Men's Basketball Plays Georgia State Tuesday Night

Dec. 3, 2001

Tonight's Game
Game 6: Georgia (5-0) vs. Georgia State (2-2)
Tuesday, December 4, 2001 Atlanta, Ga.
Broadcast Information
TV: Live cable telecast by Fox SportsNet South (Ron Thulin and Barry Booker).
Georgia Radio: Georgia Bulldog Radio Network (74 stations for basketball), broadcast by Scott Howard (Play-by-Play) & Jeff Dantzler (Color). Local stations: WSB-AM (750) in Atlanta & WNGC-FM (106.1) in Athens. Actual Tipoff Time: 7:37 p.m. (EST)
On the World Wide Web
For up-to-date stats, notes and other information, log on to:
www.georgiadogs.com
To listen to Georgia games via the internet, log on to the following address:
http://www.broadcast.com/sports/ncaa/georgia/MensBasketball/

PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS Georgia Bulldogs (5-0 this season, 16-15 in 2000-01) Head Coach: Jim Harrick (31-35 in third season at Georgia) Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Cl. Hometown PPG RPG F - 55 Steve Thomas 6-8 235 So. Carrollton, Ga. 8.8 7.0 F - 50 Chris Daniels 6-7 210 So. Albany, Ga. 9.6 6.4 G - 4 Tony Cole 5-11 175 Jr. Baton Rouge, La. 6.4 3.6* G - 5 Ezra Williams 6-4 208 Jr. Marietta, Ga. 21.4 8.4 G - 3 Rashad Wright 6-1 170 So. Statesboro, Ga. 8.0 4.6* Top Reserves F - 33 Jonas Hayes 6-6 200 So. Atlanta, Ga. 11.0 6.4 G - 15 Mike Patrick 6-4 195 Jr. Peachtree City, Ga. 2.3 0.8

Georgia State Panthers (2-2 this season, 29-5 in 2000-01) Head Coach: Lefty Driesell (81-44 in fifth season at Ga. State) Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Cl. Hometown PPG RPG F - 5 Thomas Terrell 6-7 240 Sr. Brookhaven, Miss. 18.5 6.5 F - 1 Bam Campbell 6-5 225 Sr. Memphis, Tenn. 5.3 3.3 C - 32 Nate Williams 6-11 220 So. Freeport, Ill. 11.5 4.8 G - 12 Darryl Cooper 6-3 185 Jr. Stone Mountain, Ga. 6.0 5.0* G - 30 Leroy Davis 6-4 200 Jr. Tuscaloosa, Ala. 8.0 3.0 Top Reserves G - 2 Lamont McIntosh 6-3 170 So. Lithonia, Ga. 10.3 4.3* F - 31 Cedric Patton 6-7 185 Jr. Huntsville, Ala. 6.8 1.3 *Assists Per Game Dogs Shoot for Sixth Straight Win
Georgia seeks to run its unbeaten streak for the young season to six games when it plays Georgia State at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta on Tuesday night. This game begins a challenging week for the Bulldogs, who return home to play host to Minnesota on Friday and Georgia Tech on Sunday before taking a week off for Fall Term final exams.

In their last game, the Dogs improved to 5-0 with an 81-73 victory over Colorado last Saturday in Athens. Colorado controlled this game for much of the first 35 minutes. But Georgia using just six players after Chris Daniels had fouled out with 9:54 left overtook the Buffs by shutting down their inside offense and getting clutch play from their own frontcourt players. More information from this game can be found later in this notes package.

The Bulldogs have won their first five games for the first time since the 1994-95 season. No Georgia team since the Final Four squad of 1983 has started the season with six straight wins. That team went 9-0 before dropping its SEC opener at Tennessee.

Georgia will attempt to prolong its streak at a venue that hasn't produced good results in the past. Bulldog teams are 4-8 all-time at the Georgia Dome, site of four previous SEC Tournaments (1995-98-99-00) and seven other regular-season appearances by Georgia.

Georgia vs. Georgia State
Tonight's game is the sixth meeting between these two schools in basketball. Georgia owns a 4-1 lead in the series.

This game will be the first time they've met anywhere besides Stegeman Coliseum in Athens. Following is a list of all five previous games:

Date Ga.-GSU Site Nov. 26, 1982 99 - 62 (H) Dec. 15, 1984 89 - 53 (H) Dec. 14, 1985 104 - 64 (H) Nov. 26, 1996 85 - 47 (H) Nov. 17, 2000 79 - 91 (H)

The game tonight is also the second installment of a 2-year home-and-home agreement between the schools. They tipped off the 2001 season in Athens when Georgia State got 30 points from Shernard Long and 29 from Thomas Terrell in a 91-79 victory. Four players from each team who played in that contest return to play in tonight's meeting, two starters for Georgia and three for Georgia State.

This will be the third time that coaches Jim Harrick and Lefty Driesell have faced one another. In addition to last year's meeting, the only previous time came in 1986, when Driesell's Maryland squad defeated Harrick's Pepperdine team in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, 69-64 in Long Beach, Calif.

Knee Sprain Sidelines Hayes 2-4 Weeks
The cruel, fickle finger of fate doused Georgia Basketball and, specifically, Jarvis Hayes with a cold shower when Hayes went down with a knee injury during practice on Saturday, Nov. 24. The Bulldogs had made great strides, somewhat unexpectedly, in winning their first three games, and Hayes had been a big reason why.

Hayes, along with twin brother Jonas, had waited almost 19 months just to play an organized basketball game. The two had transferred from Western Carolina in the spring of 2000, sitting out the Oe01 season before gaining their eligibility.

As it turns out, Jarvis' injury was diagnosed to be just a mild sprain of the MCL in his right knee. The recovery process is expected to keep him out at least through next weekend and, perhaps, until mid-December.

Fallout from Hayes Injury
Head coach Jim Harrick has few appealing options as he attempts to replace injured starter Jarvis Hayes. The Bulldogs now have just six available players who have logged significant minutes.

The Samford game last Monday gave a strong indication that Harrick favors putting both point guards, Rashad Wright and Tony Cole, on the court simultaneously. It no doubt gives Georgia one of the SEC's smallest lineups but also one of its most athletic. Against Samford, Cole and Wright played 67 of a possible 80 minutes.

Another option could be to split Hayes' minutes between juniors Mike Patrick and Richard Wehunt. Patrick proved that he's capable of providing valuable minutes last Saturday, when he scored eight points and added three assists and two steals in 31 minutes. It was his first 30-minute game since late in the 2000 season.

Fast Start Earns Ezra SEC P-O-W
Georgia coaches are seeking the consistency that eluded Ezra Williams in his first year of college basketball in 2001. If the first five games were any indicator, it looks as if he1s starting to find it.

Williams has carried the Bulldogs' offense in four of their first five games, having scored at least 20 points in four games to date. Just as important, he's leading the Dogs in rebounding at 8.4 caroms per game. Twice already he has posted "double-doubles" and in Georgia's two wins last week over Samford and Colorado, he pulled down 21 total, 12 in the first contest and nine last Saturday against the Buffaloes.

The Marietta, Ga., native missed the 2000 season after being declared a non-qualifier by the NCAA, despite two separate appeals in his behalf by Georgia, the last of which was in early January of 2000.

Georgia at the Georgia Dome
Following is an annual breakdown of Georgia1s games at the Georgia Dome, including its appearance in the first-ever college basketball game there:

1992 (0-1) Lost to UCLA
1993 (0-1) Lost to Kansas
1994 (1-1) Def. Pitt, Lost to Alabama
1995 (1-0) Def. Virginia Tech
1996 (1-0) Def. Brigham Young
1997 (1-2) Lost to W. Va., Def. Miss. State

Lost to Ole Miss

1998 (0-2) Lost to Fresno St., Alabama
2000 (0-1) Lost to Arkansas

Odds & Ends Thus Far This Season
> Not even the Georgia coaches could have predicted how well the Bulldogs have rebounded thus far this season. They had, in fact, feared much worse because this roster features no one over 6-8. But Georgia currently has an average rebounding margin of +7.8 and has outdone every opponent thus far in that category. Most prominent of those games was Georgetown, against which the Bulldogs dominated the boards, 52-37.

It's also doubtful that anyone could have predicted that a guard would be the Dogs' leading rebounder thus far, either. Ezra Williams already has two "double-doubles" this season, something he didn't do all of last year.

One more thing that few could have predicted: Georgia's current prowess at the free throw line. The Bulldogs closed out the Georgetown game by scoring their last 12 points on foul shots. Since the last 1:19 of that game, Georgia has made 57 of its last 70 free throws (81%). Not bad for a team that lost its two most frequent and accurate FT shooters from last season (D.A. Layne, Anthony Evans).

> Granted, it didn't count for anything, but Jarvis Hayes' 40 points in the exhibition win over EA Sports was the highest point total by a Georgia player in any type of game since 1984 (Vern Fleming - 44 pts.). Incidentally, this was against the same EA Sports team that claimed both North Carolina and Florida as victims on its regional tour.

> The 15 steals Georgia had against Georgetown was the highest total in the 2-plus seasons of the Jim Harrick era in Athens.

Chris Daniels doesn't grab your attention on the basketball court, mainly because he's not one of Georgia's primary scorers. But his linescores thus far have demonstrated his all-around ability. He currently leads the Bulldogs in two categories, blocked shots and steals, and is second in FG percentage.

Georgia's performance two weeks ago against Georgia Southern bore an uncanny resemblance to its game against Mississippi State last season. In the GSU game the Bulldogs rang up 63 first-half points four shy of the school record for most in one half and shot an amazing 74 percent in the process. In last season's game vs. MSU, they shot 68 percent in the first period, led 53-35 at halftime and cruised to a 94-73 win, the same score as the GSU contest last week.

About Georgia's Three Walk-Ons
Head coach Jim Harrick has welcomed non-scholarship members of the Georgia basketball program. Mike Patrick, in fact, walked on in 1999, became the first such player in Harrick's coaching career to earn a starting berth and untimately won an athletic scholarship in the program.

Georgia has three walk-ons among its current roster. They include: 25 DANIEL SZYMANEK...a resident of Memphis, Tenn...Attended Christian Brothers High School there...A native of Poland, he immigrated to the U.S. with parents Kazimiera (mother), Zbigniew (father) and brother Thomas when Daniel was age 3.

1 BRIAN WATTS...from Roswell, Ga. Is attending Georgia one year ahead of his Roswell High classmates as part of UGA's early-enrollment program.

40 RICHARD WEHUNT...from Hoschton, Ga...more information is available on Wehunt in the 2002 Georgia media guide.

Dean Set to Join Dogs in December
The loss of Jarvis Hayes should be offset to a certain degree by the mid-December addition of shooting guard Mike Dean. While the two don't play the same position, Dean will at least present coach Jim Harrick with more options to consider.

Dean was a prolific scorer the past two seasons at Class AA Coosa High School in Rome, Ga. He averaged 31.3 points per game there as a senior and had spent much of the summer in Athens, working out with the Georgia team.

Because of an administrative problem with his transcript from Coosa and with one from Rome High School, which he attend as a freshman and sophomore he did not meet the NCAA initial-eligibility standards in time to enroll for Fall Term. In compliance with NCAA rules, he had to re-sign with the Dogs during the early signing period. He's on track to join the team after Fall Semester, which ends Dec. 14. Though it's unlikely, he would be eligible to play in Georgia1s Dec. 15 game at South Alabama.

Wilkins Must Sit Out Oe02 Season
Aside from Jonas Hayes, Georgia1s other MVP of the preseason was likely Damien Wilkins. The nephew of former UGA All-American Dominique Wilkins, he played every position on the floor during practices and drew raves from the coaching staff for his work ethic and leadership ability.

Wilkins transferred to Georgia last June after playing two seasons at N.C. State. Georgia had filed an appeal in his behalf to waive NCAA rule 14.5.5.2.10A, requiring any Division I basketball transfer to sit out one year before gaining eligibility at his new school. The Administrative Review subcommittee at the NCAA rendered its ruling Wednesday, Nov. 7.

Early Signing Period Nets Two
The week-long early national signing period produced two highly-regarded signees for the Bulldogs:

ALEXANDER JOHNSON
Center, 6-9, Albany, Ga.
A senior at Dougherty High School...Last year he averaged 28.2 points and 16 rebounds per game, leading Dougherty to a 28-4 record and the Georgia Class AAAA state championship. He was named the AAAA tournament MVP after he averaged over 30 points during Dougherty's run through the tournament...Rated the nation1s 25th-best senior by Blue Chip Hoops...Ranked the fifth-best center prospect by ESPN.com.

WAYNE ARNOLD
Guard, 6-3, Lilburn, Ga.
A senior at Berkmar High School...Last season he was the leading scorer averaging 16.0 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.8 assists on the Patriots' team that went 29-4, won its second straight Class AAAAA title and was ranked among USA Today's top 10 prep teams...As a sophomore starter, Arnold averaged 12.9 points per game, making an even 50 percent of his 162 three-point tries. Last year he was considered the best player on a team from which four players earned scholarships to NCAA Division I schools.

University of Georgia Athletics

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