Win Doesn’t Upset Georgia

It turned out that two first-round upsets in Chicago were enough for one day, but that didn’t stop Georgia Coach Jim Harrick’s heart from racing a bit when the Murray State Racers briefly threatened to make it three upsets in the four-game set.

No. 14 Murray State held a one-point lead with 16 minutes left in Friday’s late game but No. 3 Georgia finished with a surge to earn an 85-68 win at the United Center.

Georgia will face Southern Illinois on Sunday in a second-round East Regional game.

Murray State (19-13) actually hung tough well into the second half, cutting the Georgia lead to 64-59 with 8:40 left on Justin Burdine’s basket, but several key shots by Georgia sophomore forward Jarvis Hayes doomed any Murray State comeback hopes.

Hayes finished with a career-high 31 points, while his brother Jonas chipped in 14 off the bench in relief of center Steve Thomas, who played only 16 minutes because of illness.

“This was my first NCAA [tournament] game,” Jarvis Hayes said. “I just wanted to go out and make a statement.”

Georgia (22-9) also got a big game from sophomore point guard Rashad Wright, who had 16 points, 10 assists and did a stellar defensive job on Murray State star Burdine after Harrick made the defensive switch midway through the first half.

“Point guards help you in the NCAAs, believe me,” Harrick said of Wright.

In 1995, at UCLA, Harrick rode the heroics of point guard Tyus Edney to the national championship.