ATHENS, Ga. — Freshman KyeRon Lindsay recorded 14 points and 10 rebounds in the Georgia Bulldogs’ 77-70 victory over the Miami (Ohio) RedHawks at Stegeman Coliseum on Monday evening, notching his first collegiate double-double and becoming the third Southeastern Conference freshman this season to achieve the mark.
Terry Roberts paced Georgia (2-1) offensively with 22 points, adding four rebounds and three assists. Justin Hill added 12 points for the Bulldogs in just 18 minutes off the bench. Miami’s (1-2) Mekhi Lairy led the game in scoring with 34, making all 10 of his free throws and going 9-of-17 from the field.
“It wasn’t pretty, but we’ll take the win instead of the alternative,” said head coach Mike White. “Obviously, it beats the alternative. We have a lot to learn and a lot of room for growth. I thought at times, especially in the first 10 or 12 minutes of the game or so, we were playing pretty good basketball. Adversity hit, and we didn’t handle it really well. Credit to Miami of Ohio, Travis (Steele), and his staff. I thought those guys executed well.”
Georgia opened the first three minutes of the game strongly on both sides of the ball, running up a 10-0 lead with a pair of three-pointers and a trio of turnovers to force a Miami timeout. The team seemed to be in sync both offensively and defensively through the under-12 media timeout, with all six of the Bulldogs’ field goals coming off assists and forcing seven turnovers from the RedHawks.
The Red and Black rode its hot hand from deep and cruised out to a 29-15 lead with five to go in the half, connecting on 5-of-10 threes, two coming from Mardrez McBride. However, Miami managed to force a turnover after making a layup and hitting a long ball of their own, forcing White to take his first timeout of the half.
The RedHawks continued to apply the pressure, making attempts from deep to cut the lead and creating timely turnovers, continuing to chip away at the score differential. While Georgia still held a lead when the teams went to the locker rooms for halftime, Miami shrunk what was a 17-point advantage to just 10, 38-28.
The story of the second half for Georgia was turnovers, as it gave the ball away eight times through the 10-minute mark and finished the half with 12. Miami used these free possessions to create 11 points.
UM kept sinking key in the three-pointers after missed shots in the second half, eventually forcing a Georgia timeout after Lairy sank his fourth of the evening, cutting the lead to seven, 49-42, with 12:48 to go in the contest. After UGA ended the first half going 6-of-13 from three-point range, it would go on to shoot 1-of-10 from beyond the arc in the second half.
Out of the timeout, an errant pass from the out-of-bounds play landed right into the arms of Lairy as the fifth year cut the Georgia advantage down to five and then took a charge to get his team the ball back. This marked the fifth turnover for UGA in just over seven minutes and the team went on to finish the second half with 12. A cross-court pass from Lairy led to another make from deep, putting the score at 49-47 at the under-12 media timeout.
Georgia felt in control for the most part down the stretch, eventually converting its lead to double figures once again. However, Miami suddenly found a chance to cut the lead to one with under a minute to go, down just four points after Hill split his trips at the charity stripe. RedHawks’ big man Anderson Mirambeaux put up a three that went just off the rim, eventually confirming the Bulldog win, 77-70.
Georgia will next hit the hardwood this coming Friday against the Bucknell Bison at Stegeman Coliseum at 7 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcasted on SEC Network. This will mark the first meeting between the two programs in 21 years, when the Bulldogs claimed a 93-90 win on Dec. 1, 1991. UGA holds a 2-0 all-time series record against Bucknell.
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