If you looked at the team stats and saw that Georgia committed 24 turnovers, you probably would not have given the Bulldogs much chance Sunday in the Bahamas against No. 22 St. John’s.
But basketball can be a funny game, and in the end, Georgia made just enough plays late to hold off the Red Storm for a 66-63 win.
“We left everything we had out there on the floor. There’s a lot of things that we can continue to get better at, but we grew from yesterday to today,” said head coach Mike White, whose Bulldogs played a competitive game on Saturday against No. 15 Marquette before falling, 80-69.
“Our turnovers obviously were an issue for us in both games, but today I liked our tempo a lot better offensively,” White said. “We made St. John’s defend a lot more than we made Marquette defend. We were really good on the offensive glass and made some timely free throws. There was a ton of adversity for our team.”
Making the win victory even more impressive was the fact the Bulldogs (6-1) did so despite three starters – Blue Cain, R.J. Godfrey and Asa Newell – fouling out.
But other players stepped up.
With 1:06 left, a three-point play by Dylan James put the Bulldogs up by four. But St. John’s did not go away.
After trading two more baskets, St. John’s Aaron Scott hit a three-pointer with 12 seconds left to cut Georgia’s lead to one.
However, that was as close as it got, as Tyrin Lawrence converted a pair of free throws before a steal by Silas Demary Jr. with four seconds left iced the game.
Defensively, the Bulldogs held St. John’s to just 2 of 10 from the field over its final 12 shots.
“Georgia deserved to win,” legendary St. John’s coach Rick Pittino said. “We did not shoot particularly well but give them credit. Georgia won this game.”
Newell, who led the Bulldogs with 18 points (8 of 13) before fouling out with just over three minutes remaining, said the adversity the team faced over the two games should serve it well.
“I'll just say it motivates us to take it into practice every single day,” Newell said. “This (working hard) is what we do, and we just showed it tonight.”
Still, White acknowledges there is plenty of work left to do.
After committing 18 turnovers against Marquette, that number jumped to 24 against St. John’s.
Demary Jr. accounted for 18 over the two games, but Newell said he’s not worried about the team’s sophomore leader. He credited both White and Demary Jr. for helping the team keep its cool.
“That's just our leadership from Coach White and our leadership from Silas,” Newell said. “All of our players have been effective, and it just shows that we trust everybody on the team.” White agreed.
Mistakes he said can be corrected; earning a win over a program the status and caliber of St. John’s is a big deal any way you look at it.
“We just beat a legitimate team. St. John's could beat anybody in the country, and we just beat St. John's. We were right there with Marquette yesterday,” White said. “Marquette tomorrow I'm assuming will be in the Top 10 and we had our chances right there. We were nip and tuck right down the stretch. That’s two days in a row where we're ultra-competitive against two of the better teams in the country we get one and we're just getting started with this group.”
Demary Jr. added 15 points for the Bulldogs, followed by Lawrence with 11.
Defensively, Georgia held St. John’s to 31 percent from the field (19 of 61), including just 2 of 19 from three-point range. The Bulldogs shot 49 percent (24 of 49) and outrebounded St. John’s 37-34.
Georgia returns to action Saturday with a home game against Jacksonville. Tip-off is 7 p.m.
