Georgia basketball: A roller coaster ride to a hard earned win

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By John FriersonUGAAA

The start was about as good as it gets. The middle bit was predictably anxiety-inducing because one of the hardest places to be in a basketball game is up big early against a very good opponent. And the ending, after a few minutes of nausea, was pure bliss and relief and joy and delight.

As time expired at the end of the Georgia men’s basketball team’s 88-83 upset of No. 3 Florida on Tuesday night, star freshman forward Asa Newell grabbed the last of his nine rebounds and held the ball tight. A thriller of a game — one the Bulldogs led by 26 with 7:53 left in the first half and then trailed by two with 1:08 to play — was complete. Blue Cain’s 3-pointer with 47 seconds left put the Bulldogs back in front for good, and then Georgia sealed the win at the free-throw line.

“Big win, crazy game,” Georgia coach Mike White said, succinctly summing up what had just transpired. He added that the “team attacked me in the coaches’ locker room with about 100 water bottles.”

Georgia (17-11, 5-10 SEC) attacked the Gators to start the game with similar zeal. The Bulldogs scored the first six points and then led 12-3 after 3-pointers by Dylan James and Newell. A Silas Demary Jr. 3 made it 15-5, and then a Demary block soon led to a Newell layup and a 17-5 lead. Demary hit another 3 a short time later to make it 20-6.

The Bulldogs led 29-10 with 12:03 left in the first half. Demary, who led Georgia with 21 points, hit another 3 to push the lead to 39-13 with 7:53 left in the half.

“I thought we got caught up in the moment early,” Florida coach Todd Golden said.

The Gators were Georgia’s third top-10 opponent in the Bulldogs’ past four games. The Gators were Georgia’s eighth top-10 opponent this season. The Gators were also Georgia’s 14th-ranked opponent this season. The SEC is stacked this season, and Florida is right near the top. The Bulldogs had lost nine of their past 11 games heading into Tuesday, nearly all of those losses coming against…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/article/georgia-basketball-roller-coaster-ride-045900631.html

Author : The Albany Herald, Ga.

Publish date : 2025-02-28 04:59:00

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