South Carolina knocks of Georgia in Athens, 72-62

ATHENS, Ga. – The Georgia men’s basketball team lost to South Carolina by a 72-62 score on Saturday afternoon before 10,523 spectators inside a sold-out Stegeman Coliseum.

The Gamecocks (18-3, 7-2 SEC) recorded 25 assists on 29 made field goals to overcome the Bulldogs (14-8, 4-5 SEC). Jabri Abdur-Rahim led all scorers with 20 points, marking the sixth time in his career with a 20-point outing, and a pair of blocks. Blue Cain connected on three-first half 3-pointers and finished with 11 points, while Noah Thomasson scored 10 and contributed four rebounds. As a team, Georgia made eight first-half 3-pointers, marking the second straight game to make at least seven shots beyond the arc in the opening 20 minutes and sixth time this season.

The Bulldogs built up an early 23-16 lead after knocking down seven of their first 10 3-pointers in the game’s first eight minutes, eventually building a 10-point lead. The Gamecocks used a 9-0 run after a trio of shots from deep to cut the deficit, keeping it close, 40-38, headed into the locker room at the end of the first 20 minutes. Georgia’s offense began to stall at the start of the second half, making just two field goals in the first seven minutes and allowing South Carolina to take its first lead of the day with 15:19 remaining. South Carolina built up its lead to seven with a stout zone defense, holding the Bulldogs without a field goal for seven and a half minutes. Justin Hill got into the paint and made a bucket to cut the deficit to five with just over four minutes remaining, but the Bulldogs were unable to battle back and overcome the Gamecocks.

Georgia will hit the road and return to action for its game on Wednesday, Feb. 7 at 9 p.m. ET at Mississippi State, which will be televised by the SEC Network. The teams have split the all-time series, 57-57, with Georgia taking the most recent meeting, 58-50, last season on Jan. 11, 2023.

Five Fast Facts

• Guard Jabri Abdur-Rahim led all players with 20 points, which was the fourth game this season and the sixth time in his career that he scored at least 20. This was also the fourth SEC game he has reached at least 20 points.

• By going 9-for-9 from the free throw line, Georgia had its first game making all of its free throw attempts since the team’s game against Missouri on Jan. 10, 2018.

• For the second straight game, Georgia made at least seven 3-point shots in the first half, marking the sixth time they have reached that figure in the opening 20 minutes this season.

• South Carolina was held to zero blocks during the game, marking the first time since Georgia’s win against LSU on Feb. 14, 2023, that an opposing team did not earn a block against the Bulldogs.

• Blue Cain led Georgia in bench scoring with 11 points, which is the fifth time he has done so this season and the seventh game the freshman has scored in double-figures.

Key Quote

Senior Guard Jabri Abdur-Rahim: “I think we just got to do a better job of being physical. I think when we went and played them in Columbia, we were really physical with them, and for whatever reason today we just lacked a little physicality. They punched us in the mouth, especially in the paint. That was probably their game plan, and they did a good job of executing it.”

Kari Hodges