing minutes and led 45-32 at halftime.

Clark finished with 13 points, his fourth straight game in double figures.

Yante Maten, a sophomore from Pontiac, Mich., scored 15 for the Bulldogs, including 13 points on 5 of 6 shooting, before getting into first-half foul trouble. Senior Charles Mann added 14, and Gaines chipped in 11.

The Tigers were 2 of 10 from long range and missed their first six three-pointers in falling behind early, then went 5 of 18 in the paint in the second half and 1 of 9 from distance.

“We had some looks early and didn’t hit them, then we missed 13 layups, or (shots) in close, in the second half,” Anderson said. “We’ve just got to get bigger and stronger, get in the weight room.”

GEORGIA 77, MISSOURI 59

TableStyle: SP-bkwideplayersCCI Template: SP-bkwideplayers

Percentages: FG .345, FT .783. Three-Point Goals: 3-19, .158 (Clark 2-7, VanLeer 1-3, Gant 0-1, Puryear 0-1, Phillips 0-3, Wright 0-4). Blocked Shots: 0. Turnovers: 9 (Clark 3, Gant 2, Phillips, Puryear, Rosburg, Wright). Steals: 6 (Clark 2, Puryear, Phillips, Rosburg, Allen). Technical Fouls: None.

TableStyle: SP-bkwideplayersCCI Template: SP-bkwideplayers

Percentages: FG .547, FT .800. Three-Point Goals: 11-19, .579 (Frazier 4-6, Gaines 3-8, Mann 2-3, Wilridge 1-1, Geno 1-1). Blocked Shots: 3 (Gaines, Ogbeide, Frazier). Turnovers: 16 (Maten 5, Jackson II 2, Frazier 2, Ogbeide 2, Gaines 2, Young, Mann, Geno). Steals: 3 (Kessler, Edwards, Geno). Technical Fouls: None.

Half: Georgia 45-32. Att: N/A. Officials: Olandis Poole, Joe DeRosa, Kipp Kissinger.

AP-WF-01-07-16 0133GMT

This story was originally published January 6, 2016 at 6:25 PM with the headline "Missouri no match for Georgia as Bulldogs win SEC opener 77-59."