Georgia’s Jabri Abdur-Rahim scored all 18 of his points in the first half to spark a 17-0 run, carrying the Bulldogs to a 78-60 win over North Florida Friday afternoon in Athens, Ga.
The Bulldogs (9-3) overcame a pair of early eight-point deficits, were perfect from 3-point range and scored 17 straight to take control over the Ospreys (7-7) and lead by 16 at halftime.
Abdur-Rahim, Georgia’s top scorer, made half of his 10 shots from the floor, including 5 of 8 3-pointers, and 3 of 4 free throws. He had four rebounds.
Noah Thomasson scored 10 points as Georgia shot 51.9 percent (27-for-52) from the field and was 11-for-20 (55 percent) on 3-pointers.
The Bulldogs improved to 21-4 at home under second-year coach Mike White and 8-0 there this season.
For the Ospreys, leading scorer Chaz Lanier had 16 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals.
UNF’s 12-for-42 (28.6 percent) showing from deep marked the 823rd straight game the Atlantic Sun Conference squad made at least one trey — a streak dating back to early March 1996.
After attempting 46 triples in its last outing against Florida State, the visitors sank three baskets in the first 1:25. Nate Lliteras canned a long ball and a layup, while Dorian James hit from deep for an 8-0 lead.
Down 20-12 after UNF’s Jasai Miles converted a layup, the Bulldogs shook off the sluggish start and grabbed their first lead, 21-20, at 8:35 as Abdur-Rahim heated up and hit back-to-back threes.
Taking control of the contest and quelling an upset alert, Georgia raced away on its 17-0 run in a span of nearly four minutes, giving the home side a 29-20 lead with 6:52 remaining.
In all, the Bulldogs forged a 33-9 run over the final 10:46 of the first half to take a 45-29 halftime advantage.
The deep ball was key in the opening 20 minutes: Georgia was successful on all seven of its tries, while UNF went 5-for-20 (25 percent).
To start the second half, the Ospreys made four baskets in the first 3:31, including a trio of 3s, to cut the deficit to 11.
However, the Bulldogs kept the double-digit lead the rest of the way and rolled to their seventh straight win.
–Field Level Media