Bulldogs tame Tigers, 81-62

ATHENS, Ga. — The Georgia Bulldogs (16-7, 4-6 SEC) defeated the LSU Tigers (12-10, 1-8 SEC), 81-62, on Wednesday night at Stegeman Coliseum. Four scorers reached double figures headlined by sophomore guard Blue Cain’s 10-point, 10-rebound double-double.

Fast Facts
• Asa Newell led the Bulldogs in scoring with 17 points on the night, followed by junior forward RJ Godfrey and sophomore guard De’Shayne Montgomery with 12 each along with Cain’s 10.
• Cain recorded his second-career double-double while also becoming the third Bulldog in the 2000s with 10+ points, 10+ rebounds and 8+ assists in a game (Chris Daniels in 2003 and Sahvir Wheeler in 2021).
• Newell has reached double figure scoring in 21 out of 23 games this season, leading the Bulldogs in points for the 16th time.
• With 10 boards on the night, freshman center Somto Cyril recorded his second-career game with 10 or more rebounds, securing seven in the first half.
• Each of Georgia’s four wins in SEC play this season have come by 10 or more points.

Key Quote
“As a freshman, [Blue Cain] was a talented player that could make shots and was developing in other areas,” head coach Mike White said. “As a good SEC player, who had a whale of a game, only made one three. That’s arguably his biggest strength, definitely last year and maybe early this year. He’s just rounding out his game, eight assists and zero turnovers. He rebounded well. He played really hard, proud of him.”

Up Next
The Bulldogs will remain at home where they will face No. 22 Mississippi State on Saturday, Feb. 8 with tipoff set at 6 p.m. ET at Stegeman Coliseum. The game will be televised on SEC Network.

POST-GAME NOTES

POST-GAME QUOTES

Georgia Head Coach Mike White

On Blue Cain’s successful night…
“As a freshman, he was a talented player that could make shots and was developing in other areas. As a good SEC player, who had a whale of a game, only made one three. That’s arguably his biggest strength, definitely last year and maybe early this year. He’s just rounding out his game, eight assists and zero turnovers. He rebounded well. He played really hard, proud of him.”

On Silas Demary Jr.’s hustle late and the team’s culture…
“That’s a microcosm of what we’re trying to be. That exemplifies culture, it’s an action that exemplifies what we’re trying to do on a daily basis, things that we can control. This whole league. There are 16 really good teams that play really hard, and whether we make the shots or not, we struggled with it at times. We struggled with free throws, we struggled with turnovers, but for the most part, especially at home, these guys are laying it on the line playing really hard. You love to see that, and that’s who Silas [Demary Jr.] is.”

On the impact of Somto Cyril’s rim protection…
“He makes a big impact on the game with some of those loud blocks and loud dunks. He’s emerging, he’s developing. He’s working hard every day. He did some good things, really efficient, made a big impact on the game.”

On the team’s dominance against the glass…
“Well, that gives you a chance, night in, night out, right? And the rebounding margin, I just thought we were flying around, just playing with reckless abandon on the interior, guards flying around the perimeter as well.”

#0 | Blue Cain | So. | Guard

On if he knew he was close to a triple-double…
“Yeah, I had an idea later in the game, but coach was telling me to just keep playing and try to win. My teammates just allowed me to be in good positions to make plays. You’ll periodically look up at the score board, but I’m focused on winning the game.”

On his performance…
“Yeah, just playing harder. That’s always what Coach White says to me. I played hard last year, but then just trying to take it up to another level this year. So, just playing harder, pushing myself.”

#2 | De’Shayne Montgomery | So. | Guard

On Blue Cain’s performance…
“He was really big. I looked up on the score board and saw he was at 8-8-8. I was like, yeah, he got to get that triple-double tonight. I’m not going to lie. But, yeah, he did some really good things today.”

On the momentum swing after Cyril’s flagrant foul…
“Yeah, after they reviewed it, we saw that they were going to call a flagrant foul. He got frustrated. So, you know we told him, this is adversity, we go through adversity every day. Ain’t nothing different. So, I just took it as adversity and fought against it.”