Georgia likely locks up another NCAA trip behind big game from Kanon Catchings

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Celebrating a win that surely locked up their second straight trip to the NCAA Tournament, the Georgia Bulldogs could afford to chuckle at Kanon Catchings delivering a Globetrotters-type pass to go along a career-best scoring night.

Catchings knocked down seven 3-pointers and finished with 32 points, but the highlight of a 98-88 victory over No. 16 Alabama might’ve been his behind-the-back pass that set up a thunderous slam by Somto Cyril.

“I had to laugh about it because coach (Mike White) gets on us all the time in practice for throwing behind-the-back passes,” said Smurf Millender, who added 12 points and made two huge 3s down the stretch. “I wish I could’ve seen coach’s face when he threw that pass.”

“It worked this time, so he can’t say much,” Catchings chimed in with a sly grin.

Indeed, White had no complaints after Georgia’s biggest victory of the season, which ended Alabama’s eight-game winning streak.

“That was one of those ‘No! No! No! Great pass,’” White quipped. “We’ll laugh about it tomorrow.”

While Catchings was the undisputed star of the night, this was certainly a team effort for the Bulldogs (21-9, 9-8 Southeastern Conference) in their final home game of the season before a raucous sellout crowd.

Georgia controlled the boards 40-30, dominated the paint with a 40-18 scoring edge, and finished with a 25-9 lead in second-chance points. Blue Cain chipped in with 16 points, Kareem Stagg had 10 and Cyril grabbed 10 rebounds.

“That was a high-level college basketball game,” White said. “Both teams just made shot after shot. It was rockin’ in there. Alabama had some big responses to our made shots, and we had some big responses to their made shots.”

While most projections already had Georgia making the 68-team NCAA field, White told his team afterward that they undoubtedly locked up their spot with a sixth victory over a Quad 1 team.

He’s looking forward to a longer run than last year’s one-and-done effort, which ended quickly with a 21-point rout by Gonzaga.

“I think the SEC is gonna get a bunch of teams in,” White said. “I think a bunch of teams from the SEC are gonna be dangerous. If we continue to improve and ride this momentum, I think we can be one of those teams.”

The Bulldogs will certainly be a threat to advance if Catchings can continue to play like he did against the Crimson Tide.

The sophomore forward, who transferred to Athens after spending his freshman season at BYU, scored 20 points before halftime and sparked a 12-0 run that gave Georgia a lead it never relinquished to the Crimson Tide (22-8, 12-5), despite repeated runs by a team that had not lost in more than a month.

“I go into every game with the mindset that I’ll have a game like that,” Catchings said. “My teammates are always telling me to shoot the ball, even when I don’t feel like I’m shooting well. The first couple of 3s I took missed for me, but I just kept shooting the ball.”

This is rather rare territory for a school that is far more known for its storied football program.

Georgia has posted its most regular-season wins since 2001-02, and this marks only the third time in school history that the Bulldogs have reached 20 wins in three straight seasons. Presuming the NCAA berth is forthcoming, it will mark only the fourth time they’ve made back-to-back appearances.

The next step is winning an NCAA game for the first time in 24 years. Since then, they’ve made only four appearances in the Big Dance, going down in their opening game each time. They haven’t gotten past the first weekend since 1996 under Tubby Smith.

“Hopefully,” White said, “we can continue to grow this program and grow this fan base.”

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