UGA Basketball

Bulldogs tame Tigers, 92-64

by
UGA Sports Communications
Nov 10, 2024

Photo: Conor Dillon/UGAAA

ATHENS, Ga. – The Georgia Bulldogs (2-0) defeated the Texas Southern Tigers (1-2), 92-64, on Sunday afternoon at Stegeman Coliseum. Five scorers saw double figures led by graduate guard Dakota Leffew’s 23 points powered by five three-pointers.

Fast Facts
• After Leffew’s 23-point afternoon, sophomore guard Silas Demary Jr. followed with 17 points, six boards and six assists. Freshman forward Asa Newell, graduate guard Tyrin Lawrence and sophomore guard Blue Cain each rounded out the double-figure scoring column with 14, 13 and 12, respectively.
• Blue Cain recorded his first career double-double, finishing with 12 points paired with a career-high 11 rebounds.
• Asa Newell and freshman center Somto Cyril were towers in the paint, totaling eight blocks on the afternoon with four each.
• Dakota Leffew knocked down five shots from behind the arc, marking his eighth career outing with five or more three-pointers made.
• The Bulldogs outrebounded the Tigers 53-23 on the afternoon, marking their largest rebounding margin over an opponent since Austin Peay in 2019 (50-20).

Key Quote
“Today, I thought we got back to just focusing on smaller details, especially on the glass and on the defensive end, head coach Mike White said. “Took more pride in defending. I just thought simply we played harder, we responded better to some adversities throughout the game, sent in shots early and we just played better.”

Up Next
The Bulldogs will remain at home when they host North Florida in the second game of the Peach State Classic on Tuesday, Nov. 12 with tipoff set at 7 p.m. ET at the Stegeman Coliseum.

POST-GAME NOTES

• Tonight’s game marks the second meeting between the two schools, and with the win, the Bulldogs now hold a 2-0 all-time record against the Tigers.
• Starting Streak – Georgia rolled out the same starting lineup from the season opener against Tennessee Tech (Cain, Demary Jr., Lawrence, Godrey and Newell).
• Non-Conf. Dominance – The Bulldogs extended their home victory streak over non-conference opponents to 20 games.
• Big On Boards – The Bulldogs outrebounded the Tigers 53 to 23, their largest rebounding margin since Dec. 30, 2019 versus Austin-Peay
• Doubling Up – Five Bulldogs scored in double-figures: Leffew (23), Demary Jr. (17), Newell (14), Lawrence (13) and Cain (12).
• Career Night – Cain recorded his first career double-double posting 12 points and a team-high 11 rebounds.
• Thou Shall Not Pass – Mike White’s squad blocked 12 shots, the most since Jan. 9, 2019 against Vanderbilt.

POST-GAME QUOTES

Georgia Head Coach Mike White

Opening Statement…
“We were really sharp in our exhibitions, and unfortunately, you don’t get credit for those and I just thought we took a step backward in terms of how we handled playing in front of our fans or we’re a heavy favorite and those are things that I may not have done a good enough job of talking about in the front end of that first one. Today, I thought we got back to just focusing on smaller details, especially on the glass and on the defensive end. Took more pride in defending. I just thought simply we played harder, we responded better to some adversities throughout the game, sent in shots early and we just played better.”

On Georgia’s rim protection…
“We’ve got good length and athleticism. Our ceiling is high defensively and we’ve got ways to go of course, but it was a good effort led by a couple of young guys in Somto [Cyril] and Asa [Newell]. The length of our guards gives us a chance to block some shots this year.

On Blue Cain’s performance…
“He made winning plays. 11 rebounds, was efficient. He passed up some shots, had some good passes and played a really good floor game. He played as hard as I’ve seen him play. We’ve got to build on that. I was really proud of his effort.

On Georgia’s free-throw shooting…
“Texas Southern is really physical, very, very handsy – tipped a lot of balls. They were just super active. Their wall-ups were physical, and we drew a lot of contact, and all of a sudden, we were in a bonus. Of course, when you’re in a bonus, you harp on it as much as you can by driving through contact, cutting through contact. We did a good job of drawing some fouls off of some cuts and post-ups off the ball to complement the ones that we drew off of the ball. So, this will be one that we can reference when we play moving forward in our league. Half the teams in our league are about as physical as that one will be, but that was an SEC-level of physicality for sure.”

#5 | Silas Ddemary Jr. | So. | G

On playing with this team…
“I think it’s a lot of fun because we kind of primarily run through the bigs, so everybody’s sharing the love. They set up good screens to get us to the rim. They plug for us, so when we can hit them on a pocket pass and they can shoot that touch shot or we come off the ball screen and throw it in the lob. It’s just a lot of fun. It brings the crowd in more and it hypes everybody up.”

On his performance…
“I just feel like for me to kind of be one of the leading guys on this team is to just let the game come to me. I think we have so many weapons, and if I can get everybody going early, I think the game will just flow and shots will start falling for me and I can keep making plays with my teammates. I just think the biggest thing for me is just letting the game come to me and just having fun and taking it play-by-play.”

On Dakota Leffew…
“I would say he’s a great shooter. He knows how to play off a great downhill guard like myself. I feel like if I drive and his man helps, I know if I kick it out to him, he’s going to hit it nine times out of ten. I mean, on the defensive side, he picks up 94 feet. He’s in the passing lane. I feel like he’s one of our good weapons off the bench.”

#7 | Tyrin Lawrence | GR. | Pos.

On his three-point shooting…
“Back to our bigs as Silas said – they’re fun to play with. We hit them in the pocket and they make the right plays, running outside so we benefit from that shooting”

On playing alongside Blue Cain…
“It’s been fun playing with Blue. Just going from playing against him last year and playing with him this year and seeing the strides that he made. They’re way better than they were last year.”

On adjusting to a new team…
“It’s been fun coming in. Playing with Silas, playing with all the guys on the team, the bigs. Like Silas said, the bigs make it so easy for us. Just offensively, having a lot of threats, shooting threes. Defensively, looking at the stats, you have to see Asa and Somoto had eight blocks combined. I feel like we all make each other better.”