University of Georgia Athletics
Georgia vs. South Carolina Game Notes
February 26, 2002 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 26, 2002
Game Notes in PDF Version
South Carolina (16-11, 6-8) at #16 Georgia (20-7, 9-5)
Wednesday, February 27, 2002 - Athens, Ga.
Broadcast Information
TV: None.
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)
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| Georgia Bulldogs (20-7 overall, 9-5 in SEC games) |
| Head Coach: Jim Harrick (46-42 in third season at Georgia) |
| Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Cl. Hometown PPG RPG |
| F - 24 Jarvis Hayes 6-6 200 So. Atlanta, Ga. 17.9 5.1 |
| F - 50 Chris Daniels 6-7 210 So. Albany, Ga. 11.9 |
| C - 55 Steve Thomas 6-8 235 So. Carrollton, Ga. 8.7 6.1 |
| G - 5 Ezra Williams 6-4 208 Jr. Marietta, Ga. 17.1 5.7 |
| G - 3 Rashad Wright 6-1 170 So. Statesboro, Ga. 8.3 4.7* |
| Top Reserves |
| F - 33 Jonas Hayes 6-6 200 So. Atlanta, Ga. 7.2 4.6 |
| G- 23 Fred Gibson 6-4 180 Fr. Waycross, Ga. 5.6 1.1 |
| South Carolina Gamecocks (16-11 overall, 6-8 in SEC games) |
| Head Coach: Dave Odom (16-11 in first season at South Carolina) |
| Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Cl. Hometown PPG RPG |
| F - 55 Rolando Howell 6-9 220 So. Columbia, S.C. 8.1 5.6 |
| F - 31 Chuck Eidson 6-7 205 Jr. Summerville, S.C. 9.2 3.7 |
| C - 12 Marius Petravicius 6-10 250 Jr. Klteneu, Lithuania 7.5 5.1 |
| G - 10 Jamel Bradley 6-2 170 Sr. Beckley, W.Va. 13.7 2.4* |
| G - 5 Aaron Lucas 5-11 185 Sr. Columbia, S.C. 10.2 4.0* |
| Top Reserves |
| G - 23 Chris Warren 6-5 195 Jr. Garland, Texas 4.9 2.5 |
| F - 50 Tony Kitchings 6-10 260 Jr. Aiken, S.C. 5.5 5.0 |
| *Assists Per Game |
Dogs Begin Critical Week With Home Finale vs. Gamecocks
Georgia plays its last home game of the season tomorrow tonight when the Bulldogs play host to South Carolina. They improved to 20-7 overall, 9-5 in the SEC, with a 55-54 win at LSU last Saturday, a game in which they scored the game-winning basket with 22 seconds left and had to stop LSU on its last two possessions.
The victory helped Georgia join Florida and Kentucky in a 3-way tie atop the Eastern Division standings as this week began. No Georgia team since 1990 has been this close to first place at this late stage of the season. That year, the Bulldogs claimed the only regular-season title in the program's history, going 13-5 and winning by one full game over Alabama and LSU.
With two games left in the regular season, Georgia is guaranteed to finish no lower than third in the East. The Dogs' win at LSU coupled with losses by South Carolina and Tennessee last weekend created a 3-game gap between third and fourth place. Georgia must win its games, however, if it wishes to either win the East or finish second and get a coveted bye in the SEC Tournament first round.
The Bulldogs tonight will also salute the lone senior on the 2002 squad: forward Ryan Pevey. Originally a walk-on in Jim Harrick's first season at Georgia, Pevey earned an athletic scholarship and has become a valuable sub in his final season.
Leftovers from the LSU Game
How important did the outcome of this game become? By the time the second half began, Georgia knew that Florida had lost at Alabama, South Carolina had lost at Auburn and that Tennessee trailed Vanderbilt by nine at half-time.
Georgia got season-low numbers in three categories in this game, and there's a direct correlation among all three: FTs made, FTs attempted and offensive rebounds. Normally one of the SEC's best offensive rebounding teams, Georgia got less than half its average against LSU (7). Stellar offensive board work, more than any other factor, explains why Georgia has the league's second-best ratio of free-throw attempts, compared to its opponents' (+129).
This was Georgia's first 1 point win this season. The last time the Bulldogs had won with last-second execution came on Jan. 12, when Ezra Williams with good luck as much as anything scooped up a loose ball and canned a 3-pointer to beat Tennessee at the buzzer. Since then, they've lost three games by five or fewer points.
Georgia in the SEC
Following are a few tidbits about Georgia's history in the SEC:
Georgia's all-time record in SEC games, covering 69 years, is 429-621 (.409). That percentage ranks 11th of the 12 current SEC members.
Seven times in those 69 seasons, Georgia has won 10 or more SEC games: 1968, 1970, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1990, 1997.
Since the league was expanded and divided into East and West Divisions in 1992, Georgia has a 84-90 record. Just five times since then did Georgia have a league record of .500 or better (1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2001).
Georgia can claim one SEC regular-season championship (1990) and one SEC Tournament title (1983).
Georgia vs. South Carolina
Tonight's game is the 76th all-time meeting between these two schools in basketball. With four straight wins over Georgia and seven wins in the past nine meetings South Carolina holds a 38-37 lead in the series, which began in 1922 and has continued annually since 1992. These two schools met annually as non-conference opponents from 1938 until 1964.
Since Carolina joined the SEC in 1991-92, the two schools have split their regular-season series seven times. Georgia has completed a sweep once (1994) and South Carolina has done it twice (1998, 2001). That 1994 season marked the only time since the league's expansion year that Georgia has won a game in Columbia. The two teams have also met once in SEC Tournament play. Georgia won that lone contest in the 1997 SEC Tourney semifinal round in Memphis.
A site breakdown of this series is as follows:
Games in Athens: Georgia leads 21-13
Games in Columbia: USC leads 24-12
Neutral-Site Games: Georgia leads 4-2
SEC Tournament Games: Georgia leads 1-0
Since USC joined SEC in O92: USC leads 12-11
20-Win Seasons the Exception
Given Georgia's low pre-season expectations, a 20-win season seems almost miraculous for these Bulldogs. But their win at LSU gave Georgia its first such season since 1998 and just the 10th one in 97 seasons of basketball on the UGA campus. Following are all 10 of the 20-win seasons:
Year (Head Coach) Record 1931 (H. Stegeman) 23-2 1940 (Elmer Lampe) 20-6 1983 (Hugh Durham) 24-10 1985 (Hugh Durham) 22-9 1988 (Hugh Durham) 20-16 1990 (Hugh Durham) 20-9 1996 (Tubby Smith) 21-10 1997 (Tubby Smith) 24-9 1998 (Ron Jirsa) 20-15 2002 (Jim Harrick) 20-7
Here's to a Fast Start
You must reach deep into the annals of Georgia basketball to find a start that equaled the 14-2 slate of the current Bulldogs. Seventy-one years' worth of reaching, in fact.
The 1930-31 Georgia team coached by Herman J. Stegeman, namesake of the current arena in Athens went 23-2 overall. The Bulldogs lost at Georgia Tech in the 14th game of the season and didn't lose again until the finale against Maryland in the old Southern Conference tournament.
About Georgia's Schedule
Last season, when Georgia's schedule was ranked as the nation's toughest, the Bulldogs played four non-conference games on the home floors of their opponents: Minnesota, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest and Fresno State...all post-season teams. On purpose or not, that has changed in 2002.
Georgia played its pre-SEC slate with just three true road games, all on the closing road trip in December: South Alabama, Pepperdine and Hawaii. Here's on fact that is testament to the quality of the SEC: Georgia hasn't played a team whose RPI is over 100 since the Miami (Ohio) game on Dec. 21.
Gibson Role Grows Each Game
Less than a week after his last appearance in a football uniform, freshman Fred Gibson found a telephone booth and made the necessary transformation to the hardwood. In just 11 games since the transition, he's made an impact that seems to be growing with each day.
The Waycross, Ga., native was a highly-regarded wing prospect at Ware County High School. He averaged over 20 points per game as a senior and played in the annual GACA North-South All-Star game last summer in Athens.
Gibson became the third two-sport participant to try the football/basketball duet in recent years. Fellow receiver Terrance Edwards had a neglible impact in 14 games of the 1999 season. Ex-tight end Larry Brown, however, had great success as a low-post player in the 1996-98 seasons.
Below is a sampling of stats compiled by the aforementioned duo:
Larry Brown Year G-GS PPG RPG FG% FT% 1996 8-0 0.5 0.9 .250 .000 1997 26-0 4.6 3.4 .603 .729 1998 28-7 6.3 4.2 .462 .779 Terrence Edwards 1999 14-0 1.9 1.0 .250 .571
Odds & Ends Thus Far This Season
By all objective accounts, Georgia seems virtually assured of a second straight NCAA Tournament berth. Only twice before has Georgia received NCAA invitations in consecutive years: 1990-91 and again in 1996-97.
Come Selection Sunday on March 10, the Bulldogs can include the following items in their dossier:
* RPI rating in Top 20 since late November...currently at No. 9, with a Strength of Schedule rating of 10th.
* 8-5 record against the current Top 50 RPI, with 4-2 record vs. current Top 20, 3-2 record vs. current Top 10 RPI.
* Road wins at then-No. 8-ranked Kentucky at then-No. 2-ranked Florida.
* No loss to any team with a current RPI higher than 100. The two highest? Ga. State (99) and Auburn (96).
Several times this year coach Jim Harrick has stressed the need for his starting unit to be intact and healthy. Otherwise, the Bulldogs are likely to struggle.
During the SEC schedule, Georgia1s preferred first five Wright, Daniels, Williams, Thomas and Jarvis Hayes have started just seven games together (6-1 record): VU1, UK1, UT1, Ole Miss, Miss. State, Auburn and LSU. Any other combination has produced a 3-4 record.
Georgia's 1-2 scoring punch of Ezra Williams and Jarvis Hayes represents one of the best such combos in recent Georgia history. It's the best, in fact, since the SEC championship year of 1990, when Alec Kessler and Litterial Green joined for 38.5 points per game. Here are some of the best 2-man combinations of the past 20 years of Georgia hoops:
1989-90 Season (38.5 ppg) Alec Kessler (21.0 ppg) Litterial Green (17.5 ppg) 1980-81 (36.1 ppg) Dominique Wilkins (23.6 ppg) Terry Fair (12.5 ppg) 2001-02 Season (35.3 ppg) Jarvis Hayes (18.0 ppg) Ezra Williams (17.3 ppg) 1988-89 Season (34.7 ppg) Alec Kessler (19.2 ppg) Litterial Green (15.5 ppg) 1983-84 Season (33.6 ppg) Vern Fleming (19.8 ppg) James Banks (13.8 ppg)
Yet another of many examples that illustrate the all-around ability of Chris Daniels...
Daniels ranks second among all Buldogs with 81 assists (3.0/game) and has an outside shot at reaching 100 for the season. A check of Georgia basketball stats in the past 25 seasons reveals that no player playing strictly in the forward position has come close to 81 assists, let alone 100. Shandon Anderson and James Banks were both listed at 6-6, both played what is considered the O31 position, and both had over 80 assists in a season. But no one except Daniels, whose primary station is the O41 position, has even approached that figure.
All 12 SEC schools currently have RPI ratings below 100. Ten of them are 54 or better. Four schools Alabama, Kentucky, Florida and Georgia are 11 or better.
In Georgia's win over Ole Miss, point guard Rashad Wright became just the 2nd player in UGA history to hand out 100 assists in each of his first two seasons. The other? Career assist leader Litterial Green (1989-92), who dealt out 133 and 120 in his first two years, respectively.Incidentally, Wright needed all 31 games of last season to reach 100, passing the mark in the Missouri game. Now, less than two seasons into his career, he already ranks 20th on the school's all-time assist chart with 229.
Stats you won't see in any information published by the SEC:
There are 19 players in the SEC that currently average at least 30 minutes per game. Georgia is the only school in the league with four such players. Two other schools Alabama and Tennessee each have three players over the 30-minute average. Arkansas, Auburn and Florida all have no player with such numbers.
LSU's Ronald Dupree has the SEC's highest per-game average of 35.6 minutes. Georgia's leader, Jarvis Hayes at 32.8, would rank 8th were this stat kept. Both Tennessee and LSU have two players among the top five.
Georgia has made a nice living at the free throw line this season, better than most SEC schools. Thus far, the Bulldogs have tried 129 more foul shots than their opponents, the third-best ratio in the league to Alabama's +140 margin and Miss. State's +134. For the sake of comparison, here are the bottom three in this category: Arkansas (-182), Vandy (-98) and Kentucky (+11).
One look at the 2nd-half shot chart of Georgia1s win at Florida on Jan. 19 reveals the breadth of Jarvis Hayes' offensive game. In that 2nd half, Hayes went 7x9 from the field. He scored on four different types of shots (2 putbacks/ dunks, a 3-pointer, 2 mid-range jump shots and and 2 dribble-drive pull-up jumpers) from seven different spots on the floor.
Here's a song with a familiar strain: Georgia has put together. The Bulldogs are contending for their first-ever SEC divisional title despite some no-so-pretty stats. Georgia ranks no better than 7th in nine of the 19 statistical categories kept by the SEC, no higher than 5th in five others. The five exceptions? Scoring (4th, 76.4 ppg), FT Shooting (3rd, 73.3%), 3-Pt. FG% Defense (1st, 29.3%), Assists (3rd, 15.6/game), Assist/TO Ratio (3rd, +1.06/1) and Offensive Rebounds (3rd, 14.5/game).
Last season's Georgia team fared no better in league statistics. It ranked 7th or lower in eight categories at season1s end.
Though Georgia doesn't rank high in many SEC statistics, some of its individuals rank among the league leaders in several categories. They include:
SCORING Jarvis Hayes - 2nd (18.0 ppg) Ezra Williams - 3rd (17.3 ppg) REBOUNDING Chris Daniels - 4th (8.1 rpg) Steve Thomas - 12th (6.2 rpg) Ezra Williams - 19th (5.7 rpg) ASSISTS Rashad Wright - 2nd (4.7 apg) BLOCKED SHOTS Chris Daniels - 8th (1.15 bpg) Steve Thomas - 9th (1.05 bpg) 3-PT. FGs MADE/GAME Ezra Williams - 4th (3.08/game) ASST./TO RATIO Rashad Wright - 2nd (+2.24/1) OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS Chris Daniels - 1st (3.42/game) OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS Chris Daniels - 8th(4.69/game)
Ezra Williams is currently on a pace that would break his pal D.A. Layne1s UGA record for most 3-point attempts in a season. When Layne set the mark in 2000 with 237 tries, he averaged 7.9 per game. Williams has thus far tried 217 three-pointers in 27 games the second-most of any SEC player, second to the 219 by Jamel Bradley of USC averaging 8.03 per contest. Williams had been the league's most frequent 3-point shooter all season until last Saturday.
In the never-ending pursuit of trivia... Witnesses of Georgia's 95-82 win over Ga. Tech on Dec. 9 saw a rare historical occurence. For just the third time in the past 23 years, three Bulldogs scored at least 20 points in the same game.
More Trivia ...Georgia failed to make a 3-point shot in its win over Ole Miss. Nothing new there. The last time Georgia didn't make a 3-pointer was you guessed it! when the Dogs defeated Ole Miss in Oxford last season. Last time before that? 189 games prior, in a 1995 loss to Kentucky.
Dogs in Top 25 for 7th Week
Georgia checks in at 16th in the current AP Top 25 poll, 15th in the ESPN/Coaches' poll. That makes seven consecutive weeks in which the Bulldogs have been ranked. The longest stretch in the polls by a Georgia team was the 9-week stint by the 1984 squad.
Dean Joins Dogs, Plays on Same Day
Freshman guard Mike Dean of Rome, Ga., joined the Georgia squad on Saturday, December 15. The significance of the date was the day after Fall Semester.
Dean 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.
Amazingly, he played in Georgia1s 79-70 win over South Alabama on the same day he gained his eligibility. He had made little or no impact in the nine games that followed. The Arkansas game on Jan. 23, however, may have signaled a coming-of-age for Dean. He played 17 minutes, by far a season high, scored nine points and added three assists.
Where Do UK, UF Wins Rank?
Research has revealed a fact that many suspected in the first place: 2nd-ranked Florida was the highest-ranked opponent that a Georgia team had ever beaten. Past UGA squads have enjoyed spotty success against Top 10 opponents, but never before had any team beaten two such teams at their respective arenas.
Georgia's all-time list of Top 10 victims:
Opp. Date Score Rank
Florida (A) 1/19/02 84-79 2nd
St. John's (N) 3/25/83 70-67 3rd
Kentucky (H) 1/8/94 94-90 (OT) 4th
Kentucky (H) 1/17/50 71-60 5th
Purdue (N) 3/16/96 76-69 5th
N. Carolina (N) 3/27/83 82-77 6th
Tennessee (H) 1/27/01 77-75 (2OT) 6th
Tennessee (H) 2/26/77 83-76 7th
Florida (A) 1/17/01 75-72 7th
Kentucky (A) 1/9/02 88-84 8th
Kentucky (H) 1/29/83 70-63 10th
Kentucky (H) 2/16/02 78-69 10th
Attendance Records to Fall
Winning is certainly the best medicine in basketball. Because of that, Georgia is working toward a banner year from the standpoint of attendance. After seven SEC home games, the Bulldogs have had 72,161 fans pass through the turnstiles for an average of 10,309. That factors out to 98 percent of Stegeman Coliseum's capacity for those seven conference home games. Include the fivepre-SEC games in the total, and Georgia1s home attendance has been 85 percent of capacity.
If tonight's home finale vs. South Carolina becomes a sellout, as anticipated, the overall average attendance for 2001-02 would be 9,064, a school record. The total attendance would be 117,834, which factors to be 86 percent of Stegeman's capacity.
Excluding tonight1s game, here are the top five-ranking attendance years in Stegeman Coliseum's history:
Season Avg. Attendance 2001-02 8,943
1990-91 8,822
1981-82 8,670
1995-96 8,287
2000-01 8,026
Harrick Nearing Milestone Victory
Coach Jim Harrick is quickly approaching a personal milestone: his 450th career victory. He enters tonight1s game with an overall record of 449-224 (.667). Among all active Division I coaches, Harrick began the season 28th on the list of career victories, also 28th when ranked by percentage.
Harrick will become the second Division I head coach to pass the 450 mark this season. Maryland's Gary Williams did it in November. California's Ben Braun began the season with 428 career victories, and the Bears just notched their 20th win last weekend.
When Georgia defeated Miss. State on Feb. 6, it pushed Harrick's record at Georgia four games over the .500 mark (44-40) for the first time in his 2-plus years in Athens.
Williams the SEC's P-O-W...Twice
Junior guard Ezra Williams was named SEC Player of the Week on Jan. 14 for his performance in wins over Kentucky and Tennessee, marking the second time this season he received the honor.
Williams scored 20 points, making six of 10 three-point shots, in the Kentucky game Jan. 9. In the Tennessee game he sank his most important shot, a buzzer-beating trey that gave the Bulldogs a 73-70 win.
Williams' appointment marked the third time of his career that he has won the honor. The SEC named him its Player of the Week last November after Georgia had defeated Georgetown and Georgia Southern and also for the week of Jan. 8-13, 2001, during which he scored 48 points in wins over Auburn and Ole Miss.
Daniels on SEC "Good Works" Team
Georgia sophomore Chris Daniels ranks among the Bulldogs' leaders in virtually every category except scoring: rebounding, assists, blocks. He also leads them in community service deeds and for that reason, he's been chosen as the Dogs' representative on the SEC "Good Works" team.
Among the many good deeds in which Daniels has participated include: * National Association of Basketball Coaches Reading Program * Boys & Girls Club Mentor Program * U.S. Marines "Toys for Tots" Program * Council on Aging Volunteer * Big Brother/Big Sister Mentor * Volunteer with the American Red Cross 9/11 Disaster Relief
A segment featuring Daniels reading to students at Barrow Elementary School will air on all of Jefferson Pilot's SEC games this week, including the Bulldogs' contests with Alabama and Florida.
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