ATHENS, Ga. — The Georgia men's basketball team used timely scoring runs to knock off East Tennessee State, 62-47, on Sunday afternoon at Stegeman Coliseum.
UGA had a season-best 15 assists on 26 made shots while also recording its season-low in turnovers with 14.
Terry Roberts had a team-high six dimes, also adding 12 points, six rebounds and four steals. The Bulldogs also made a season-best nine three-pointers from five different players, led by Kario Oquendo with 16 points on an efficient 4-of-8 from beyond the arc.
“Good win for us – could’ve gone either way,” said head coach Mike White. “The final score wasn’t really indicative of how competitive the game was, in my opinion. ETSU is very good. I thought their attention to detail defensively was really high. … (We) played a bunch of different guys. I thought we had really good contributions from a few guys off the bench. Justin Hill continues to progress. I thought both bigs that came off the bench did a bunch, not necessarily showing in the final box score as much as it could have. I thought we responded to the halftime chat defensively. I thought we were pretty sharp defensively in the second half, probably our best second half, so that’s a positive.”
Roberts, the team’s leading scorer, opened the game offensively for the Bulldogs, knocking down a three-pointer and a layup. A transition dunk from freshman KyeRon Lindsey forced a timeout from the Bucs after Georgia took a 7-1 lead. ETSU quickly stormed back, though. Following a dunk from Roberts, the opponent scored 10 consecutive points, taking an 11-9 lead heading into the under-12 media timeout.
The Bulldogs managed to reclaim the lead when Oquendo and Jabri Abdur-Rahim sank back-to-back threes, taking a 17-15 advantage. Oquendo caught heat from deep, making another two three-point shots. The barrage of long balls turned into a 14-0 run for UGA, the longest uninterrupted scoring run for the Dawgs so far this season.
ETSU outscored Georgia 11-5 in the final minutes of the half, shrinking the Bulldogs’ lead to just four points, 30-26, heading into the break. UGA forced six ETSU turnovers in just over 14 minutes, leading to 11 of its points, but did not create any takeaways during the Bucs’ 11-5 run. Oquendo made three of UGA’s five threes, leading the team in first-half scoring with 11.
The Bucs tied the game after earning their fifth-straight basket in the paint off a layup from Josh Taylor. Georgia retaliated by going on a 12-point run that included a trio of treys heading into the under-12 media timeout. The final three-pointer of the surge made by Justin Hill with 12:27 remaining marked the ninth of the game for the Bulldogs, the most the team has made in a game this season.
With 14:15 remaining, Jaylin Ingram checked in for Georgia. It marked the senior’s return to action since suffering a season-ending injury in the Bulldogs’ win against Jacksonville last season on December 7, 2021. Ingram finished with a steal, a field goal attempt and a plus-minus of plus-nine in four minutes of action.
Hill continued a strong second half, scoring 12 of the team’s 32 second-half points on an efficient 4-of-7 from the field. The junior’s jumper before a pair of ETSU free throws gave Georgia an 11-point lead heading into the final media timeout.
Both teams would go on an offensive drought over four and a half minutes following Hill’s three. The teams’ stout defenses held through the remainder of the game, with only eight shots made by both teams over the final eight minutes. The Red and Black held a double-digit advantage throughout the remainder of the contest, winning its fifth game of the season with a 62-47 victory.
Georgia continues its three-game homestand in Stegeman on Wednesday, November 30, against the Hampton Pirates at 7 p.m. ET. The game can be found on the SEC Network+ streaming network. It will mark the first time the two teams have ever played each other.
