Georgia survived a cold-shooting game to win for the second time in three days by putting away North Carolina Central 64-54 on Sunday afternoon in Athens, Ga.
Jabri Abdur-Rahim scored 13 points, Justin Hill added 11 and Silas Demary Jr. chipped in 10 for the Bulldogs (2-1), who trailed 34-32 before going on a 13-0 run early in the second half. Demary netted four straight points in that span.
Georgia, which defeated visiting Wake Forest 80-77 on Friday, shot 35.8 percent from the floor and 6-of-25 on 3-point attempts.
The Bulldogs’ struggles helped NC Central (1-2) hang around despite shooting only 32.7 percent and 5-of-21 from long range.
Emmanuel Izunabor scored 12 points, all in the second half, and Po’Boigh King and Fred Cleveland Jr. added 11 apiece for the Eagles, who entered as a 22.5-point underdog. Izunabor also grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.
Blue Cain’s 3-pointer extended the Bulldogs’ lead to 12 at 48-36 midway through the second half, but NC Central responded with a 7-0 run, sparked by Izunabor’s three-point play.
Abdur-Rahim, who entered as Georgia’s leading scorer at 17.5 points per game, hit from long range to end that burst with 8:08 left and push the cushion back to eight points.
Hill scored the final five points of Georgia’s 9-0 run to put the game on ice at 64-49 with just less than three minutes to play.
Both teams struggled to hit shots in the first half, although Georgia opened an 11-point lead with 2:15 to go on two free throws by Demary.
NC Central recovered to hit three straight 3-pointers in the final 1:49 of the half and trailed only 27-23 at the break. Despite the flurry, the visitors shot only 29 percent from the floor, while the Bulldogs, who made only 4 of their last 14, finished the half at 36.4 percent.
–Field Level Media