ATHENS -- If this works as Georgia hopes, Tuesday's loss is one of those that coach Mark Fox will look back on years down the road and say "remember those days?"
Georgia lost to Wofford 60-57 in Fox's second game as the Bulldogs' head coach. His triangle offense is still very much a work in progress, and it showed early. By the time the Bulldogs warmed up to the flow of the game, it was too late to make it all up.
Georgia, which trailed most of the game, came up short on three chances to tie the game in the final 12 seconds.
Point guard Dustin Ware missed the second shot of a 1-and-1 to leave the Bulldogs down 58-57 with 6.3 seconds left. Wofford then sealed it with two free throws from Cameron Rundles.
"My day started out with a parking ticket, and it didn't end a whole lot better," Fox said.
Not that he or his players were surprised by Wofford's game. The Terriers nearly beat Pittsburgh on the road to open the season, losing 63-60. The Terriers got a balanced effort, with four players in double-digit scoring, and survived with their go-to scorer Noah Dahlman on the bench in foul trouble for much of the game.
But Dahlman was on the floor (with four fouls) to make a critical play in the final minute, tying up Trey Thompkins on a drive to the basket on what would have been a game-tying play with 12.3 seconds to play.
Thompkins finished with 14 points and 16 rebounds.
"I was really proud of our kids late in the game," Fox said. "We handled the special situations late very well. ... Those physical mistakes can happen. As these kids get more experience, those plays will come."
Ware had a good look at a 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded on a well-designed play to get up the court.
Georgia (1-1) shot only 2-for-14 from 3-point range, while Wofford went 6-for-17. Wofford was probably due for that kind of disparity. The Terriers lost in overtime to Georgia last year on Zac Swansey's 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Travis Leslie made one of the two 3-pointers for Georgia on Tuesday on his way to a team-high 17 points. He also made five assists without turning the ball over, had seven rebounds and had one of Georgia's eight blocked shots.
Leslie scored 10 points in the first half, but was the rare Bulldog who looked to have much rhythm on offense.
"We can't wait until the second half to play," Thompkins said.
The Bulldogs went more than seven minutes without scoring in the first half, between put-back baskets by Thompkins. Georgia was up 8-3 before Wofford took off on a 15-0 run to take a 19-8 lead, and the Terriers did not trail again.
"We did not start the game well, finally were able to relax and get back in it," Fox said. "But we have a lot of room to grow. Hopefully we can take this game and learn some lessons. We certainly have a lot to learn."
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