Bulldogs top Ospreys, 78-60, for seventh-straight win

ATHENS, Ga. – Georgia knocked down a season-high 11 3-pointers including all of its first eight attempts from beyond the arc in its 78-60 victory over North Florida before 6,603 spectators inside Stegeman Coliseum on Friday afternoon.

The win now marks the seventh in a row for the Bulldogs (9-3), the longest streak of the Mike White era. Jabri Abdur-Rahim led the team in scoring for the fourth time this season with 18 points paired with four rebounds while Noah Thomasson added 10 points and Silas Demary Jr. contributed a team-high six assists with no turnovers. Georgia finished with a season-best 21 assists on 27 made field goals. The Bulldogs held the Ospreys (7-7), who led the nation with 46.2 percent of their points coming from 3-pointers, to below their season average from deep, converting on just 28.6 percent of their 42 attempts.

Georgia struggled to get its offense going in the early portion of the game but managed to rattle off four-consecutive buckets to gain its first lead of the day with just over eight minutes remaining in the half. The Bulldogs pulled ahead by nine after a 17-0 run over the course of four and a half minutes. The team made all of its first eight 3-point attempts, led by Abdur-Rahim’s hot start from beyond the arc by going five-for-five in the first half. After carrying a 16-point advantage into the locker room, Georgia’s offense continued humming, recording 11 assists on 13 made field goals. The Bulldogs have now reached at least 75 points for the fourth time in their last five outings.

Georgia’s next game will come on Dec. 30 at 2:30 p.m. ET against Alabama A&M. This will mark both the final contest of the team’s six-game homestand and the final tilt of the Bulldogs’ non-conference schedule. The third all-time meeting between the programs will be live streamed on SEC Network+.

Five Fast Facts
• The Bulldogs recorded a season-high 21 assists on 27 made field goals. Georgia’s 2.1 assist-to-turnover ratio is its best of the season.
• Georgia connected on all its first eight attempts from 3-point range in the game.
• For the 11th time in 12 games this season and the 33rd time under Coach White, Georgia outscored its opponent in bench points, 35-18.
• The Bulldogs held the Ospreys to just 60 points, their lowest scoring total of the season.
• Jabri Abdur-Rahim tied his career best of five 3-pointers for the third time, connecting on all of his first five attempts.

Key Quote
Head Coach Mike White: “It speaks rather to the culture that they have there and the buy-in to the fact that when they play teams, all they talk about it negating the three and the three-point attempts. And that’s all you talk about for 48 hours – drilling it, talking about it, watching it on film, and then they still get 42 attempts off. They’re really good at it. They space you. They run great stuff. They also pass it well, one through five, to get each other those looks. Thank God they missed a few for us, but they’re good. We’ve got a lot of respect for their program, and they’re going to be a really tough out in their league.”

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Postgame Notes and Quotes

Team Notes

• The starting lineup was freshman Silas Demary Jr., senior Jabri Abdur-Rahim and graduates Noah Thomasson, RJ Sunahara and Russel Tchewa.
• This is Georgia and North Florida’s first meeting.
• Georgia’s 45 first half points tied its third-most scored in a half this season.
• Georgia held North Florida to its lowest point total of the season (60).
• The Bulldogs connected on all of their first seven attempts from 3-point range.
• Georgia held the Ospreys to 35.9 percent from the field, down from 42.7 percent from the field this season.
• Georgia’s largest first-half lead was 16.
• This win extends the longest winning streak under Coach White to seven games.
• Georgia is now 8-0 this season at Stegeman Colesium.
• The Bulldogs’ 11 3-pointers made against North Florida marks the most made in a single game this season.
• Georgia outrebounded North Florida with 40-33.
• The Bulldogs recorded a season-high 21 assists on 27 made field goals.

Individual Notes

• Jabri Abdur-Rahim set a season-high five 3-pointers made, tying his career high for the third time.
• RJ Sunahara picked up his first block and two assists of the season and set a season-high six points.
• Blue Cain set a new career high of three assists.
• Dylan James set a new career high of four points, three rebounds and two assists.
• Jalen DeLoach set a new season-high nine points.
• Redshirt freshmen Brandon Klatsky and Jaden Newell made their Georgia regular season debuts.

Georgia Head Coach Mike White

On the offense finding rhythm after a slow start…

“Yeah, Jabri [Abdur-Rahim] did. He found his range for all of us. He got it going – really went off there in the first half. I thought our guys did a good job of finding him, and he did a good job of moving off the ball. He’s got a quick, high release and made some shots that got us going.”

On Silas Demary Jr.’s performance…

“Solid play. Making people around him better. Making great decisions. Making veteran decisions for a freshman. He’s got great poise, and he’s about winning. You look at the stat sheet, and it’s often like this. He’s very efficient. He’s usually positive in the plus/minus. He’s a solid player and only getting better.”

On North Florida’s efficiency from behind the arc…

“It speaks rather to the culture that they have there and the buy-in to the fact that when they play teams, all they talk about it negating the three and the three-point attempts. And that’s all you talk about for 48 hours – drilling it, talking about it, watching it on film, and then they still get 42 attempts off. They’re really good at it. They space you. They run great stuff. They also pass it well, one through five, to get each other those looks. Thank god they missed a few for us, but they’re good. We’ve got a lot of respect for their program, and they’re going to be a really tough out in their league.”

On stringing together seven straight wins before the holiday break…

“We’ve got some momentum. We continue to get better in some areas, but overall, we have to get a lot better in a few to be competitive in our league, as we know. And we don’t have a lot of time left. Got one more tune-up in Alabama A&M, and our guys need a mental and physical break. When we come back, we’ll get back to work. We have to rebound better. We have to defend better. We have to be more efficient offensively. It was nice to see also a couple guys who hadn’t been given as much opportunity. Dylan James showed that he is a talented guy that potentially could help us in SEC play, as well. We’ve got those things to figure out, in addition.”

On Dylan James’ performances in recent practices and tonight’s game…

“He strung together some quality practices pretty consistently now for three weeks or so, and it was my goal in the last couple to try and get him in there and give him opportunity to evaluate. We’re trying to win. We’re trying to put our best guys out there, and he’s earned the opportunity to be out there. And he took advantage of it today. I thought he was really good. He was plus-15 in 17 minutes. Again, efficient – plays within himself. Had a finish down there in the paint that he is normally in practice finishing. For his first time getting playing time in a long time, I thought that was a really impressive.”

On the importance of winning both high-major and mid-major games…

“Huge. Yeah. huge. You know, we put up some of that computer stuff in quad-1, quad-2, 3, 4, all the analytical stuff, KenPom numbers – we did all of that in the preseason as much as we have ever done just to get it out of the way. Our guys understand it’s important to win some of the ones that you have got to win to be in the conversation and avoid the ones that can really hurt you. We’ve, for the most part, taken care of business.”

On forming a mindset to prepare for potential postseason play…

“All of our guys want to play in the postseason. It’s all of their dreams, while they’re in college, to play in the NCAA tournament, and there are going to be a lot of teams in our leagues playing in it. I don’t think that most people out there have us pegged to go right now, but we have tons of opportunities if we continue to develop and grow together within league play. The great part about being in the SEC right now, it being the best conference in college basketball, is that every night you are going to have great opportunities, just about. If you can win some, you put yourself in the conversation. We have to get better, though.”

On preparing the younger players for conference play…

“Well, the first things you do is scheduling, and we’ve played the six high majors which help us as opposed to us playing two or three or four. That said, there are a lot of teams in our league that are better than some of the teams we’ve played, of course. That’s one thing you do, and we talk about it. You watch film, and whether it’s North Florida or Alabama A&M or Missouri, we’re going to continue to stress things that we are doing well, things that will translate to winning in our league, and things that will translate whether you win the game or lose the game – that this isn’t going to help you win at Missouri. And we’ll watch some of today’s stuff when we get back.”

#1 | Jabri Abdur-Rahim | Sr. | G

On defending North Florida’s shooting…

“We knew how good they were shooting the ball and they came out and showed that. So we had to tighten up a little bit, we were afraid of that and that’s what they do, they’re a good team, they’re going to make shots, but I think we responded the right way.”

On his confidence shooting the ball recently…

“I just lean on the work that I put in in the offseason and during the season. That’s where the confidence comes from and no matter if you have good games or bad games, I try and stay consistent and try to rely on the work that I put in.”

On where the team currently stands in the season…

“I think we have a lot of momentum, I think we’re in a good place. We’re doing a good job of competing, we have to get better at rebounding and defending but I think we’re doing a good job so far.”

#23 | Jalen DeLoach | Jr. | F

On what he brings to the team…

“Effort and energy. I’m also a leader. We have some freshmen on the team, so I’m just trying to guide them. Coach White preaches the tournament, so it’s just guiding them.”

On what stands out about the team right now…

“We’re playing together right now. We’ve won seven in a row, and we’re back on the 30th. So we’re just playing together and having fun. Having fun is the biggest part.”

On what the focus is with conference play approaching…

“Staying together. Coach preaches effort and energy. We’re focused on staying together.”