A career night from guard Tyree Crump carried Georgia to a 92-75 win over Texas Southern on Monday night in Athens, Ga.
The junior poured in 25 points, sparked by 5-of-7 shooting from 3-point range, bettering his previous high of 17 achieved twice last season.
Four other Bulldogs scored in double figures. Nicolas Claxton had 15 points before fouling out with 2:47 to play, followed by Rayshaun Hammonds with 14, Derek Ogbeide with 13 and Teshaun Hightower with 10. Georgia shot 48.5 percent (32 of 66) from the floor and outrebounded the Tigers 50-35.
Derrick Bruce led Texas Southern with 17 points, followed by Jeremy Combs with 15, Trayvon Reed with 14 and Justin Hopkins with 10. The Tigers hit 35.7 percent of their field-goal attempts (25 of 70).
The contest was one of Georgia's better wins.
Texas Southern -- which has won the SWAC for six straight seasons -- competed in last year's NCAA Tournament and earlier this year beat Baylor 72-69 and handed Oregon a rare loss in Eugene last week, 89-84.
However, on this night, Texas Southern (3-6) never truly threatened, getting only as close as 13 points in the second half. Georgia (5-3) was able to maintain control, ultimately going up by as many as 24.
Georgia played arguably its best half of the year in jumping out to a 52-35 lead.
In the first half, the Bulldogs shot 56 percent from the floor (21 of 37), connecting on 6 of 15 3-point attempts while committing just five turnovers.
Texas Southern started well enough, jumping out to a 15-14 lead on a 3-pointer by Bruce, only to see the Bulldogs go on a 7-0 run to go ahead 21-15 with 11:40 left in the first half.
The Tigers would get back as close as three, but another surge by the Bulldogs, highlighted by a 9-0 run, bumped the lead to 40-25.
--Field Level Media
Texas Southern | Georgia | |
Derrick Bruce 17 | Scoring | Tyree Crump 25 |
Jalyn Patterson 5 | Assists | Tye Fagan 4 |
Trayvon Reed 7 | Rebounds | Derek Ogbeide 10 |
Trayvon Reed 5 | Free Throws Made | Tyree Crump 4 |
Jalyn Patterson 3 | Steals | Tyree Crump 2 |
Trayvon Reed 2 | Blocks | Nicolas Claxton 3 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Texas Southern | 75 | 35.7 | 9-33 | 16-24 | 13 | 34 | 2 | 10 | 9 |
Georgia | 92 | 48.5 | 11-22 | 17-22 | 18 | 45 | 6 | 5 | 15 |