Dogs record highest-scoring output in 35 years in 120-81 victory

ATHENS, Ga. – Jeremiah Wilkinson scored a game-high 22 points on Sunday as Georgia (3-0) breezed past Morehead State (1-2) 120-81 at Stegeman Coliseum.

FAST FACTS

● Georgia’s 120 points were its fourth-most ever and the most since scoring 122 against Whittier College on December 3, 1979. The Bulldogs’ 17 3-pointers tied the third-most in program history, matching the 17 made against North Carolina A&T on December 28, 2008.
● Georgia connected on its first three 3-point attempts, taking an 11-5 lead on Justin Bailey’s triple less than two minutes in. Kanon Catchings’ driving dunk and subsequent 3-pointer then stamped an 8-0 Bulldogs run and gave Catchings 11 points in the first 3:07 of the contest.
● Georgia finished the opening half on a 6-0 spurt, taking a 64-42 halftime lead. The Bulldogs’ offensive outburst marked the fifth-most points in a half in program history.
● Georgia pushed the margin to 30 after Wilkinson’s layup was followed by Smurf Millender’s steal and triple with 14:19 left.
● Wilkinson’s three-point play with 8:13 remaining helped the Bulldogs eclipse the century mark for the second time in three games this season.
● The Bulldogs punctuated their stellar offensive performance with Wilkins’ windmill slam on a lob pass from Wilkinson, extending the lead to 113-72 at the 3:38 mark.
● Georgia head coach Mike White improved to 30-0 at home against nonconference opponents in his fourth season at the helm.

KEY QUOTES

Georgia head coach Mike White

Opening statement…
“Good win, Morehead State was really prepared. Our interior physicality, our defensive rebounding collectively has got to improve. Offensively we had pretty good flow and rhythm and tempo and really shared it. Our shot selection was much better than our previous opportunities. It’s something that we’ve harped on a bunch and got better in that area today.”

On Jeremiah Wilkinson…
“He’s really fast. He’s really competitive. He’s embraced giving more of himself physically on the defensive end. We’ve got to get him to rebound. He and our perimeter guys have to buy into taking good shots. I thought he did a much better job of that today. He’s a developing young player who was asked to do a ton of scoring last year. We’d love for him to do a ton of scoring at times when it’s the right shot, when it’s what the defense dictates.”

On Friday’s upcoming game against Georgia Tech…
“I’d be contradicting myself if I said it was bigger than the Bellarmine or Morehead State or the Troy exhibition or our practice in a couple days. What we preach daily is growth. Let’s get better. Every practice, every shootaround, every film session, we’re trying to make ourselves better. We can’t get too emotional. I know this one is really important to our fans and I know it will be rocking here Friday night.”

Jeremiah Wilkinson | Guard | #5 | So

On his first season with Georgia…
“Same thing I said in preseason, I love playing here. I love our staff. I love the team. I really enjoy playing here. Every time I go to practice, every time I go to play with these guys, it’s fun for me. It makes me excited when I see the vision that I saw when I was recruited coming together. We put up 120 points today. That’s a really good offensive day and that’s what we saw in the preseason and what we said we’re capable of.”

On Georgia’s high-powered offense…
“Any time you can give up 81 points and win by 39, it gives you confidence. It gives us confidence because we know if we lock in on defense, lock in on the little things, we can start stretching these leads out.”

Justin Bailey | Guard | #7 | Sr.

On the offensive performance…
“I think our offense is very elite. Coach has been harping on us to take good shots, make good passes, get in transition. We obviously have to clean up some stuff on the defensive end. Making sure we rebound and communicate. I feel like once we get all those things together, we’re going to be hard to beat.

UP NEXT

Georgia plays its fourth of five straight games at home on Friday, November 14 at 9:00 PM, when it hosts rival Georgia Tech. The game will be televised on SEC Network. Tickets can be purchased here, and the game can be heard live on GeorgiaDogs.com.