GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The 18th-ranked Georgia Bulldogs dropped a conference contest against the Florida Gators, 92-77, on Tuesday night at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center. Georgia falls to 13-2 (1-1 SEC) on the season while Florida improves to 10-5 (1-1 SEC).
FAST FACTS
• The Bulldogs drop in the all-time series against the Gators to 127-106.
• Smurf Millender led all Georgia scorers with 18 points in the game – his 10th double-digit performance of the season and eighth consecutive. James, Ross and Catchings joined Millender in double figures with 16, 13 and 12 points, respectively. James’ 16 points is a career-high.
• Of Millender’s 18 points, 11 points came in the first half, good for a season high.
• The Bulldogs led the Gators in bench points in the contest, 40-26 and point of turnovers, 16-15.
• Tonight’s game marked the first time since January 17, 1996, that a ranked Georgia team played against an unranked Florida team. Georgia won that contest 71-46 in Stegeman Coliseum.
KEY QUOTES
Georgia Head Coach Mike White
On Florida’s offensive rebounding…
“I mean their 22 offensive rebounds are loud, and they slow down your offensive tempo. They extend their possessions. We played most of the game on defense, and then we got a little bit eager offensively. When you look at the box, we had six assists which is unheard of for this team. It’s comparable to years past when we’ve struggled to pass it. This is too good of a spacing, shooting, passing, skill-level team to get six assists. When you find yourself down on the road, adversity samples out of the game. It’s hard to get stops and finish stuff with defensive rebounds. All of a sudden, you take a couple of ‘F-shots.’ You take a couple of ‘C-shots,’ the ball stops moving, and to me that’s the biggest stat in the game. 22 offensive rebounds for them. Heck it could have been 30. They’re so talented on the glass. We kind of kept it on the road to a certain extent, but the six assists for us was tough to overcome.”
On the impact of Somto Cyril’s ejection on the team…
“Oh, incredibly difficult. I thought Dylan James, man, in the past, I want to say like the last eight minutes of the game, played the five. He has not played the five one possession since we started with this team in June. Not one possession. Credit him with his, first off, his toughness, his readiness to play, his attitude. He’s such a good teammate. He’s such a good culture guy. Played hard as hell, and he’s very, very intelligent to get out there and be able to execute at the five with zero reps. Shows you how locked in he is to what his teammates should be doing all the time. He had his best game. I mean he had his best game since last season, so I’m really proud of him. I thought Smurf Millinder and Jordan Ross played really, really hard. Other than that, we got to have some guys play a little bit better, and that starts with me. I got to put them in better positions. Justin Abson, we have to get more. Kanon Catchings gets 12. Passed up some open looks, but Somto Cyrill, what we do offensively revolves around him being down there in the baseline and his finishing ability. He has the highest field goal percentage of any guy in the country, and then defensively he’s arguably the best, most talented defender in the country. He allows us to extend pressure. We’re extending pressure and on the back end of it we’re getting dunked on 10 or 12 times during the game where Somto’s able to clean up a lot of those or negate offensive players from even getting inside the paint because he’s out there.”
UP NEXT
The 18th-ranked Bulldogs remain on the road with a trip to South Carolina on deck this Saturday, January 10. Tip-off at Colonial Life Arena is set for 2:00 p.m. E.T. on ESPN2.
To purchase Georgia men’s basketball single game tickets, visit here.