When you have the opportunity against a program like Notre Dame, putting on a good show in front of the home folks is something you always hope to do.
Tuesday night at Stegeman Coliseum, Georgia accomplished that goal, surging past the Fighting Irish (4-5) 69-48 in the SEC/ACC Challenge before a spirited crowd of 8,045.
The win pushed Georgia’s record to 8-1.
“We just like showing the fans what we can do,” said freshman Asa Newell, who notched his second double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds. “Having a really good ACC team come in and the fans showing love is just a really good feeling.”
Dakota Leffew – who added 16 points for the Bulldogs - agreed that putting on a good show for the fans was important.
“Oh yeah, we hope that would make them want to come to more games and things like that,” Leffew said. “I feel like us doing what we're supposed to do, we can draw more attention and maybe sell out next time, things like that.”
There was plenty for fans to enjoy.
Although Georgia shot a pedestrian 44 percent (28 of 63), the Bulldogs once again dominated the boards, outrebounding Notre Dame 40-27. The Bulldogs also enjoyed a 19-5 assist-to-turnover ratio, including a strong game from Silas Demary Jr. who scored 11 points, but more impressively, only committed two turnovers while making five steals.
Georgia's five turnovers were the fewest by a Bulldog team since a 2018 SEC Tournament game against Vanderbilt.
Tyrin Lawrence dished out seven assists with no turnovers in 35 minutes while Leffew added three assists with no turnovers.
Defensively, Georgia held Notre Dame to 4 of 19 shooting from three-point range.
“We finished really strong, of course. They were really good a few minutes in the second half, probably until the, what, eight-minute mark or so is when we spread it out,” head coach Mike White said. “Our offensive rebounding down the stretch, I thought was a huge factor. Our defense, our defensive effort, negating a lot of their three-point attempts and makes, of course, was a big factor. Also, our assist-turnover ratio continues to improve; we’re just making better decisions. We’re slowing down a little bit, moving it a little bit.”
The Bulldogs are about to get even better.
When Georgia takes on Grand Canyon on Dec. 14 at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, the Bulldogs could have their full complement of players as transfer DeShayne Montgomery is set to conclude his nine-game suspension to start the season for academic reasons.
Per sources, Montgomery is expected to become eligible once his final exam grades are recorded.
“I think some things need to be worked out,” White said. “When we get the okay from administration, then that's when he'll play. Whenever that is, he'll be ready.”
After Georgia led by as many as 15, Notre Dame went on a 15-2 run to draw within four before a 3-pointer by Leffew pushed the margin to seven with 12:48 to play.
The Irish would get no closer than six points from there.
A three-pointer by Demary Jr. pushed Georgia's advantage back to double-digits at 52-41 with 8:14 left. The Bulldogs rolled from there, outscoring the Irish 10-0 over the game’s final 2:37.
“We just focus on ourselves. We're growing. Our main standard is growth,” Newell said. “If we just focus on ourselves, we're going to take care of the rest of the things like the rankings.”
It took the first five minutes of the game for the Bulldogs to get on track. Georgia missed its first nine shots, but once the ball started to fall, Notre Dame struggled to keep up.
The score was 9-5 in favor of the Irish before a 13-0 run by Georgia resulted in the Bulldogs taking an 18-9 lead.
Georgia’s spurt was keyed by the first of two 3-pointers by Leffew before Newell took over inside the paint.
The Bulldogs’ talented freshman did not have a single point with 5:45 left in the half. From then on, Newell dominated the paint and scored 11 of Georgia’s final 13 points to go into the half up 34-22.
“He's just a really talented guy. He's got such humility that he can lose himself in a game and score within the flow and just be the guy that catches a couple of dump-offs,” White said of Newell. “He's relentless on the offensive glass. He's a great cutter, and he just finds a way. He scores them quietly at times.”
News and Notes
...Georgia started 0 of 9 from the field but shot 28 of 54 (52 percent) the rest of the way.
...Asa Newell scored his second double-double and had his second 20-point game.
...Silas Demary Jr. tallied a career-high 5 steals (all in the first half).
