Georgia has opened the season with an 83-78 win against Tennessee Tech in Athens. It was not always the prettiest performance but Georgia was able to do what matters most and came out with the victory in the end.

Georgia struggled to separate from Tennessee Tech all night and their largest lead of the game was only 8 points. After jumping out to an early 18-11 lead, it looked like Georgia would be able to separate and win the game by double digits but Tennessee Tech would not go away. The main reason Tennessee Tech kept the game close was the 3-point shooting as they put in 11 threes on 27 attempts (40.7%) and Georgia made only 4 on 18 attempts (22.2%). Anytime a team loses the battle on the 3-point line by 7 it is going to be difficult to win and we saw that tonight with Georgia.

Besides the performance from 3, I thought Georgia played a solid game overall. The one other area they struggled a bit was keeping the ball in front of them (which led to many of the three-pointers) but Tennessee Tech was also playing a small lineup while Georgia was going with 2 big men. Georgia decided to not adjust to the small lineup and that led to those struggles defensively but also allowed them to win the rebounding battle by 20 boards (38-18).

Individually for Georgia, Asa Newell and Dakota Leffew had terrific performances and RJ Godfrey had a solid night as well. The 5 star freshman Asa Newell finished the night with 26 points and 11 rebounds. I thought he played terrific and you can not ask for much more from a true freshman in his opening game. He was able to dominate down low and Tennessee Tech did not have anyone who could compete with him in the paint. Dakota Leffew also had a great game and really saved Georgia. Georgia’s leader Silas Demary got in early foul trouble and was not able to play much in this one but Leffew did more than enough in his place. Leffew finished the game with 18 points and 3 assists on 7 for 10 (4 – 6 from 3) shooting. Leffew was the only Georgia player all night to hit a 3-pointer and they needed it badly. RJ Godfrey also played a great game in his Georgia debut after transferring from Clemson. He was able to make his presence felt down low and scored 10 points along with 10 rebounds. It was a solid performance from him and I would expect to see this throughout the year from him.

It was definitely a bit weird that Georgia’s starting guards Silas Demary, Blue Cain, and Tyrin Lawrence all struggled in this game but I would not expect this to continue. They have all 3 proven to be excellent players in the SEC and I believe this was just an outlier performance from these 3 players.

At the end of the day, Georgia was able to get a win on opening night with 3 key players struggling and that shows the depth that this team has. Georgia will definitely need to play better if they want to reach their goal of reaching the NCAA tournament but a win is a win to begin the year.

Next Up: Georgia takes on Texas Southern on Sunday (Nov 10) at 3:30 PM.

Stat of the Night: Georgia freshman Asa Newell tied Dominique Wilkins for most points in a freshman debut with 26.

Box Score