Georgia was just 3 of 19 from 3-point distance and Gardner-Webb earned its first victory over the Bulldogs Wednesday night, winning 77-60 in Athens.
Gardner-Webb (6-7) had lost four previous meetings against UGA between 2002-16. The win was the first road victory this season for Gardner-Webb, which beat a Power Five team for the sixth time in coach Tim Craft’s nine years. It was also the first win over an SEC team in Craft’s tenure.
Jordan Sears, Lance Terry and Zion Williams scored 14 points apiece and Kareem Reid added 11 for the visitors.
While Gardner-Webb had six players score nine or more points, Georgia (5-8) had three: Braelen Bridges with 17, Kario Oquendo 12 and Noah Baumann 11.
Georgia lost its second straight, having fallen to East Tennessee State 86-84 a week ago, and has also lost at home to Wofford and George Mason. The Bulldogs are scheduled to play Texas A&M on Tuesday.
Credit: Jack Casey
Credit: Jack Casey
Gardner-Webb led by 13 at halftime, saw that lead briefly clipped to single digits early in the second half and then went up by as many as 21.
Georgia went on a 9-0 run to close within 49-42 with 16 minutes remaining but missed its next seven shots and fell back by double figures for the remainder of the game.
Gardner-Webb outshot Georgia 49% to 37% and made four more 3-pointers and held edges in points in the paint plus bench and second-chance points. It also made all 12 of its free throws to 13 of 20 for Georgia.
Gardner-Webb went in front 18-8 in the first seven minutes after Georgia started 4 of 15 from the floor, missing its first six 3-point attempts. The Runnin’ Bulldogs came out of a timeout with 8 1/2 minutes left and went on a 13-4 run to go up by 16 on their way to a 44-31 halftime lead.
The teams combined to go only 7 of 27 from 3-point range in the first half but Gardner-Webb scored 11 points off nine Georgia turnovers and outscored the hosts 24-18 in the paint.
Gardner-Webb has won five of its last six games.
