ATHENS, Ga. (AP) -- Western Carolina guard Kevin Martin did everything he could. He hit 3-pointers, he dunked, he made short jumpers in the lane.

When his amazing run was over -- 22 points in a 9.5-minute span of the second half -- the Catamounts had pulled within eight points of Georgia. The lead eventually dwindled to four, but the Bulldogs recovered in time to hold on for a 78-67 victory Friday night.

It was the first game for new Georgia coach Dennis Felton, but his debut was overshadowed by Martin's 44 points. That left Felton two points shy of his career high, which he reached in last season's opener against Coastal Carolina.

Against Georgia, Martin had 35 in the second half.

"It doesn't mean anything when you lose," Martin said.

Western Carolina trailed by 18 at the half, thanks mostly to a 10-minute field goal drought. Martin had only nine points at the break.

He ended the dry spell about two minutes into the second half with a dunk, then kept scoring.

"He didn't force any shots," Catamounts coach Steve Shurina said. "Everything he got came within the framework of our offense."

That scheme left Georgia forward Damien Wilkins a bit jealous.

"Everything they did went through him," Wilkins said. "There was no such thing as a bad shot. That's fun when it's like that. That's what it was like for me and all of us in high school, man. Just go score."

But Martin wanted the victory more than the points. When asked if this was his best game, he shook his hand. The 46 points against Coastal Carolina, then?

"No, probably the 37 I had against UNC (Greensboro)," he said, referring to a game last February that Western Carolina won 75-63.

Winning this one was made nearly impossible by that first-half slump.

"As you can see, that first half came back to haunt us pretty badly," Martin said. "We played the first five minutes just fine, then we couldn't buy a basket."

The Catamounts made it interesting, though. Georgia lost point guard Rashad Wright and Chris Daniels for most of the second half with cramps, and nearly lost all of a 10-point lead in the final six minutes, mostly thanks to Martin.

"I don't ever want my team to let a guy score 30 points, much less 44," Felton said. "That's a first in my career. I'm extremely disappointed that we allowed him to score those points."

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