Georgia defeats LIU, 89-74, matches third best start ever

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Highlights

Coach White

Millender/Bailey

ATHENS, Ga. --- The No. 23-ranked Georgia Bulldogs (12-1) dominated in the second half to beat LIU (6-7) in their final non-conference game of the season on Monday night in Stegeman Coliseum.

FAST FACTS

This is Georgia's third meeting with LIU. Georgia maintains a 3-0 lead in the series.
The Bulldogs are now 12-1 and have matched their third best start in program history.
After trailing the majority of the first half, a free throw from Somto Cyril tied the game up 27 all with just 7 minutes to go in the half.
A 3-point jumper by Blue Cain and a dunk by Jake Wilkins put the Bulldogs just three points behind the Sharks at the end of the first half.
Georgia dominated with a 13-0 run to go up 58-49 with 11:48 remaining. The surge started with free throws by Justin Bailey and 3-pointers by Bailey and Marcus "Smurf" Millender apiece. This sequence marked Georgia's first lead of the game.
Three Bulldogs had double-digit performances tonight with Millender leading the Bulldogs with 14 points, Cain with 13 points, and Bailey with 12 points.
Georgia's victory puts them at an 11-game winning streak at Stegeman Coliseum heading into SEC play.

QUOTES

Coach Mike White
Opening Statement… "We found a way to win (after) we were down 11. Could have gone either way. Made some plays in the mid second half. I thought our bench played really well, strung together some stops, which allowed us to catch up and then build a lead. LIU, I would think they have a really strong chance of playing in the NCAA tournament. They are good, and they were prepared. Their length, ability to block shots at the rim. We struggled to keep them out of the paint. They are good. They are talented. They are athletic. They are old. They have got size. They have some depth. I expect that they'll have a really good year. It was not our best performance. Obviously, a lot of things we have got to do better. You want to go into SEC play, you want to finish with some momentum and play one of your best games. This was not, but it was also the best mid-major that we played. Maybe we can learn from it and grow from it."

On troubles in the first half...
"They switched, got us a little stagnant, and we spent a lot of time preparing for it. It had us overthinking a little bit, and we'll have to find that sweet spot between executing switch offense, especially ball screen switch offense, and just playing downhill and not allowing it. We had not played against that shot blocking ability yet. Even the high major games that we played, if I'm not mistaken, (Isaiah) Miranda was a big factor in the game defensively for them. I don't know how many blocks he was credited with, but they were loud. They were probably the best team that we played in transition offense, and for a team that has just turned people over at a really high level, especially at home. The effect that our press has had on opponents really was the opposite tonight. We allowed them to play in space too much, and they handled our pressure really well. Collectively, I thought they passed it really well and finished at the rim. They're talented, so we'll have to look at that too moving forward. We got to pick our spots in SEC play with how far we extend and how often we extend against certain teams."

Marcus "Smurf" Millender
Guard | Junior | #4
On the team's work towards being able to finish strong.....
"Coming off a win is always good going into the next game so I feel like it's just momentum going into SEC play. We all are very confident with where we're at right now and where we're standing."

On getting ready and excited for conference play....
"Especially for me and Justin, we've never played in the SEC before so I mean we're super excited. We're 12-1 right now. We have momentum. We're super excited."

Justin Bailey
Guard | Senior | #7
On the team's work towards being able to finish strong…
"I think everybody in our group, we're locked in. We got to tune up some things, but we feel very comfortable with where we are at."

On what needs improvement going into conference play…
"I think something we need to improve on is communication. We harp on it everyday in practice. Doing the little things, trying to get everyone to just lock in and just know that if we can get in transition, the easier the points will be to score. But we have to play defense, so that's what we need to tighten up.

On what was seen from Long Island defensively…
"Credit to LIU, they are going to be a tournament team. Early on in the game, they were active in the gap and crashing on offensive glass. Defensively, they were pressuring us, turning us over and stuff. They have long guards, and they were all over the court."

UP NEXT

Georgia opens SEC Conference play at home against Auburn on January 1st. Tip-off is set for 1:00 p.m. ET on SEC Network+. For more information on tickets, visit https://gado.gs/dvq

University of Georgia Athletics

Georgia defeats LIU, 89-74, matches third best start ever

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