Georgia overcomes slow start to defeat Cincinnati in Holiday Hoopsgiving

When Georgia basketball took the court Saturday afternoon at State Farm Arena, it resembled a team who had not faced another opponent in 11 days.

The Bulldogs came out lackadaisical with more turnovers than successful shots in the game’s first two minutes and faced an 11-point deficit before halftime.

But when the final buzzer sounded around two hours later, Georgia had another win on its ascending resume. The Bulldogs beat Cincinnati, 84-65, in the Holiday Hoopsgiving Tournament to improve to 9-1 on the season.

“The game was a lot closer than the final score indicates,” coach Mike White said. “Not a very good sign there at halftime but fixed it and played well offensively down the stretch.”

It’s no surprise the Bulldogs struggled to establish a rhythm early. They had an 11-day break between their two most recent outings, taking time to focus on final exams as the academic semester ended.

Pair the layoff with the aura surrounding an NBA arena, and history proves slow starts are common for Georgia. It experienced a similar situation in 2024 when it returned from an 11-day break to face Grand Canyon in Holiday Hoopsgiving, in the same venue it played Cincinnati. The Bulldogs eked out a 73-68 victory before steamrolling Buffalo by 51 points five days later.

“Sometimes these environments can be difficult for young people,” White said. “I don’t think we handled that level of communication as well as we did two days ago (in practice).”

To combat the time off, the Bulldogs stepped up their already competitive scrimmages. It culminated with a practice on Thursday that junior guard Blue Cain deemed as “one of our best practices I’ve ever been a part of.”

Georgia demonstrated excellent accountability, edge, passion and competitive spirit during the scrimmage — in the words of White — and although it didn’t translate early against the Bearcats, Cain believes it paved the way for the Bulldogs’ victory.

“It helped us win today’s game,” Cain said. “Even if we came out a little lackadaisical, I thought (the practice) was very similar to a game in terms of the intensity and focus. That was good, just kind of get us back into the playing mode.”

Georgia did not make a basket until Cincinnati had a 4-0 lead with around 18 minutes left in the first half. The Bulldogs were outscored 18-9 to begin the game and later faced an 11-point deficit with eight minutes before halftime.

Georgia rallied and went on a 13-1 run to draw even at the break. It then outscored Cincinnati, 47-28, in the second half to earn the hard-fought win.

“One of our keys going into it was — they’re very physical defensively, and we wanted to kind of match their physicality on offense,” Cain said. “Early on, I thought we weren’t doing great, but I thought as the game went along, we really matched their physicality.”

Cain led Georgia with a career-high 22 points, while sophomore guard Jeremiah Wilkinson notched 17. Four Bulldogs finished with double digit points, including sophomore center Somto Cyril and junior guard Marcus “Smurf” Millender.

“I just try to let the game come to me,” said Cain, who earned 12 of his 22 points on free throws.

The Bulldogs struggled from beyond the arc, as their first nine 3-point attempts fell flat. Sophomore forward Kanon Catchings earned Georgia’s first make with around 17 minutes remaining in the game. The seconds before he took the shot marked the Bulldogs’ last time trailing in the contest.