Georgia scores lively, late-night rivalry win over Georgia Tech, 92-87

ATHENS — Georgia and Georgia Tech’s basketball rivalry came alive late Friday night.

The Bulldogs (4-0) prevailed, 92-87, in a battle that saw seven lead changes and 52 fouls called between the teams in front of the sellout crowd of 10,523.

“It was a heck of a game, it could have gone either way, we showed a lot of resilience in the second half,” said UGA coach Mike White, whose program won the rivalry game for the third-straight season, and the eighth time in the past 10 meetings.

“I’m sure Damon (Stoudamire) and I both feel like we have a ways to go, we learned a lot about our teams tonight.”

Jeremiah Wilkinson and Blue Cain led Georgia with 18 points each.

Kam Craft had 17 points to lead a balanced attack that featured five players scoring in double figures.

The Yellow Jackets (3-1) gave Georgia all it wanted before UGA went on a 9-0 run — Somto Cyril throwing down a thunderous dunk that left the rim shaking in the midst of it — to take a 75-66 lead with 6:27 left.

“That was a big energy moment,” Georgia guard Jordan Ross said. “I felt the game shifted in our favor after that.”

Georgia Tech failed to draw closer than 5 points for the remainder of the game.

Georgia Tech, a 15.5-point underdog, was threatening in the second half when Jaeden Mustaf (15 points) hit a 3-pointer to spark an 11-0 run.

Baye Ndongo’s free throw closed the burst with the Yellow Jackets leading 56-50.

Georgia Tech’s lead had swelled to 8 points with 14:01 left on Lamar Washington’s layup, 60-52.

“It was a game of runs,” Stoudamire said. “We went up 60-56, there was a stoppage in play and we took some bad shots, we had some turnovers after that …”

The Bulldogs took advantage, answering with a 10-0 run of their own — Jake Wilkins bringing the crowd to its feet with a drive to the basket that led to the three-point play that put UGA ahead 62-60 with 11:15 remaining.

The teams traded baskets before Marcus “Smurf” Millender hit a pair of free throws to spark the final, decisive 9-0 run that put Georgia ahead for good.

The Bulldogs had a notable edge at the free-throw line, with the home team making 32 of 44 free throws, while Georgia Tech was 16 of 27 from the charity stripe.

Georgia held a 46-45 lead over the Yellow Jackets at intermission after a tightly-contested opening 20 minutes featuring five lead changes.

The halftime numbers were just as close as the score, the Bulldogs holding a slim 22-21 rebounding edge, while Tech had an 18-16 advantage on points in the paint.

The Yellow Jackets bounced out to an early 8-4 lead while fans were still streaming in for the late tip before a pair of Cain free throws followed by a Millender 3-pointer sparked a 10-0 Georgia run.

The Bulldogs were up 14-8 when Cain drained a trey at the 15:50 mark and led by as many as 10 in the first half after a pair of Wilkinson free throws made it 26-16 with 9:30 left in the half.

The Yellow Jackets chipped away at the UGA lead, tying the game, 40-40, on Mouhamed Sylla’s dunk at the 3:33 mark of the half.

Moments later, Sylla capped an 8-0 run with a conventional three-point play as Georgia Tech reclaimed the lead, 43-40, with 2:16 left in the half.

The Bulldogs responded with a 6-0 run capped by back-to-back Wilkinson fast-break dunks before a Kowacie Reeves Jr. jumper closed the first-half scoring.

Georgia returns to action with a 6:30 p.m. game on Monday against Florida A&M.

Georgia Tech returns home for its next game and will play host to Georgia Southern at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.