ATHENS — Georgia guard Gerald Robinson likes to keep his coach happy, which he certainly did with four points in the last 14 seconds to help the Bulldogs hold off a rally by Alabama-Birmingham on Friday night.
And after the game, Robinson followed coach Mark Fox's orders and stayed out of the press room for post-game interviews.
"Coach told me not to talk to the press," Robinson told a member of the sports information staff.
Robinson's layup with 14.9 seconds to play and his free throws with 6.2 seconds remaining provided the cushion in Georgia's 66-64 win.
"Gerald actually came out of the game with cramps," said Fox, "but we got him back late, and he made a big play at the end."
Trey Thompkins led the Bulldogs (5-2) with 20 points. Jeremy Price added 14 points and Robinson 13.
Cameron Moore led UAB (6-2) with 20 points, Jamarr Sanders added 16 and Aaron Johnson had 14.
Georgia led by double digits most of the first half, but the Blazers kick-started the second half with a 10-2 run featuring a pair of 3-pointers by Sanders.
UAB played from behind until finally taking the lead at 57-56 on a pair of free throws by Johnson with 3:52 to go.
The teams traded the lead back and forth before Price hit a pair of free throws with 1:06 remaining to put Georgia up 62-59.
Moore's layup with 45 seconds made it a 1-point game, setting up Robinson's driving layup with 14.9 seconds left.
Sanders missed a 3-pointer, and Robinson rebounded and drew the foul. His two free throws with 6.2 seconds remaining rendered a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Sanders meaningless.
"We are not a cohesive offensive unit," said Fox. "We are nowhere close to where we need to be offensively.
"We rebounded the ball very well in the first half, but we talked about that at halftime, that if we did not rebound it with the same aggressiveness, that it will be a problem."
Georgia forced five turnovers in the first four minutes in bolting to a 12-4 lead. Thompkins scored three of Georgia's first six baskets and fed Travis Leslie for a spectacular alley-oop dunk, too.
"We had a poor start," said UAB coach Mike Davis, "and just didn't play with the intensity and concentration that you need to play with when you go on the road. To our credit, we did bounce back."
The Bulldogs pushed the lead to 16-4 on a spin move by Robinson with 14:10 to go in the half. Finally the Blazers found some offense, but they trailed by double digits most of the first half, including a 43-32 halftime margin. The Bulldogs held a decisive 23-10 rebounding edge at the half.
Fox said that Thompkins is not yet fit after missing the first three games with an ankle sprain.
"We sometimes get complacent," said Thompkins of the differences between the halves. "We are still a team that is trying to learn how to win."
From the opposite side, Moore said, "We picked up the defensive intensity, but we need to learn how to start better, how to put together a full 40 minutes."