Heralded freshman Anthony Edwards scored 29 points to lead Georgia to a 95-86 victory against The Citadel on Tuesday night in Athens, Ga.
Edwards was one of six players in double-figure points for the Bulldogs (2-0). Tyree Crump and Donnell Gresham Jr. both chipped in with 13, followed by Sahvir Wheeler, Rayshaun Hammonds and Amaze Ngumezi with 10 each.
Hammonds also had nine rebounds.
Hayden Brown scored 26 to lead The Citadel (0-2), which attempted 33 3-point shots, converting 14. Kaelon Harris added 16 points, 11 rebounds and five assists. Kaiden Rice scored 11.
The Citadel made Georgia sweat late in the game.
After trailing by as many as 10 in the second half, The Citadel twice came within a basket, first on a 3-pointer by Brown to make it 74-73 about midway through the half. The Bulldogs then closed to 84-82 with 3:01 left to play.
But that was as close as they got.
A three-point play by Edwards and a nifty spinning move by fellow freshman Wheeler helped push Georgia's lead to 94-86 with just over a minute to play.
Georgia jumped out to a 48-40 halftime lead behind 10 points each from Edwards and Ngumezi.
The Bulldogs shot 44 percent from the field (17 of 38), in what was a clean first half, as Georgia committed just three turnovers over the first 20 minutes, compared to 12 for the Citadel.
Georgia never trailed as the first half saw the Bulldogs lead by as many as 10 points with 1:58 left on a 3-pointer by Edwards before a 3-pointer by Brown and a dunk by Harris brought the Bulldogs of the Southern Conference within five.
--Field Level Media
