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Bulldogs defeat Gamecocks, 71-60

Georgia-South Carolina
Photo: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

ATHENS, Ga. — The Georgia Bulldogs (15-6, 3-5 SEC) knocked off the South Carolina Gamecocks (10-11, 0-8 SEC), 71-60, on Tuesday night at Stegeman Coliseum. Four scorers reached double figures led by Asa Newell’s 17-point, 10-rebound double-double.

Fast Facts
• After Newell’s 17-point effort, graduate guard Dakota Leffew followed up with 14 points while sophomore guard Silas Demary Jr. and sophomore forward Dylan James finished with 12 and 10, respectively.
• Newell notched his fifth-career double-double, marking four more than all other SEC true freshmen this season.
• James produced a stellar performance off the bench, reaching double figures for the second time this season (10) while posting a season-high five rebounds in 21 minutes of play.
• The Bulldogs shot 50 percent or better from the field (.510) for the ninth time this season, doing so for the first time in SEC play.
• Georgia held South Carolina to 60 points on the night, marking the third-fewest points allowed by a Mike White-led squad in SEC play.

Key Quotes
That’s a really good South Carolina program,” head coach Mike White said. “They fought, obviously, to the bitter end and continued to cause havoc with their defensive pressure and press. These ones are so hard to come by in this league, and we’ll cherish every one of them. Very fortunate to come out on top.”

Up Next
The Bulldogs will go on the road where they will face No. 4 Alabama on Saturday, Feb. 1 with tipoff set at 4 p.m. ET at Coleman Coliseum. The game will be televised on ESPN2.

POST-GAME NOTES

• With tonight’s result, the Bulldogs narrow the gap in the all-time series to 64-61. Interestingly, the schools have split the last three meetings 3-3.
• Starting Streak – Mike White rolled out his second starting lineup variation this season with the introduction to Dakota Leffew to the leadoff five. In the Bulldogs previous 20 contests, Cain-Demary Jr.-Lawrence-Godrey-Newell all received the starting nods.
• Doubling Up – Newell recorded his fifth double-double of the season with 15 points and 10 boards. No other freshman in the SEC has more than one.
• Do It All Dyl – Sophomore Dylan James recorded a season-high 21 minutes adding 10 points, five rebounds – season high – and two blocks.
• Do More With Si[Less] – For the second time this season, Demary Jr. recorded at least 10 points, four boards, four assists and two steals. In those two performances, Georgia won both games by double-digits.
• Hot On The Court – For the first time in conference and the ninth time this season, the Bulldogs shot over 50-percent from the field.

POST-GAME QUOTES

Georgia Head Coach Mike White

Opening Statement
“It’s a really good South Carolina program. They fought, obviously, to the bitter end and continued to cause havoc with their defensive pressure and press. These ones are so hard to come by in this league, and we’ll cherish every one of them. Very fortunate to come out on top. Played a really good first half. I think it started with our ball security and our decisions. Just having three turnovers at halftime was the biggest difference for us. If we sat there at halftime and looked at the stat sheet and had seven or eight, it would have been a very close game. Heck, we could have been down. You think you did a good job on Murray Boyles, collectively, and you look down, he had 18 points and five assists. He’s a handful, I thought. [Jamarii] Thomas was really good, really stepped up in the second half. Asa Newell was terrific for us. Dakota Leffew gets his first start, really capitalized, took advantage. Played really, really well. It’s 14 points, it’s arguably his best game as a Bulldog, four assists, one turnover. I thought Silas (Demary Jr.) versus pressure late and defensively throughout was really, really solid, he just continues to grow. And then Dylan James was maybe the biggest, I shouldn’t say the biggest factor, but an X factor for us, for sure. The way he came in and impacted the game offensively and defensively. Played with confidence. I know he had one go in off the glass, but if anyone deserves that, it’s him. As much time as he spends in the gym, as much time as he’s worked on his stroke and skill level. But he gave us a huge lift, 21 minutes, no turnovers, knowing that’s what we’re emphasizing as much as anything. But he did some good stuff on the interior as well. So, really good win for us. We’ve got to continue to get better.”

On Dakota Leffew starting tonight…
“Just to change it up a little bit. You’re not penalizing one guy and rewarding another guy. I don’t care who starts, but I know young people do. When I was in college, I enjoyed hearing my name being called. More important to me was winning and trying to get to a tournament and winning a big game. But when you’ve got a really good culture, it shouldn’t matter that much. And I don’t think Dakota was much different. He’s really handled it well coming off the bench. We’ve considered him a starter, of course. We were trying to jumpstart him and jumpstart Tyrin (Lawrence) at the same time. Trying to get Tyrin on the ball a little bit more and Dakota off the ball a little bit more. Just changing our rotations and how those first couple substitutions would go. It was that simple. Let’s see if both of them will play better, you know, if we just flip-flop them here against South Carolina.”

On the team’s shooting performance…
“We shot with a little more confidence. We didn’t have great ball movement. It’s hard to do with the ball pressure and the extension. We didn’t get a ton of paint touches off of ball screens or dribble penetration. We got some paint touches off of post-ups and hitting our bigs in the middle of the court at times, which led to some kick-out threes. But we also had some transition threes. The one late with Blue (Cain), I hope that we can ride some momentum with that one. We were being pressed there. We made some good decisions, simple plays, pitch ahead, and shot it with confidence. That’s what you’ve got to do in this league. Make or miss. Miss three in a row. Shoot it again. We want an A shot. If you’ve got an A shot, you can’t worry about whether it’s going to go in or not. SEC shooters just let it fly.”

On the playing in Tuscaloosa on Saturday…
“We’ve been here before. We just played in a couple tough places; Fayetteville and Knoxville, there’s a lot of great environments. I’m not going to rank them. But a good team on the road, a really good SEC team on the road, is very, very difficult, as we all know. But we’ll prepare, and we’ll be excited about the opportunity to see how well we can play against one of the best teams in the country.”

#13 | Dylan James | So. | Forward

On preparing for his opportunity…
“It’s something I’ve been working towards, but I just went out there and played as hard as I could. I wasn’t really worried about scoring or anything like that. My teammates trusted me. My coaches trusted me, and I just went out and did what I do.”

On maximizing his opportunities…
“My mindset is to maximize every opportunity. Every chance I get, I go 100%. Coach tells me every day ‘just be the same guy every day, go out there, play hard, and then opportunities are going to come.’ I feel like today was that day.”

#14 | Asa Newell | Fr. | Forward

On his energy during the game… 
“That’s just my personality. I play with a lot of energy and a lot of fire. That was the main message today, just play with fire. Our hunger needed to be up, and it was a must-win at home against a really strong South Carolina team. We just all played our hearts out. We played very hard.”

On Dakota Leffew’s performance…
“Well, Dakota…his vision is insane. He plays with a lot of poise, a lot of patience. His feel for the game is really good, and he gave us a huge boost…that’s just Dakota.”

On Georgia’s shot-blocking ability…
“Our main focus is just having our defensive mindset up to par, and we just have a lot of talented athletes who can go up and block shots and protect the rim. That’s just how we play.”

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