By Greg Halbleib
GEORGETOWN, Grand Cayman Island – A fast start fueled by a flagrant foul sent Georgia to an 80-68 victory over Illinois State men’s basketball in the opening round of the Cayman Islands Classic on Monday.
The Redbirds face Akron at 10 a.m. Tuesday in the consolation round with pregame at 9 a.m. on AM 1230, 93.7 Nash Icon and WJBC.com.
Georgia converted a seven-point possession early in the game on a flagrant foul charged to ISU’s Milik Yarbrough, which Redbird coach Dan Muller said may have contributed to existing jitters.
“We looked nervous,” Muller said. “I don’t know if it was that play that got us on our heels a little bit where we picked up a couple of fouls right after that, we shot the ball nervous, we reacted to every loose ball nervous because we were slow.”
Redbird coach Dan Muller said his team battled back despite a large early deficit.
“Once we kind of lost ourselves in the game and started playing more aggressively and smarter, that’s when we started playing better and making some plays and making some shots and getting some rebounds.”
Rayshaun Hammonds led Georgia (3-1) with 31 points while Nicolas Claxton added 22. For the Redbirds (2-2), Yarbrough led with 20 points and eight rebounds, followed by 14 points from William Tinsley and 12 points from Keyshawn Evans.
Greg Halbleib can be reached at [email protected].
