Forward Rayshaun Hammonds scored 26 points and added nine rebounds to help Georgia hold off arch-rival Georgia Tech 82-78 on Wednesday night in Athens.
It marked the second-straight notable effort for the junior, who also tallied 26 points in Georgia's victory against Delaware State on Friday.
The win -- Georgia's fifth straight over Georgia Tech -- improves the Bulldogs to 4-0, while the Yellow Jackets fall to 2-1.
Freshman Anthony Edwards added 18 points for the Bulldogs, including 16 in the second half, followed by Donnell Gresham with 13 and Tyree Crump with 11.
Michael Devoe scored 34 points, followed by Moses Wright with 18 and Bubba Parham with 10 to lead Georgia Tech. Devoe hit three 3-pointers in the final 37 seconds, but it was too little and too late.
Leading by eight at the half, Georgia jumped on the Yellow Jackets to start the second, going up by 14 on a 3-pointer and driving layup by Crump.
Hammonds continued his good work, scoring five points over the first 4:10 of the second half to push the lead to 16, before a jumper by Jose Alvarado brought the Yellow Jackets within 14.
A pair of free throws by Devoe brought Georgia Tech back under 10 at the 13:13 mark, followed two minutes later by Wright's three-point play. That cut the Bulldogs' lead to six before Georgia would ultimately push it back up to as many as 16 points.
Both teams started slowly, as the Bulldogs and Yellow Jackets combined to miss their first 11 shots until Devoe broke the ice with a 3-pointer with almost three minutes gone.
But Hammonds was just starting warm up, ultimately scoring 19 points in 16 minutes of action in the first half.
The 6-foot-9 junior converted 8 of the 11 shots he attempted in the half, including a pair of 3-pointers as Georgia used an 11-0 run late in the first to surge to a 35-27 lead.
--Field Level Media
