ATHENS - Jarvis Hayes found his touch, and Chris Daniels was simply happy to be playing again.
Hayes scored 19 points and Daniels had 16 to help send No. 18 Georgia past Belmont 87-71 Saturday.
Hayes missed his first two shots but made a strong turnaround after being held to eight points in a season-opening loss to Texas eight days ago.
``I just wanted to get the momentum going and start the team off right,'' Hayes said.
Hayes made his last seven shots, including six in the second half. He had 11 points during a 22-5 run in the last half.
After a sluggish first half, Georgia (1-1) put away the stubborn Bruins with dominating defense.
Belmont (1-2) went 3-for-13 to start the second half and went nearly four minutes without scoring. Adam Mark led the Bruins with 29 points.
Daniels was making his regular-season debut after a one-game suspension for playing in an unsanctioned charity game last summer. One of the nation's most versatile players, he added nine rebounds, four assists, three blocks and a steal.
``Practicing and playing in games aren't the same thing, but once we got out there and ran up and down the court a couple of times, it felt like old times,'' Daniels said.
Ezra Williams scored 15 for the Bulldogs.
``We got to play a lot of guys,'' Georgia coach Jim Harrick said. ``Right now, I'm trying to find the right substitution rotation. I wanted to see some different combinations and everybody had a few minutes.''
Adam Sonn made two free throws soon after halftime to cut the Bulldogs' lead to 40-37, but that's as close as Belmont would get.
With the margin seven a few minutes later, Williams nailed a 3-pointer to start the game-turning spurt. Hayes had two 3s, hit a jumper and made two layups during the run, which gave Georgia a 69-44 lead.
``We calmed down in the second half, and stopped letting their defense dictate what we did,'' Hayes said. ``We wanted to dictate the game, and that's what we did in the second half.''
The Bulldogs turned up the pressure, too, pressing more in the second half with 6-foot-7 Damien Wilkins at the top of the defense. Later, after Wilkins went to the bench, Daniels, also 6-7, took his place and forced several bad passes. Overall, Belmont had 18 turnovers.
``At halftime, coach told us we weren't really getting our fastbreak working,'' Daniels said. ``He told us that was one of the things he wanted us to pick up in the second half, and we did it.
In the first half, the Bruins led 27-26 after a layup by Mark. After the Bulldogs took an 11-point lead, Mark and Steve Drabyn hit consecutive 3-pointers.
``I liked our mentality coming into the game,'' Belmont coach Rick Byrd said. ``We came out ready to play and I am pleased with that. We ran our offense pretty well and shot the ball all right.''
Wilkins, making his home debut for Georgia after transferring from North Carolina State, finished with nine points.
Thursday
July 17th, 2025
4:28PM
