University of Georgia Athletics
University of Georgia
14-2,2-1SEC
South Carolina
10-6,1-2SEC
Catchings’ Season-High Powers Georgia to 75-70 Win over Gamecocks
January 10, 2026 | Men's Basketball
COLUMBIA, S.C. – The 18th-ranked Georgia Bulldogs defeated South Carolina (10-6, 1-2), 75-70, on Saturday afternoon at the Colonial Life Arena to move to 14-2 (2-1) on the season. Sophomore forward Kanon Catchings led all scorers with 20 points in the contest.
Fast Facts:
- With the win, Georgia narrows the all-time series between the two schools to one game, only trailing 64-63.
- Kanon Catchings scored a season-high 20 points – 14 of which came in the first half. Somto Cyril also added a career-high 18 points with Jeremiah Wilkinson and Blue Cain joining the tandem in double figures with 12 and 10 points, respectively.
- Georgia led South Carolina in points off turnovers (14-10), total rebounds (38-35), points in the paint (38-34) and fast break points (18-11).
- The Bulldogs have now beaten the Gamecocks in the last three trips to Columbia.
- After shooting 8-8 from the field in the win, Cyril now has a 100-percent field goal percentage in five of his last seven games.
- With his two made free throws today, Cain now sits at No. 2 in program history in single-season free throw percentage at 91.1-percent (minimum 50 attempts).
Key Quotes
Georgia Head Coach Mike White
On the win…
"Incredibly tough to come by, and that was the last message I just gave our guys. There are things you talk about after wins and losses, and you try to harp on some positive after losses. You've got to make sure, at least that's just my philosophy, after some big wins, let's talk about some of the negatives, too. It's a good time to learn because we're all feeling good, we're all locked in, and we're all connected and cheering about the win. That last possession defensively, 'Oh, my goodness.' The way we started defensively in the first half, our shot selection in the first half, just some stuff that has just got to continue to be addressed. That said, though, the huge positive is South Carolina is a very, very good. They just came off a huge road win. They're really hard to beat. They're really hard to beat at home. Just winning on a road in this league, don't take it for granted, guys. That was big, but we've got to keep getting better."
On first-half struggles…
"It was awful. Challenged our guys at halftime, as we always do, but nothing really different. Told a couple guys in particular, 'If we don't get locked in, man, I've got to take you out.' We're going to start with our starters in the second half, but we're going to make substitutions really quickly. Especially when you saw we were a completely different team with a different lineup in the start of the first half. When we play our best basketball this year, all 11 that play look like that, but we've just got a couple guys out of character right now, and we've got to – you hear me say it for four years now, we weren't taking our shot now. We had some games within the game where we were taking my shot. We were trying to hit home runs, and it doesn't work that way, especially against a really good defense. It just makes you look bad. Offensively, we had some possessions where we looked bad. Second half, much, much better."
On having veteran leadership in a tough road environment…
"We also had a couple older guys that – you're not real old. For us, we've got a couple juniors that play a lot and a couple sophomores, and we're still one of the younger teams in the league, but we're not incredibly young like last year, and we've got to grow up pretty quickly if we're going to make a run at this, which is our ceiling, right, which is what we want to get to. I love our personnel, our roster individually. We've got to put it together. That said, though, on the road in the SEC, yeah, you do have – there's a learning curve there, for sure. Learning how to finish a game. They missed a couple free throws for us. They missed a couple shots for us. We had a couple fouls that, if we're just a little bit more disciplined with our wall up, with our block out, aren't fouls, and potentially you win that game by eight or ten, you're a little more comfortable, and you and I didn't have heart issues."
Up Next: The 18th-ranked Bulldogs return home to Stegeman Coliseum to face Ole Miss on Wednesday, January 14. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m. ET on ESPNU.
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