Youngstown State vs. Georgia: Mark Fox dismayed after Bulldogs' 68-56 loss

Georgia suffered a tough early-season loss Monday night, falling at home to Youngstown State, 68-56. After the game head coach Mark Fox made his disappointment clear, telling The Macon Telegraph:

"They came in here to beat our tail and that's what I did. We played very poorly offensively in the first half. We set the game back 10 years the way we played offensively in the first half."

Georgia (1-1) never led in the game, and the Bulldogs' offensive numbers were abysmal. Georgia shot 32.1 percent from the field, 37.5 percent from behind the three-point arc and 76.2 percent from the free-throw line. Only one Bulldog, sophomore guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, scored more than eight points or made more than three shots. Caldwell-Pope finished the night with 27 points on 10-of-18 shooting, six rebounds and four steals. The rest of the team combined to make just seven of its 35 shots.

"Kentavious was great," (sophomore forward Nemanja) Djurisic said. "He was a true leader tonight. And we failed as teammates to follow him, and definitely me in the first place."

Georgia opened the season last Friday with a sloppy 68-62 win over Jacksonville. In that game, the Bulldogs shot 40.8 percent from the field, 21.1 percent from 3 and 63.2 percent from the foul line.

"We didn't play well the other night when we had a lead and we got away with it with a win," Fox said. "Tonight we didn't get away with it, and hopefully this will be a good steppingstone for us, because this is certainly a teachable moment."

Georgia next takes the court Thursday, Nov. 15 at home against Southern Miss. The Bulldogs need to get better quickly, as they square off with No. 1 Indiana in the Legends Classic at Brooklyn's Barclays Center on Monday, Nov. 19.