Georgia defeats UNC-Asheville 79-58

ATHENS, Ga. — Ricky McPhee, a walk-on until this year, scored a career-high 20 points to lead Georgia to a 79-58 win over North Carolina-Asheville on Tuesday night.

McPhee hit 8 of 9 field goals, including 4 of 5 3-pointers. Travis Leslie added 17 points and Trey Thompkins scored 16 for Georgia (2-2). Albert Jackson came off the bench to score 10 for the Bulldogs.

John Williams scored 14 for UNC-Asheville (0-4) and Sean Smith added 12.

UNC-Asheville followed a season-long trend in falling behind fast as Georgia bolted to a 16-2 lead less than 4 minutes into the game.

McPhee had five of his 13 first-half points during the spurt.

Thompkins got seven of his 13 first-half points in the final 4:35 of the half.

The game was a homecoming of sorts for UNC-Asheville coach Eddie Biedenbach, who was an assistant under Hugh Durham at Georgia during the 1980s.