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Georgia gets signature win with grit and physicality, not its best basketball

On3 imageby:Jake Rowe•about 24 hours•

JakeMRowe

Mike White Georgia
Jan 7, 2025; Athens, Georgia, USA; Georgia Bulldogs head coach Mike White reacts with members of his staff after Georgia defeated the Kentucky Wildcats at Stegeman Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

ATHENS, Ga. — Mike White will have some pizza tonight to celebrate Georgia’s 82-69 win over Kentucky. The Bulldogs, who couldn’t get anything to fall in their SEC-opening loss to Ole Miss on Saturday, shot it a little better against the No. 6-ranked Wildcats but more than anything, it created opportunities for itself with aggressiveness and defensive intensity.

UGA has played two games in SEC play, both against ranked teams. If the rankings hold up as they are, it’ll be a few more weeks before the Bulldogs play a team that isn’t ranked inside the top 25. For the first time in what feels like decades, Georgia basketball took the court with one of the best teams in the country and it fit right in.

“We’ve got improved length and speed and quickness. Our guys have embraced trying the best defensive team that we can be, which makes you fit in in this league is all it really does. This is the best defensive league in the country.”

When Georgia needed a big rebound in the second half, 6-foot-11 freshman Asa Newell came up with one more often than not. The can be said for fellow 6-foot-11 freshman Somto Cyril, who tied for the team lead in rebounds before fouling out with 2:39 against the team he originally signed with. The guy tied with him? Sophomore guard Blue Cain, who used his 6-foot-5 frame to crash the defensive boards early and often while pouring in 14 points.

The Wildcats didn’t play well by any stretch. They didn’t shoot the ball near as well as they did when they took down then-No. 6 ranked Florida in Lexington last weekend. Kentucky committed a number of unforced errors inside Stegeman Coliseum, none bigger than the stretch with around 12 minutes left in the second half when it had cut the Bulldog lead to five.

The Cats fouled Dakota Leffew while he was shooting a three ball, sending him to the line for three. When Leffew hit the first two, Georgia forward RJ Godfrey out hustled the UK front court, got the rebound, and drew a foul to get back to the line. By the time Kentucky had a chance to score again, the Bulldog lead was back to nine.

But while Georgia was more physical and more relentless in the 13-point win, it didn’t play pretty basketball. Georgia never broke the Wildcats and ran away with it because despite numerous open looks from downtown, the lead never got north of 13 points until a brief moment with less than a minute left in the game.

Georgia committed some bad fouls and silly turnovers late. It’s grit won the game as the Bulldogs seemed to follow each of its miscues by forcing one from Kentucky. Make no mistake, the home team was the aggressor on Saturday with what appeared to be less than its best stuff. The Wildcats’ tremendous length, athleticism, and overall skill level had something to do with that, and those who bleed red and black will take great pleasure in knowing that the opposite is also true.

As for the Bulldogs playing their best ball, they faced an elite opponent on Tuesday and improved. Turning that game-to-game improvement into a trend is all White, who labeled it a signature win for this team, cares about.

“It’ll all come together,” White said. “It’s still early. We’re two games into an 18-game stretch of battles.”

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