Bulldogs roll on against Mercer

The last thing Georgia wanted on Friday night against instate opponent Mercer was to waste the momentum gained from Wednesday’s huge comeback win at Florida State.

Head coach Mike White should not have worried as the Bulldogs eased past the instate Bears, 80-69.

“That was big. Big game on Wednesday, we got back late, came back here and played (Friday),” freshman Silas Demary Jr. said. “But we needed to understand that game was over, we had to look at the next one (Mercer). It was big for us to come back and not worry about the game we had 48 hours ago.”

White said he and his coaches spoke at length of the importance of carrying over the momentum from Wednesday’s comeback win,

“We talked about that the last 24 hours. There was a lot of pride our guys showed down the stretch (against Florida State) just to gut one out,” White said. “I thought our focus in shootaround was pretty good (Thursday). The guys didn’t get to bed until like 4 a.m. a couple of nights ago.”

Five players scored in double-figures for the Bulldogs tonight, led by R.J. Melendez with 18, Jabri Abdur-Rahim and Demary Jr. with 13 each, Justin Hill with 11, and Russell Tchewa with 10.

Georgia won the battle of the boards 39-29, albeit just six on the offensive end.

That was partly due, however, to a solid night from the field.

The Bulldogs shot 52.5 percent from the field (21 of 40). Georgia converted 8 of its 15 three-point attempts.

“We weren’t overly sharp defensively. I thought Mercer’s pressure got to us a little bit and their transition effort, hands on balls, led to too many turnovers (14) by us.”

The loss was Mercer’s second to an SEC school after getting bounced by Alabama, 98-67 two weeks ago in Tuscaloosa.

It marked the second time this year the Bulldogs have placed five players in double-figures after beating Wake Forest in the second game.

Melendez has been on a bit of a roll, having scored in double-figures in three of Georgia’s last four games.

In the win at Florida State, the Illinois transfer posted his first double-double as a Bulldog. He also scored in double-figures against Providence (15 points) before Friday’s 18-point effort against Mercer.

“I’m just letting the game come to me and not try to force anything,” Melendez said. “I’m not rushing, and that’s feeding my confidence along with allowing me to ramp it up.”

Melendez scored 14 points in the first 20 minutes, including his second three-pointer just before the buzzer to put Georgia up 44-31 going into the half.

“We made a change, he’s coming off the bench but playing starter’s minutes,” White said. “He’s one of our best players. It was nice to see it going through the net for him tonight. He was perfect from the foul line, and to convert from three (2 of 4), it was not only pleasing for him, but for his teammates as well.”

Boxscore

This and that

… Jalen DeLoach did not play Friday due to an illness.

…Georgia returns to the court Tuesday night when the Bulldogs host Georgia Tech at 7:30 p.m.