The Georgia men’s basketball team played Winthrop at home this past Friday, where they overcame a defensive struggle to win 78-69 over the Eagles.
The Bulldogs had struggled shooting for the past three games but managed to increase their field goal percentage to 43.1% this game — their highest since playing Wake Forest.
This was the first game of the season where Georgia outrebounded its opponent. Russel Tchewa led the Bulldogs in rebounding with eight.
“We executed the game plan,” Tchewa said. “Coach told us the last five games we need to rebound more, so our game plan was to outrebound them, and that’s why we came ready to play.”
Tchewa’s ability to get rebounds, offensively and defensively, was much improved in this game and became a vital component in determining the flow of the matchup.
Guard Noah Thomasson led the Bulldogs in scoring with 24 points while adding three rebounds and two assists. Thomasson knocked down a career-best five 3-pointers in the game.
“It’s one of my thoughts walking into the coach’s locker room after the W is that it’s nice to have Noah Thomasson on the team,” head coach Mike White said. “He was good defensively too, and he continues to make good decisions for the team.”
Justin Hill broke out in the second half and finished the game with 15 points. Hill was aggressive in driving to the basket and drew a team-high six free throw attempts, of which he made five.
Winthrop refused to allow Georgia to put the game away in the second half. The Eagles gashed the Bulldogs for 40 points in the period, and forward Kelton Talford finished as their leading scorer with 19 points. However, the Eagles were done in by their poor 3-point shooting, as they made just three of 20 attempts.
“We have to clean some things up, because if some of their shots went in it could have turned out different, so we got to try and stay the course and be solid at all times to try to get those shots on offense,” said Hill.
Georgia men’s basketball will return on Wednesday, Nov. 29 against Florida State in Tallahassee, Florida where they will try to end the Seminoles’ two game winning streak.