Georgia’s had some big victories so far this season. However, in the eyes of Bulldog head coach Mike White, none were any more significant than Tuesday night’s 74-69 victory at South Carolina.
“Man, these are so hard to win on the road, and South Carolina, they’re going to be a tough out wherever the game is,” White said. “Again, this is a team I think will be an NCAA Tournament team.” If the Bulldogs (13-4, 3-1) keep playing like they are, Georgia may be as well.
Tuesday night’s road win was the program’s third straight, after taking care of Florida State in Tallahassee and Missouri in Columbia two weeks ago.
To find the last time that Georgia won three straight games on the road, you must go back nine years to the 2014-2015 season.
“I remember one of you guys asked me after the (Florida State), will this give you confidence moving forward in terms of being able to come back, and show how resilient we were, whatever word was used,” White said. “That’s a game that we referenced midway through the second half in this one. We did at Missouri. For us to continue to fight down double-figures or near it, it’s a good sign for these guys. This a fun group to work, with and hopefully we will continue to get better.”
Freshman Silas Demary Jr. led the Bulldogs with 15 points, followed by RJ Melendez with 12 and Jabri Abdur-Rahim with 11.
As they did at Florida State when the Bulldogs rallied from 17 down with just over six minutes to play, Georgia pulled a comeback in this one. Although its biggest deficit was seven with just over 13 minutes to play, the Bulldogs responded with a 13-2 run over the next five-plus minutes to go up 58-51 with 6:37 remaining.
South Carolina–which lost at home for the first time in 10 tries–would briefly get within two, but that as was close as the Gamecocks (14-3, 2-2) ventured.
With Georgia up 68-64 and a minute to play, Justin Hill gave the Bulldogs some breathing room with a midrange jumper that resembled his game-winner at Florida State.
“It was a similar type shot, a little bit of a fadeaway there from 15-17 feet,” White said. “He’s really worked on his mid-range game. He’s a lot more effective there than he was a season ago. He’s got unwavering confidence. He wants the ball late in games. We’ve got a couple of other guys like that as well, but he continues to make positive plays down the stretch of games.”
A three-pointer by Moochie Johnson brought the Gamecocks back within three, while Melendez and Demary Jr. each hit a pair of free throws to keep South Carolina at bay.
Georgia made 20 of its 24 free throw attempts in the second half. The Bulldogs also outrebounded the Gamecocks 45-36, with Georgia’s bench holding a 32-13 scoring edge.
Georgia returns to the court Saturday at Kentucky.
Postgame News and Notes
... Georgia has held opponents under 70 points in 10 of 17 games this season.
... The Bulldogs' first turnover was with 2:06 remaining in the first half Georgia had 8 turnovers in the game (2nd fewest turnovers in a game this season).
.... Silas Demary Jr. tied his career-high with 15 points and converted a career-high nine free-throw attempts.
... This was Blue Cain's second game with multiple steals (the other was his first career game vs Oregon),
