Georgia takes rivalry game on road over Georgia Tech

The 200th meeting of Georgia and Georgia Tech, Clean Old-Fashioned Hate on the hardwood, went the way of the Bulldogs 77-69 Friday night. UGA’s victory over the Yellow Jackets was the first in Atlanta since 2018, a second straight in the series and moves Mike White’s squad to 4-0 on the season.

After a slow start offensively, four different UGA players finished in double figures including Silas Demary with 18 and Asa Newell with 14. Those two also tied for the team-high in rebounds with seven each. Dakota Leffew (11) and Blue Cain (10) also reached double-figures in the win with Cain contributing six rebounds to the Bulldog cause.

The first half was far from an offensive clinic. Georgia made just 10 of 30 attempts from the field and scored just one in the final 4:01 of the half. Still, an impressive display on the defensive end allowed the Bulldogs to maintain a lead throughout the closing 12:02, going into the locker room ahead 27-19.

Coming out of the break, Georgia Tech slowly but surely fought back, eventually taking a lead less than five-and-a-half minutes in. The Yellow Jackets made four 3-pointers in a stretch of less than four minutes before the Bulldogs responded with a 14-0 run to retake the lead. That was one they would hold onto the rest of the way, maintaining at least a two-score lead in the win.

Georgia, off to its best start since 2020 when the Bulldogs finished undefeated in a shortened non-conference slate, is back in action on Tuesday against Alabama A&M. Tip time at Stegeman Coliseum is set for 7:00 p.m. on SEC Network+

Thombs’ Takeaways

*** Somto Cyril was one of the first two off the bench for Georgia alongside Dakota Leffew and gave the Bulldogs a strong few minutes. He scored five straight points for UGA and helped keep Tech off the board for a stretch of over three minutes, part of an overall 9-0 run in favor of Georgia.

*** Tech’s lone first-half make from 3-pointer range made it a one point game at the 7:12 mark. After that, the Georgia went on a second 9-0 run sparked largely by Asa Newell while the Yellow Jackets would make just one more field goal before the break. Newell’s and-one in transition gave UGA a lead of double-digits, up as many as 11 in the first half.

*** Even with the two scoring stretches for Georgia, it was far from an offensive clinic in the first half for either team. UGA finished 10-of-30 from the field, missing on all 10 attempts from 3-point range. The Bulldogs scored just once in the final 4:01 but were able to maintain a solid lead with a strong defensive display. Tech shot just 20.6% (7-for-34) and scored 19 points in the first 20:00, not making a field goal in the final 3:39 of the half and going about four minutes without one before that.

*** An early second half flagrant foul on RJ Godfrey changed the game and allowed Tech to get the game to six. Baye Ndongo made his two free throws before Naithan George converted a layup on the ensuing possession. Moments later, it was a trio of 3-pointers that fell for the Yellow Jackets to give them their first lead of the game, 34-33.

*** Georgia Tech made four 3-pointers from the in less than four minutes to take the lead before Georgia went on an 12-0 run. A jumped from Dakota Leffew got it started before Asa Newell rebounded a miss and put it back to take the lead. A couple of moments later, Newell cleaned up an ugly possession with a 3-pointer, UGA’s first of the night (1-for-15). Tyrin Lawrence‘s first points of the night came during the run as well, making a free throw and an and-one.

*** Newell extended the lead to double digits once again with 7:20 to go on an alley-oop dunk and made it 14-0. Amidst the offensive run, Tech went over five and a half minutes without a field goal.

*** Blue Cain made a big 3-pointer for the Bulldogs just before the final media timeout followed by an RJ Godfrey layup through the foul to make it an 11-point game. Just moments later, Cain would throw down a dunk after a steal that was met with plenty of emotion from the Georgia bench.

*** A timeout followed by a Silas Demary 3-pointer gave Georgia its biggest lead of the game – 15 points – with 2:00 to go. Tech immediately responded with a 3-pointer plus an and-one to get back within single digits, but the Bulldogs were able to make their free throws to close out the win.