ATHENS — The first half of Saturday’s Georgia-Missouri game was lackluster and the home crowd had little reason to cheer. Then the buzzer sounded, and things livened up.

A prolonged scrum under Georgia’s basket led to a staff member from each team being assessed a technical. Georgia director of basketball operations Kent Davison and Missouri assistant coach Steve Shields each had to be held back by fellow coaches, as fingers were pointed and officials tried their best to separate the teams.

It wasn’t clear what started the contratemps. Georgia power forward Yante Maten had just grabbed a rebound after a last-second Missouri 3 to finish the half. Missouri would take a 26-20 lead into the locker room – but neither team went into the locker room right away.

The two head coaches played peacemakers: Georgia’s Mark Fox and Missouri’s Kim Anderson hugged once the scuffle was over and their teams were headed to the locker room.

After officials reviewed video, Davison and Shields were each assessed technicals. There would be no free throws at the start of the second half, but each team would start the second half with a team foul.

The whole thing brought the Georgia crowd to its feet, unlike much that happened in the first half. The Bulldogs, playing down to the level of their competition in a rather ugly display of basketball, committed12 turnovers.

The crowd remained excited as the second half began, with Georgia scoring the first two baskets and continued on a 17-6 run, taking the team’s first lead since early in the game. Frazier, who had remained scoreless until the last basket of the first half, had the first two baskets of the second half, leading the run.

Some video of the incident: