Georgia bounced back from a rough start to the season by hanging with the No. 1 team in the country for 30 minutes.
Those last 10 minutes showed the difference between the Bulldogs and Indiana.
''We started slow out of the gate this season and played very poorly,'' Bulldogs coach Mark Fox said. ''For 30 minutes tonight we looked like the team we thought we could be but we just couldn't make it last all game. The key is to learn to play 40 minutes, not 30 and that is the next step for our group.''
The Bulldogs dropped to 0-14 all-time against No. 1-ranked teams when they lost 66-53 to the Hoosiers on Monday night in the semifinals of the Progressive Legends Classic at the Barclays Center.
Georgia was within 42-40 with just over 10 minutes to play when Indiana finally started hitting some 3-pointers and the Hoosiers were abble to take control.
Victor Oladipo had 15 points and eight rebounds for the Hoosiers. Jordan Hulls and Christian Watford both had 14 points for the Hoosiers (4-0) and they were the ones who finally started hitting from long range.
''We had a lot of energy sources tonight,'' Indiana coach Tom Crean said. ''Vic at the start of the second half, he was tremendous. He's one of the best defenders around no question, but he doesn't get the credit for being a total basketball player. ... When he's flying up the court he makes us a lot better.''
Then there are the missed shots.
''We just missed some shots. The thing that hurt us more was the eight turnovers. We could never get the pace going the way we wanted and give Georgia credit for that,'' Crean said. ''There weren't many shots we'd take back, just a couple. It happens at home, on the road, here. It just happens.''
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Vincent Williams both had 14 points for Georgia (1-3), which lost its third straight.
Fox said Caldwell-Pope, who has led or tied for the scoring lead in every game this season, has to just has to learn how to pace himself.
''He gets wound up and sped up a llittle bit and there was also some pretty good defense on him to start the game,'' Fox said. ''He was wound up but give Indiana's defense some credit, too.''
