UGA Ends South Carolina's 9-Game Home Win Streak in 74-69 win
Columbia, SC – In a fight on the road yesterday, the Georgia Bulldogs defeated the South Carolina Gamecocks 74-69. With the win, the Dawgs improve to 13-4 overall and 3-1 in the SEC, while the Gamecocks fall to 14-2 and 2-2 in the conference.
The Gamecocks added to the scoreboard first with a jumper by senior Myles Stute with 19:19 left in the period, but the Bulldogs followed closely after with a jumper from freshman guard Silas Demary Jr. This back-and-fourth pattern best characterizes most of the first half. Throughout the first 13 minutes, both teams had leads, but neither of their leads surpassed 3 points. South Carolina was able to go on a short two-minute 9-3 run to go up 6 points with 5:52 left in the period. UGA answered back, however, going on a 10-point run to go up four (their largest lead of the half) and bring the score to 31-27 with three minutes left. After the remaining time of the period ended, South Carolina was able to take back the lead, but not by much, with the final score of the period being 34-33. South Carolina.
Both teams struggled to put up points from the line and behind the arc in the first period. UGA went 22.9% from 3-point range and 62.5% on 8 free throw attempts, but UofSC barely outperformed them, going 23.1% from behind the arc and 63.6% on 11 free throw attempts. The minor difference in the first period fell in field goal shooting; the Dawgs only shot 38.2% on 34 attempts, compared to the Gamecocks’ 46.2% on 26 attempts behind the line.
The majority of South Carolina’s scoring in the first period was rooted in the performances of two men: senior forward B.J. Mack, who had 10 total, and junior guard Meechie Johnson, who had 12 points. The next highest-scoring player for the Gamecocks was junior guard Jacobi Wright with 5 points. Meanwhile, the Dawgs’ scoring was slightly more evenly distributed, with three players scoring over 7 points: R.J. Melendez (10 points), Russell Tchewa (9 points), and Silas Demary Jr. (7 points). Despite the small difference in point distribution, the total stat line for each team was pretty similar throughout the first period.
South Carolina capitalized off of some of the momentum they built up at the end of the first half and outscored Georgia 12-6 for the first five and a half minutes of the half. This includes a brief 7-2 run, which brought the score to 48-39 with the Gamecocks on top and 14:05 left. UGA responded with a 13-1 run where the Dawgs reclaimed the lead and took their largest lead (7 points) of the night, up 58-51 with 6:37 left. South Carolina was able to slowly cut this lead and get within three of the Dawgs with 33 seconds left, but after two sets of free throws made (one by RJ Melendez and one by Demary Jr.) in the last 20 seconds, the Dawgs were able to hold on to the win, with the final score being 74-69.
Three-point shooting remained relatively the same throughout the rest of the game for both teams, but the Dawgs were able to improve their free throw shooting to 78.1% on 32 total attempts, while the Gamecocks shot 53.1% on 32 total attempts. South Carolina’s field goal shooting decreased to 39.8% for the entire game, whereas Georgia was also able to maintain their field goal shooting, going 37.7% total.
Game leaders for the Gamecocks can be found in Meechie Johnson, who had 19 points, and B.J. Mack, who was right behind him with 16 points. Freshman forward Collin Murray-Boyles and senior guard Ta’Lon Cooper both led the team with six rebounds. Cooper also tied for assist leader with sophomore guard Zachary Davis; they each had three assists.
The Bulldogs had three players put up over 10 points, including the leading scorer, Demary Jr. (15 points). Demary Jr. also had the second most rebounds (7), following only senior guard Jabri Abdur-Rahim, who had 8 rebounds. The Dawgs’ season-leading distributor, senior Justin Hill, continued his performance, leading the team in assists with 5.
Walking away with a win was very important to the Dawgs in getting them back on track for the season after their loss to Tennessee last Saturday. The Dawgs face No. 8 Kentucky on the road this Saturday, January 20th, and this win should aid in giving UGA some momentum for the second half of their first back-to-back scheduled away games.
Other Georgia News:
- UGA Puts Up Good Fight But Falls Short to Tennessee
- Dawgs Start SEC 2-0 for First Time in 10 Years with Win over Arkansas
- Dawgs Face Missouri in First Game of Conference Play
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