Category: UGA Men’s Basketball

ATHENS, Ga. — The Georgia Bulldogs defeated the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles, 83-78, in their home regular season opener Monday night at Stegeman Coliseum. Three scorers saw double figures as freshman forward Asa Newell led the charge with 26 points, matching Dominique Wilkins for the all-time program record for points scored in a freshman debut.

Fast Facts
• In addition to Newell’s team-leading 26-point debut, the freshman grabbed 11 boards off the glass and three blocks to record his first career double-double. Graduate guard Dakota Leffew and junior forward RJ Godfrey also found double figures scoring 18 and 10, respectively.
• RJ Godfrey joined Asa Newell in recording his first career double-double, scoring 10 points paired with 10 rebounds on the night.
• Dakota Leffew’s 18 points were powered by four three-pointers on the night, marking his 16th career game with four or more makes from behind the arc.
• Asa Newell’s debut performance marked the fourth time in the 2000s with a Bulldog recording 25+ points, 10+ rebounds and 3+ blocks in a game (Trey Thompkins vs New Orleans – 2009, Trey Thompkins at Tennessee – 2010, and Yante Maten vs LSU – 2018).
• The Bulldogs outrebounded the Golden Eagles 44-25 on the night.

Key Quotes
“This team also has got a ways to go,” head coach Mike White said. “It’s easy when you’re at Charlotte and you’re up big late and there’s no game pressure on you and the things fall in and we’re getting tip dunks and what have you. Then you play Central Florida, who we all knew was a lot better than that. We probably weren’t that good. I hope to be that good in a couple months. Now it’s equal opportunity, a lot of stuff we were doing today, but that’s another area where we’ve got to grow and learn who we are. Who’s getting the ball and what spots at what time of the game and how we’re going to execute, what we can really hang our hat on. So, we’ll be able to learn a lot from this game.”

Up Next:
The Bulldogs will remain at home when they host Texas Southern in the first game of the Peach State Classic on Sunday, Nov. 10 with tipoff set at 3:30 p.m. ET at the Stegeman Coliseum.

ATHENS, Ga. — The Georgia Bulldogs defeated the UCF Knights, 114-76, on Tuesday night in a preseason exhibition at Stegeman Coliseum. Five scorers saw double figure scoring as sophomore guard Blue Cain led the charge with 20 points powered by five three-pointers.

Fast Facts
• In addition to Cain’s team-leading effort, freshman forward Asa Newell shined in his first appearance at the Steg, tallying 19 points paired with a team-leading seven boards. Graduate guard Tyrin Lawrence followed with 17 points while sophomore guard Silas Demary Jr. and junior forward RJ Godfrey recorded 16 and 14, respectively.
• Newcomers junior forward Justin Abson and freshman center Somto Cyril were towers in the paint, recording a combined five blocks with three and two, respectively.
• Lawrence came out hot to start, logging 13 of his 17 points on the night in the first half.
• The Bulldogs were a force on the glass, outrebounding the Knights 46-33 on the night.
• Georgia shot 61.8 percent from the floor with a 55.6 percent clip from behind the arc, stretching its largest lead to 43 late in the second half.

Key Quote
“The biggest thing that sticks out is that we had to talk a lot, especially at halftime about doing things differently in the second half,” head coach Mike White said. “I thought that Central Florida did a really good job of taking us out of what we were trying to run, the opposite end of the spectrum of playing at Charlotte. Different type tempo. Different type of athleticism. [UCF] had extension, ability and disruption defensively as opposed to Charlotte being heavily gap-oriented and very position-oriented.”

Up Next
The Bulldogs will open regular season action against Tennessee Tech on Monday, Nov. 4 with tip-off set at 7:30 p.m. ET at the Stegeman Coliseum.