After trailing No. 3 Michigan State by 28 points in the Maui Invitational on Tuesday afternoon, Georgia freshman Anthony Edwards burst onto the national stage and nearly led his Bulldogs to a come-from-behind win for the ages. Nearly. The Bulldogs fell short in their upset bid, falling 93-85 to the preseason No. 1 Spartans, but not without a memorable performance by Edwards in the second half.

To say Edwards caught fire in that effort would not be an exaggeration (by much). After the Spartans held him to just four first-half points which contributed to Sparty's 21-point halftime lead, Edwards lit up the Lahaina Civic Center in Maui with 33 second-half points as the Bulldogs erased their 28-point deficit all the way down to two in the final five minutes. From there, the Spartans closed on an 18-12 run led by Cassius Winston and Xavier Tillman knocking down big free throws late.

Edwards finished with 37 points on 11-of-26 shooting from the floor, 7-of-16 shooting from 3-point range and pulled down a team-high six rebounds.

To put into context just how absurdly impressive Edwards and his 37 points were ...

  • The most from a Georgia player since J.J. Frazier scored 37 against Mississippi State in 2015
  • The most ever from a Georgia freshman
  • Six points shy of the Maui Invitational single-game record, set by Adam Morrison in 2005 when he scored 43 against Michigan State
  • A personal career-high, breaking his previous record of 29 set Nov. 12 against The Citadel
  • More points than Syracuse and James Madison scored (as a team) in losses to Virginia this season

"I've been a part of some great individual performances, but it's hard for me to grade an individual performance when you don't win the game," said UGA coach Tom Crean. "But the bottom line is that Anthony is just scratching the surface."

Edwards is considered a certain lottery pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.

As for Michigan State, Edwards was the big story but Sparty blowing another game as a big favorite would have trumped it. After starting No. 1 in the AP and Coaches Polls, they lost two of their first five games -- including a 71-66 loss Monday to Virginia Tech as big favorites -- before nearly blowing a 28 point lead to UGA.

Unlike MSU's collapse Monday, however, preseason All-American Cassius Winston found himself a groove. He spent much of the Virginia Tech game in foul trouble and unable to get going, but against the Bulldogs he scored 28 on an efficient 10-of-16 shooting to go along with a game-high eight assists.

With the loss, Georgia falls to the bottom of the bracket where it will compete with the loser of UCLA-Chaminade for seventh place on Wednesday. Michigan State advances to face the winner of the Kansas-BYU game that will take place later this evening.