Georgia basketball stops four-game skid with sound 71-60 win over South Carolina
ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia (15-6; 3-5) had dropped four straight before hosting South Carolina on Tuesday and it was desperate need of a tally in the win column. It got exactly what it needed in a 71-60 defeat of South Carolina behind 17 points from freshman standout Asa Newell and a first-half surge from sophomore forward Dylan James.
That duo made up half of Georgia’s double-digit scorers with Silas Demary pouring in 12 points and Dakota Leffew scoring 14 while offering up four assists. Newell had 10 rebounds to earn the double-double while James had 10 points and five boards in 21 minutes.
Georgia started fast, scoring on its first three possessions of the game and grabbing a nine-point lead in the first five minutes. That lead soon grew to 11 before South Carolina started to make a run. The Gamecocks cut UGA’s lead to just two points before Demary hit a three and James went wild.
He scored eight straight Georgia points while South Carolina managed just two and the Bulldogs pushed the lead back to 11 points. They extended that advantage by a few and took a 35-21 lead into the second half.
Mike White‘s crew grabbed its biggest lead of the contest early in the second half, scoring the first basket to grab a 16-point advantage. The Gamecocks got as close as 10 a few times but couldn’t get into the single digits until there were 70 seconds left in the game. Leffew’s 11 second half points loomed large as three of those came in the final minute to help secure the victory.
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Newell scored over half of his points in the final 20 minutes, grabbing nine points. He also had three blocks. Turnovers had plagued the Bulldogs coming into this game. They had 14 in the first half alone in a loss to Florida over the weekend and nine in a second-half collapse at Arkansas.
Georgia turned it over just three times in the first half and took care of the basketball for the first 35 minutes of the game on Tuesday. It had five in the final five minutes against the Gamecocks to bring the total to 12 on the night.
The Bulldogs shot 47 percent from three and 51 percent from the field in the win. The contest was never tied and Georgia led wire to wire. Next up is a clash with No. 4 Alabama on Saturday. That one will be in Tuscaloosa with tip set for 4 p.m. ET.
