Georgia makes history with 78-70 win over North Carolina

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Kanon Catchings led Georgia (4-0) with 22 points and a career-high 11 rebounds as the Bulldogs rallied to defeat North Carolina (3-1), 78-70, on Friday night at the Dean E. Smith Center.

FIVE FAST FACTS
• Georgia used an 11-3 run over the final 3:45 of the first half to turn a 28-27 deficit into a 38-31 advantage at the intermission. After the Tar Heels rallied to build a 60-51 lead with 10:35 remaining, the Bulldogs outscored Carolina 27-20 the rest of the way.
• Georgia snapped North Carolina’s four-game winning streak in the all-time series, earning its first victory over the Tar Heels since an 82-77 decision in the 1983 NCAA East Regional final in Syracuse, N.Y.
• Kanon Catchings poured in a season-high 22 points, surpassing his previous season best of 16 set against North Carolina Central. It marked his fourth consecutive double-figure scoring performance and the 31st of his career as well as his eighth 20-point outing.
• Senior Blue Cain recorded his fourth consecutive double-figure scoring performance, finishing with 20 points. It marked the sixth 20-point and 49th double-digit scoring outing of his career.
• The Bulldogs earned their first victory over North Carolina in nine trips to Chapel Hill dating back to 1918.

KEY QUOTES

Georgia Head Coach Mike White

On the second-half surge…
“The execution down the stretch, I thought we looked really connected. Up seven and a half, just get punched in the mouth early and often there in the second half, where we could have looked deer in headlights. The place got really, really loud, and boom, we just kept making plays. That’s part of being a little bit older. James [Scott] is a senior and we have got a couple senior guards that made huge shots down the stretch. So, hopefully that means more of that to come. We have got to continue to get better, this is game four.”

On Blue and Kanon making big plays…
“Enormous. Kanon played as hard as I’ve ever seen him play. Rebounded it, Blue rebounded it, scrappy, getting deflections. We got to the floor for some loose balls, so just probably overall character. It’s nice to, again, be a little bit older and have a little bit of winning experience as well. I can’t say enough about James Scott’s performance, in terms of the stuff that doesn’t show up. The loose balls, the drawing of fouls, the way he passed it. Our bench will be better than that in certain games, but when you don’t have nine or ten that play really well and you can win at Carolina, you’re doing some good things.”

UP NEXT
Georgia will return home to host Jacksonville on Monday at 7:00 p.m. ET at Stegeman Coliseum on SEC Network before traveling to Atlanta to face in-state rival Georgia Tech on Friday at 8:00 p.m. ET on ESPNU. Information on tickets for Georgia Basketball – single-game, mini packages and neutral site games – can be found here.