When you have the opportunity to compete against a program like Notre Dame, putting on a good show in front of your home crowd is something you always want.

On Tuesday night at Stegeman Coliseum, Georgia, they achieved that goal by defeating the Fighting Irish 4-5, 69-48 in the SEC/ACC Challenge in front of an enthusiastic crowd of 8,045 spectators.

The win increased Georgia’s record to 8-1.

“It’s just fun for us to show the fans what we can do,” said the newcomer Asa Newell, who recorded his second double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds. “Having a really good ACC team and the fans showing their love is just a really good feeling.”

Dakota Leffew – who contributed 16 points for the Bulldogs – agreed that it was important to put on a good show for the fans.

“Oh yeah, we hope it makes them want to come to more games and things like that,” Leffew said. “I feel like we’re doing what we’re supposed to do. We can get more attention and maybe sell out next time, things like that.”

There was a lot for the fans to enjoy.

Although Georgia shot 44 percent (28 of 63), the Bulldogs once again dominated the boards and beat Notre Dame 40-27. The Bulldogs also enjoyed a 19:5 assists-to-turnover ratio, including strong play from Silas Demary Jr. who scored 11 points, but more impressively, he only committed two turnovers and made five steals.

Georgia’s five turnovers were the fewest by a Bulldog team since a 2018 SEC Tournament game against Vanderbilt.

Tyrin Lawrence provided seven assists without turnovers in 35 minutes, while Leffew added three assists without turnovers.

Defensively, Georgia held Notre Dame to 4 of 19 shooting from three-point range.

“We obviously finished very strongly. “They were really good for a few minutes in the second half, probably until we spread the game around eight minutes in,” head coach said Mike White said. “I thought our offensive rebounding was a big factor down the stretch. Our defense, our defensive efforts, thwarting a lot of their three-point attempts and tries was obviously a big factor. Additionally, our assistance-to-sales ratio continues to improve; We simply make better decisions. We slow it down a little bit, move it around a little bit.”

The Bulldogs are about to get even better.

When Georgia plays Grand Canyon at State Farm Arena in Atlanta on Dec. 14, the Bulldogs could have their entire roster as transfers DeShayne Montgomery will end his nine-game suspension at the start of the season for academic reasons.

Sources said Montgomery is expected to be admitted once his final exam scores are recorded.

“I think some things need to be clarified,” White said. “If we get the okay from the administration, then he will play. Whenever that is, he’ll be ready.”

After Georgia led by as many as 15 minutes, Notre Dame went on a 15-2 run to get within four minutes of a tie before a Leffew three-pointer increased the lead to seven with 12:48 left in the game.

From then on, the Irish wouldn’t get closer than six points.

A three-pointer by Demary Jr. pushed Georgia’s lead back to double digits, making it 52-41 with 8:14 left. From there, the Bulldogs kept rolling, outscoring the Irish 10-0 over the final 2:37 of the game.

“We just focus on ourselves. We grow. Our most important metric is growth,” Newell said. “If we just focus on ourselves, we’ll worry about the rest of the things like the rankings.”

It took the first five minutes of the game for the Bulldogs to get on track. Georgia missed its first nine shots, but once the ball started falling, Notre Dame struggled to keep up.

The score read 9-5 in favor of the Irish before a 13-0 run by Georgia led the Bulldogs to an 18-9 lead.

Georgia’s spurt was decided by the first of two three-pointers from Leffew before Newell took the lead.

The Bulldogs’ talented freshman didn’t have a single point with 5:45 left in the half. From there, Newell dominated the field, scoring 11 of Georgia’s final 13 points to take a 34-22 lead into halftime.

“He’s just a really talented guy. “He has such humility that he can get lost in a game and score in the flow of the game and just be the guy that catches some dump-offs,” White said of Newell. “He’s relentless on offense. He’s a great cutter and just finds a way. He scores them quietly sometimes.”

Box score

…Georgia started 0 of 9 from the field but shot 28 of 54 (52 percent) the rest of the way.

…The last time Georgia had five or fewer turnovers was in the 2018 SEC Tournament game against Vandy (March 7, 2018).

…Georgia had 19 FGs from the paint – Notre Dame had 19 FGs in the entire game.

…Notre Dame had 27 rebounds (the second straight game holding opponents under 30 rebounds and the fourth time this season)

…Georgia held ND to season-low points (48) and season-low G points (37 percent)

…Asa Newell recorded his second double-double and had his second 20-point game.

…Silas Demary Jr. recorded a career-high 5 steals (all in the first half).