Ant Man Edwards rallies Georgia with fast start, fast finish

Anthony Edwards scored the first seven points of the game and 10 of the last 12 as Georgia (8-3) rallied to beat Georgia Southern 73-64 Monday night. Edwards finished with 23 points to remain the highest-scoring freshman in the country. Edwards scored eight straight points over a two-minute span as the Bulldogs rallied from a 60-59 deficit with 5:16 to play. Georgia Southern (8-5) led by as much as seven points in the second half.

Fellow freshman Toumani Camara added a career-high 16 points for Georgia (8-3), most on dunks. Ike Smith led Georgia Southern with 25 points. Georgia remained unbeaten at home (7-0) and drew 10,412 fans two days before Christmas. Six forthcoming SEC games are already sold out. “We don’t get this win without this crowd,” said coach Tom Crean. “They were fantastic. They helped us rise up and earn a victory.”

Georgia has a week off before playing Austin Peay next Monday.

(At) SMU 85, Georgia St. 76: The Panthers’ seven-game winning streak ended Monday night. Kane Williams scored 22 points to lead three players in double figures for the Panthers (8-4), who shot just 36.6% from the floor.

(At) No. 18 Dayton 81, Grambling State 53: Ibi Watson scored a careerhigh 30 points in his first start Monday night and the Flyers (10-2) beat the Tigers (6-7) despite missing point guard Jalen Crutcher, who fell and hit his head during a loss to Colorado on Saturday. Dayton shuffled its guard rotation, and Watson made an immediate impact.

No. 21 Washington 72, Hawaii 61: Isaiah Stewart had 26 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Huskies (10-2) over the Rainbow Warriors (8-4) in the Diamond Head Classic semis in Honolulu.