Georgia takes care of business in SEC/ACC Challenge against Notre Dame

ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia Basketball picked up another win on Tueesday, this time knocking off Notre Dame at home as part of the SEC/ACC Challenge. It’s the second straight win for UGA in the Challenge after beating Florida State on the road last season and a 24th in as many attempts against non-conference opponents at home under Mike White. The Bulldogs came out on top 69-48 over the Fighting Irish, moving to 8-1 a month into the season.

The Bulldogs were led by freshman Asa Newell, one of three Georgia players to hit double figures in scoring. Newell poured in 18 while Dakota Leffew and Silas Demary added 16 and 11 respectively. Newell also led the team in rebounding with 11, his second career double-double after having one in the season opener.

Georgia’s next time out won’t be for a little while. The Bulldogs have a break for players to finish out the fall semester of classes before they are back on the court December 16th in Atlanta against Grand Canyon (4-2) as part of the Holiday Hoopsgiving event at State Farm Arena. The Antelopes made the NCAA Tournament last season and beat St. Mary’s in the opening round. Both UGA and GCU are in the latest ESPN bracket projection released Tuesday morning.

Thombs’ Takeaways

*** Georgia started the game out in ugly fashion, missing its first nine shots from the field including eight from 3-point range. It felt necessary for the Bulldogs to get it inside, and they did that after the media timeout with Somto Cyril inserted for the first points, and on the next possession, Dakota Leffew made the team’s first 3-pointer on his first attempt.

*** The baskets by Cyril and Leffew helped get Georgia going to score 18 of the next 21. As part of that, all five players on the floor for UGA (Leffew, Cyril, Silas Demary, Dylan James and Tyrin Lawrence) scored in a stretch of just over three minutes. That brought on a Notre Dame timeout.

*** After missing the first nine shots from the field, Georgia made 15 of 23 (65.2%) to finish the opening 20. While the 0-for-9 knocked that overall shooting percentage for the first half down to 46.9%, the Bulldogs stopped trying to score from the outside as a first option and instead work it into the post. Asa Newell was cleaning up on the interior and finished the first half with 11.

*** The offense improved as the half went along, but the defense was strong from the jump. Even through the early shooting struggles Georgia trailed just 6-0 at the first media timeout and limited Notre Dame to making just 9-of-25 from the field including just 1-of-10 from 3-point range, forcing five turnover in the first 10 minutes. Silas Demary was tight on the ball and had five steals in the first half, a career-high for a game in just his 18 minutes.

*** The second half of action saw Georgia extend its lead from 12 (34-22) at the half to 21 by game’s end. Notre Dame cut the deficit to as few as four at the 13:09 mark thanks to a 15-2 run. From there, the Bulldogs finished on a 26-9 run including the last 10 of the game. Dakota Leffew, Asa Newell, Silas Demary and RJ Godfrey helped close it out strong.

*** Georgia turned it over just five times. That’s big progress for the Bulldogs who struggled to hold onto the ball in The Bahamas against Marquette and St. John’s.

*** A couple of personnel notes for Georgia: Tyrin Lawrence exited the game and went into the tunnel with what looked like a left knee injury. He was back in before too long and finished out the contest strong. Somto Cyril saw action but was spotted on the bench in the second half with some sort of brace on his left leg. Before the end of the game, it was off. He did not return to the floor however and played just nine minutes in total.

This is also the last game before De’Shayne Montgomery’s academic ineligibility is over. The Mount St. Mary’s transfer is expected to be available against Grand Canyon next time out with the first semester complete at that point.

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