Georgia rides Kanon Catchings’ career night to home upset of No. 16 Alabama
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
Alabama visited Stegeman Coliseum in Athens in search of a ninth straight win. Kanon Catchings and Georgia had other ideas.
Catchings scored a career-high 32 points —sinking seven three-pointers — as the Bulldogs stunned the No. 16 Crimson Tide 98-88 on Tuesday. After losing five of their previous six games, the Dawgs have now won four of their last five.
Blue Cain added 16, while Smurf Millender scored 12 and Kareem Stagg scored 10, as Georgia shot 53% on the evening while holding Alabama to 39%. The Bulldogs dominated in the paint, outscoring the Tide 40-18.
Alabama led, 20-18, with just over nine minutes played in the first half. But Georgia went on a 12-3 run spanning nearly five minutes to take a 32-23 lead with 6:05 to go in the period.
The Dawgs went into the halftime break with a 50-43 lead, an advantage that grew as much as 66-52 with 14:11 left in the game. The Tide, though, stayed in the hunt, later pulling within 90-85 with 1:36 to go. But this one belonged to Georgia, who put it out of reach for good behind a 7-0 run to make it 97-85 with 34 seconds left.
Labaron Philon led Alabama with 26 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the floor, including 4-of-7 from long distance. Latrell Wrightsell added 19 after going 5-of-11 from beyond the arc. Holloway chipped in 15.
Both teams are back in action on Saturday for their final games before the SEC Tournament. Georgia travels to Mississippi State while Alabama hosts Auburn.
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
