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Bulldogs top Ospreys, 90-77

Georgia Bulldogs
Photo: Conor Dillon/UGAAA

ATHENS, Ga. – The Georgia Bulldogs (3-0) defeated the North Florida Ospreys (3-1), 90-77, on Tuesday night at Stegeman Coliseum. Six scorers saw double figures led by junior forward RJ Godfrey’s second career double-double, notching career highs of 23 points and 12 rebounds.

Fast Facts
• After Godfrey’s career night, sophomore guard Silas Demary Jr. followed with 17 points, six boards and five assists. Graduate guard Tyrin Lawrence, freshman forward Asa Newell, sophomore guard Blue Cain and graduate guard Dakota Leffew rounded out double figure scoring with 15, 13, 11 and 10, respectively.
• With three blocks on the night, Asa Newell has recorded three or more blocks in each of his first three career games (last Georgia player with three or more blocks in at least three games was Nic Claxton in 2018-19 season).
• After matching his season-high with 17 points on the night, Silas Demary Jr. is the second Georgia player under Mike White to have multiple 15+ point and 5+ assist games in a season (Terry Roberts had 4 in 2022-23).
• Tyrin Lawrence posted a season-high 15 points with 11 coming in the first half.
• The Bulldogs never trailed on the night, outscoring the Ospreys 48-26 in the paint, the largest differential this season.

Key Quotes
“Good win for us,” head coach Mike White said. “North Florida is really good. They’ll be one of the better offensive mid-major teams in the country this year. A couple of high-major wins already on the road. We had to guard at a really high level, and I thought we did at times, and you look down at 7 [Liam Murphy]. I mean, these guys can really score it. Credit Coach [Matthew] Driscoll and his staff, the start that they’ve gotten off to. It’s unbelievable.”

Up Next
The Bulldogs will go on the road for the first time in the regular season when they face in-state rivals Georgia Tech on Friday, Nov. 15 with tipoff set at 8 p.m. ET at the McCamish Pavilion in Atlanta.

POST-GAME NOTES

• Tonight’s game marks the second meeting between the two programs with the Bulldogs now holding a 2-0 series edge.
• Starting Streak – The Bulldogs rolled out the same starting lineup for the third straight game with Cain, Demary Jr., Lawrence, Godfrey and Newell are earning the lead-off nods. Interestingly, Georgia’s starters scored 77 points, North Florida scored 77 as a team.
• Strong Starts – Tonight’s win marks Georgia’s first 3-0 start to the season since the 2020-21 campaign.
• Doubling Up – R.J. Godfrey recorded his second career double-double with a career-highs in points (21) and rebounds (12).
• Power in the Paint – The Bulldogs outscored the Ospreys in the paint, 48-26, the team’s largest differential this season.
• Big on Blocks – Georgia gathered eight blocks tonight with Asa Newell grabbing three; Newell now has at least three blocks in all three contests this year.
• Terrific Tyrin – Tyrin Lawrence posted a season-high 15 points tonight against North Florida with 11 in the first half.

POST-GAME QUOTES

Georgia Head Coach Mike White

Opening Statement…
“Good win for us. North Florida’s really good. They’ll be one of the better offensive mid-major teams in the country this year. A couple of high-major wins already on the road. We had to guard at a really high level, and I thought we did at times, and you look down at [No.] 7 [Liam Murphy]. I mean, these guys can really score it. Credit Coach Driscoll and his staff, the start that they’ve gotten off to. It’s unbelievable. It’s the portal era. It’s an era where really good mid-major players transfer up when they can. He’s lost guys over the years, and he lost a guy who’s in our league right now. He was a really good player, and he might have lost more than that. I can’t recall going back to last spring. For him to come back, get some new guys, continue to develop the guys that returned, and get off to the start that they’ve gotten off to is amazing. I was at Louisiana Tech. I’ve been at that level where you’re just hoping your guys don’t take off on you. We were really fortunate to have three freshmen that were four-year starters, and if they don’t stay, if it were a few years later where the portal became more prevalent, I’m not sure I’d be sitting here today. For what they’ve overcome to be as good as they are is incredible.”

On the energy from the team…
“I thought there was a difference in our energy level tonight in the last one, but definitely the one before that. This is probably as hard as we’ve competed defensively, and we’ve got to build on that. I thought our guys were really locked in. Our guards were. Our bigs were really good on the offensive glass. There were a couple times where I thought we could have spread it a little bit. We had a couple empty possessions there mid-second half. A couple casual turnovers which led to run outs for those guys, but they just kept plugging away and shooting the three. They’ve got some guys who can really shoot it, and collectively they really share it. They’re hard to guard, but overall a very good performance for us. Had some empty possessions with some missed chippies in the paint. Again, those turnovers, we’ve got to continue to improve with our decision making, but overall played well.

On North Florida’s offense…
“We’ve played against them for years, and they’ve got a really unique system. They’re a little bit different this year. Of course they hit 12 threes, and between number 7 and 11 [Kamrin Oriol] – they get 9 out of those two guys, but I think they’re better at driving it and putting pressure on the rim and drawing fouls. Their team speed’s about as good as I’ve seen in the past few years in competing against these guys. They’re a little bit different, and we put a big emphasis on trying to keep those guards out of the paint, and maybe a little bit less emphasis on defending the three. With some of his teams, they’ve just had five guys out there that can all really, really shoot it. We gave up some at the rim, and we also gave up some threes. They’re tough to defend.”

On R.J. Godfrey’s energy…
“It’s every second of every practice. Heck, we’ve got to have him slow down and shoot around. He’s just an intense, high-energy guy. He doesn’t take plays off, and it does spread. Asa is the same way. That starting frontcourt for us, they’ve got motors. They just play hard. They change ends. They can move laterally. They’re very active frontcourt guys, very versatile, and our other frontcourt guys compliment them. They’re different, of course, but RJ was fantastic tonight. Happy for him.”

#5 | Silas Demary Jr. | So. | Guard

On defending North Florida…
“I would just say we respected them. In their previous games, they won some big games, and they were coming in with a lot of confidence. Over the past few years, they’ve been leading the country in three-point attempts. So, we talked about being disciplined in the gaps, but still being able to get out to the three-point line.”

On the success in the paint…
“It’s very important because you have guys like R.J., Asa [Newell] and Somto [Cyril] off the bench. They all play different ways, but they all chase rebounds. That helps us a lot because we get a lot of second-chance opportunities.”

#10 | R.J. Godfrey | JR. | Forward

On the importance of a quick start tonight…
“I think me and Asa just felt good before the game. I only give praise to Jesus. We try to get a little word in before we play, and I think that word really resonated from Nolen [Wood]. He’s our team chaplain. He gave us a little word so it just came off the energy from the Lord, and it obviously translated to the game tonight.”

On his career-high in points and rebounds…
“Playing hard. Playing with energy. I think it rubbed off on my teammates especially this guy right here, he had an amazing night [Silas Demary Jr.]. I know this, I only have two years left so take every game not for granted. I’m just coming out here to have fun.”

On what he sees from the team..
“I think we respond well like you just said. Coach White preaches responding through the highs and lows, and man, we came in today after one day of preparation with a great mental focus. I have a ton of respect for them, I think the guys came in and really paid attention to the scout and in film and it definitely rubbed off tonight on the court. We just pay attention and we’re very mentally and physically locked in to what we have to do.”

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