Georgia Basketball tops Tech for first win over Yellow Jackets since 2019
ATHENS, Ga. — The Georgia Bulldogs won a fourth straight game on the hardwood Tuesday night, defeating in-state rival Georgia Tech 76-62 at Stegeman Coliseum. It marked UGA’s first win over the Yellow Jackets in basketball since 2019 and the first of the Mike White era in Athens.
Four different Bulldogs hit double-figures on the night with Noah Thomasson leading the way with 16. Justin Hill added 14 while Blue Cain and Jabri Abdur-Rahim each added 12. Big man Russel Tchewa led UGA in rebounding with nine. On the Tech end of things, Miles Kelly and Kowacie Reeves, who White coached during his time at Florida, each poured in 12 while Baye Ndongo had 11 rebounds.
Georgia jumped out to an early lead and never really looked back, particularly in the first half of action. Abdur-Rahim got going early with a pair of jumpers in the first four minutes before a 9-0 run had the Bulldogs ahead by double digits with 6:27 to go. The scoring stretch was part of a larger run for Georgia down the stretch of the first half, scoring 24 of the final 34 points to go into the locker room up 36-20.
The Bulldogs started the second half strong from behind the 3-point line with 12 of their first 14 points coming from deep – and from different shooters. Thomasson, who hit a 3-pointer to close out the first half, made the first before Abdur-Rahim, Hill and Cain followed. It was the third 3-pointer of the night for Cain, a former Georgia Tech signee.
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A second Hill 3-pointer of the second half put Georgia up by 21 with 11:04 to go. It was followed by a Thomasson layup to put UGA up by its largest amount on the night, 23. But the Yellow Jackets weren’t out of it entirely. A 9-0 Tech run cut the deficit to 14, prompting a timeout from the Bulldog sideline, before Cain made his fourth 3-pointer out of the stoppage in play to get Georgia back on the right track.
Georgia’s lead was once again extended to 20 courtesy of an RJ Melendez layup. While Georgia Tech closed the game out strong and cut into the deficit, it wasn’t enough to make up the difference.
Georgia, now 6-3 on the season with its third win over an ACC opponent, gets a bit of a break with the student-athletes wrapping up their first semester of classes. The Bulldogs won’t be back in action until December 16th when they take on High Point.
