ATHENS — Tye Fagan had career highs of 21 points and 10 rebounds as Georgia opened its season with an 85-75 victory over Florida A&M on Sunday.
Fagan, the only second-year letterman in the program, scored eight straight points during a 10-0 run to put the Bulldogs up 57-47. A final Bulldogs push in the final three minutes extended the lead to 16.
Stony Brook grad transfer Andrew Garcia added 22 points. Sahvir Wheeler, who broke the program's freshman record for assists last season with 139, had 12 Sunday along with 12 points.
The Rattlers (1-1) shot 53% but the Bulldogs, who had only a two-point advantage in the paint in the first half finished with a 50-32 advantage. They were 20 of 26 at the line to 11 of 17 for FAMU.
Georgia got off to an 11-2 start before the Rattlers grabbed the lead, which went back and forth until Garcia's basket just before the break gave the Bulldogs a 38-37 lead.
M.J. Randolph scored 21 points with nine rebounds for the Rattlers. D.J. Jones added 15 points on 7-of-7 shooting, and Kamron Reaves and Bryce Moragne had 14 each.
The Bulldogs opened their season without Anthony Edwards, recently made the NBA's No. 1 overall draft pick, and were slated for 13th in the media's Southeastern Conference preseason rankings. They were scheduled to open the season last Wednesday but their opponent, Columbus State, had COVID-19 issues within its traveling party. FAMU was a replacement for Gardner-Webb after the latter had a player test positive.
