The Georgia men’s basketball team was a surprise 74-53 loser to Loyola of Chicago on Monday night to open the NIT Season Tip-off tournament. Freshman forward Travis Leslie led the Bulldogs with 23 points. Georgia (1-1) played once again without freshman forward Howard Thompkins, who was plagued by injuries in the preseason, and is now recovering from an ankle ailment. His status has improved and can be described as day-to-day. The Bulldogs got off to a slow start, falling behind the Ramblers 9-4, before battling back to tie the game at 29-29 at halftime. Terrance Woodbury paced Georgia early on, as 13 of his 19 points came in the first half.
However, Loyola of Chicago (1-1) opened the second half by scoring seven straight points and eventually outscored the Bulldogs by 21. For the game, Georgia committed 18 turnovers and shot 1-of-13 from 3-point range. Loyola of Chicago was coming off of an 86-79 loss to Division II Rockhurst to open its season, but will now face host Purdue in the next round of the tournament. The Bulldogs will face Eastern Michigan, which was an 87-58 loser to Purdue. That game is scheduled for 4 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon.
Butler can be reached at jbutler@scoreatl.com.
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