Georgia basketball wins, but unhappy with performance against NC Central

Sitting in the Georgia men’s basketball team’s postgame press conference Monday, there were few signs that the Bulldogs started the 2026-27 season with a win.

Senior guard Blue Cain said his team played “pretty bad.” Teammate Kanon Catchings matched Cain’s sentiments. Coach Mike White was clearly disappointed in his team’s performance, lamenting the lack of defensive prowess and togetherness he’s seen in practice over the past few months.

“I thought we were completely disconnected,” White said. “You had guys pouting when they get subbed out of the game. Open teammates, but I decide to shoot it because I want to score. That’s not a recipe for a really good team who advances in the NCAA Tournament. It’s just not.”

Georgia defeated North Carolina Central 78-62 in the season opener. It was by no means a perfect way to start White’s fifth year in Athens. His team was nearly outrebounded by the Eagles 37-36; they missed 10 free throws, and they had 11 turnovers, eight of them in the second half.

There were mental lapses defensively and the Bulldogs were 6-for-26 from beyond the arc.

“We had a lot of missed connections, a lot of things to improve on,” said Cain, who finished with 15 points, six boards and went 0-for-3 from 3. “It’s better to learn those lessons through a win, so I’m grateful we got the win. We’ve got a lot to improve on.”

Georgia used a press for much of the night, and it worked at times. White said it wasn’t as effective as it was in offseason practices.

They forced 19 Eagle turnovers, but the Bulldogs had high expectations for themselves.

“We’ve got to get on the same page,” White said. “I realize we’re one game in, but I was very surprised. We’ve been a lot better in practice. Our press, most possessions, was ineffective, yet against each other in practice yesterday it was very effective. A lot of it probably had to do with (NC Central coach LeVelle Moton) and his team, but we have to be much better than that moving forward.”

On the last play of the first half, White called a timeout with 4.2 on the clock. He drew up a play and sent his guys back onto the court to try and add to their halftime lead.

The ball was inbounded and Cain dribbled it wrong and turned the ball over. White headed to the locker room looking rather frustrated.

Playing disjointed allowed NC Central, which returned just one player from its 14-18 2025-26 season, to play hard more than anyone on Georgia’s side wanted.

“They came in here and controlled tempo, really pressured us, extended their defense, blew up a lot of our offensive stuff,” White said. “They were the aggressor for 40 minutes, executed and played very well.”

Catchings led the team in scoring with 16 points on 5-for-10 shooting. As a team, the Bulldogs shot 66.7% from the floor.

The junior made two of their six 3-pointers.

“It was a little bit of good looks,” Catchings said. “A little bit of forced shots. We’re definitely better than 6-for-26 for sure.”

With about seven minutes left in the first half, Catchings stepped into a 3-pointer from 40 feet out, and it went in. He waved his hands to keep the crowd involved as Georgia looked to grow its lead. They got a stop on the other end and moved the ball around the perimeter in transition.

Marcus “Smurf” Millender shot a 3-pointer from the elbow and it went in, forcing a North Carolina Central timeout.

In 62 seconds, the Bulldogs scored eight points in a 13-0 run.

Even without Kareem Stagg, who missed the game with a slight hip injury, Georgia showed stretches of excellence. That made the errors more glaring because it showed the potential White knows his team can play with.

“We told ourselves, ‘If we can’t beat a mid-major to open the season, we’re not going to achieve the goals we’re trying to achieve in the long run,’” White said. “We knew it’d be challenging. I didn’t anticipate it being that challenging.”

At 1-0, Georgia will have an off day Tuesday before returning to practice Wednesday. They host Presbyterian Friday night.

Between then and now, they’re hopeful to see more growth, connection and consistency.