Georgia’s basketball team continues to impress.
Saturday’s 73-68 win over an NCAA-tested Grand Canyon team at State Farm Arena was another feather in the non-conference cap of the Bulldogs, who at 9-1 boast the program’s best record since the 2001-2002 campaign.
That season, the Bulldogs ran their record to 10-1 before dropping their second game of the year to Hawaii. Mike White’s squad will have the opportunity to tie that mark when Georgia hosts Buffalo on Thursday night at Stegeman Coliseum.
Don’t let the name on the opponent’s jersey fool you.
Grand Canyon has been one of the top teams in the Western Athletic Conference, with three NCAA appearances in the last four seasons and boasts the conference’s Preseason Player of the Year in Tyon Grant-Foster.
The Antelopes made the Bulldogs earn the win.
After twice leading by 10 points, Georgia saw its advantage shrink to three following a driving layup by Grand Canyon’s Jakobe Coles with 1:23 left.
Following a block on the other end by Grant-Foster, the Antelopes would have an opportunity to tie the score, only to have Coles and Grant-Foster each miss threes before Tyrin Lawrence grabbed the rebound.
Instead of a quick foul, Grand Canyon elected to allow the Bulldogs to run its offense, which culminated with freshman Asa Newell converting a three-point play putting Georgia up 68-63.
The Antelopes would draw within three once again, but with three seconds left, Lawrence was fouled and hit both his free throws to account for the final score.
“That’s a really good team, and I thought [GCU] played really well,” head coach Mike White said. “I thought they defended at a really high level, and we never found offensive flow,” White said. “They'll win 30 games again, and they'll go back to the tournament. And we'll look back on this one as a learning experience. Very much a quality win, but we're fortunate because it could have gone the other way.”
Newell led the Bulldogs with 17 points, with fellow freshman Somto Cyril enjoying the best game of his young career. The native of Nigeria scored 12 points for the Bulldogs, all six on dunks, with eight blocks and five blocked shots.
Silas Demary Jr. and Blue Cain added 10 points apiece for the Bulldogs, who held Grand Canyon to 14 points under its season average of 82.
Ray Harrison led Grand Canyon with 16 points, followed by Grant-Foster with 11, all in the second half.
The first half was back and forth until the Bulldogs put together a 10-0 run to extend their lead to 33-20 with 2:16 left.
Grand Canyon did not get much closer.
A bucket and a free throw brought the Antelopes back within two before a free throw by Demary Jr. sent Georgia into the locker room up 34-23 after holding Grand Canyon to 29 percent shooting.
The Antelopes came in averaging 82 points per game.
Fans can catch the Bulldogs three more times before the end of the year, starting Thursday against Buffalo (7 p.m.) and Sunday against Charleston Southern (3:30 p.m.).
