National Basketball Association
Georgia 64, North Carolina Central 54
When: 5:00 PM ET, Sunday, November 12, 2023
Where: Stegeman Coliseum, Athens, Georgia
Officials:
# Terry Oglesby, # K.B. Burdett Jr., # Erroll Lewis
Attendance:
5699
By Field Level Media
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
Top Game Performances
North Carolina Central |
|
Georgia |
Emmanuel Izunabor 12 |
Scoring |
Jabri Abdur-Rahim 13 |
Fred Cleveland Jr. 6 |
Assists |
Justin Hill 4 |
Emmanuel Izunabor 8 |
Rebounds |
Blue Cain 7 |
Po'Boigh King 4 |
Free Throws Made |
Jabri Abdur-Rahim 10 |
Fred Cleveland Jr. 2 |
Steals |
Silas Demary Jr 4 |
Cobey Harraway 3 |
Blocks |
Blue Cain 2 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
North Carolina Central
|
54 |
32.7 |
5-21 |
13-18 |
11 |
34 |
7 |
6 |
14 |
Georgia
|
64 |
35.8 |
6-25 |
20-25 |
12 |
34 |
3 |
9 |
12 |