University of Georgia Athletics
Bulldogs to Make Biennial Trip to Alabama
February 17, 2003 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 17, 2003
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
Tonight's Game
Game 22: Georgia (14-7, 6-4) at Alabama (14-7, 4-6)
Tuesday, February 18, 2003 - Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Broadcast Information
TV: Live telecast by ESPN (Dave O'Brien and Larry Conley).
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: 9:05 p.m. (EST)
On the World Wide Web: For up-to-date stats, notes and other information, log on to: http://georgiadogs.ocsn.com
To follow Georgia games via the internet, log on to the following address: http://georgiadogs.ocsn.com/sports/m-baskbl/sched/geo-m-baskbl-sched.html
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS
Georgia Bulldogs (14-7 overall, 6-4 in SEC games) Head Coach: Jim Harrick (62-52 in fourth season at Georgia) Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Cl. Hometown PPG RPG F - 24 Jarvis Hayes 6-7 220 Jr. Atlanta, Ga. 17.2 4.2 F - 50 Chris Daniels 6-7 220 Jr. Albany, Ga. 10.4 7.0 F - 55 Steve Thomas 6-8 240 Jr. Carrollton, Ga. 9.8 7.1 G - 5 Ezra Williams 6-4 235 Sr. Marietta, Ga. 16.8 5.1 G - 3 Rashad Wright 6-3 190 Jr. Statesboro, Ga. 7.9 5.4* Top Reserves F - 33 Jonas Hayes 6-8 240 Jr. Atlanta, Ga. 7.5 4.9 G/F- 12 Damien Wilkins 6-7 220 Jr. Washington, N.C. 8.3 3.0*
Alabama Crimson Tide (14-7 overall, 4-6 in SEC games) Head Coach: Mark Gottfried (96-56 in fifth season at Alabama) Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Cl. Hometown PPG RPG F - 3 Kennedy Winston 6-7 200 Fr. Mobile, Ala. 8.8 3.7 F - 35 Erwin Dudley 6-8 240 Sr. Uniontown, Ala. 14.7 10.0 C - 42 Kenny Walker 6-9 220 Sr. Jacksonville, Fla. 11.0 5.8 G - 25 Maurice Williams 6-1 183 So. Jackson, Miss. 15.2 4.0* G - 50 Antoine Pettway 6-0 170 Jr. Alberta, Ala. 5.8 2.5 Top Reserves G - 5 Earnest Shelton 6-3 190 So. Memphis, Tenn. 4.5 2.7 F - 2 Emmett Thomas 6-4 205 Jr. Birmingham, Ala. 6.5 2.2 *Assists Per Game
Bulldogs Make Biennial Trip to Alabama
Georgia takes to the road for the sixth time of the SEC schedule when it faces Alabama in Tuscaloosa on Tuesday night. The Bulldogs bring a 14-7 overall record, 6-4 in the SEC, into the game, having defeated Vanderbilt 83-70 in their most recent game last Saturday. They remain in fourth place in the SEC Eastern Division, one game behind surprising Tennessee, which plays at South Carolina on Wednesday. Georgia will play host to the Gamecocks next Saturday in the two teams' first meeting of the season.
Like most teams in the SEC, Georgia has encountered stiff resistance when it has left its home court. The Bulldogs two road wins this season have come at Arkansas and at Colorado (the only team to defeat the Buffs in Boulder this season). Each of Georgias past two teams (2001-02) went 4-4 in the SEC road games, and last years squad finished at 6-5 overall on the road.
Georgia Undefeated vs. Western Division Thus Far
Alabama is Georgia's fifth Western Division opponent this season. The Bulldogs are 4-0 against the West and will conclude their Western schedule next week at Ole Miss. The top four teams in the Eastern Division, in fact, have a combined 16-0 record against the West.
Georgia vs. Alabama
Tonight's game is the 128th all-time meeting between Georgia and Alabama in basketball. Alabama leads the series which began in 1922 and has been renewed twice annually since 1947 by an 84-43 ledger. Following is a breakdown of the series:
Games in Athens:
Alabama leads 28-25
Games in Tuscaloosa:
Alabama leads 47-11
Neutral-Site Games:
Alabama leads 9-7
SEC Tournament Games:
Alabama leads 5-4
Some more tidbits about the series:
- Georgia has won four of its 11 games in Tuscaloosa since 1992, when the SEC expanded and was pared into East and West Divisions. The Tide's win in 2001 stopped a 4-game Georgia winning streak in Tuscaloosa.
- Alabama won the only meeting last season by a 76-68 count in Athens. More details from that game and a boxscore follow later in this notes package.
- Each annual meeting between these two schools calls to mind the relationship of the two current head coaches. Then-UCLA head coach Jim Harrick hired Mark Gottfried as one of his assistants in 1988, and the two remained together there until after the NCAA championship season of 1995.
- Gottfried's Bama teams have a 2-1 record against his mentor's teams at Georgia. Harrick, however, coached the 1998 Rhode Island team to an NCAA Tournament first-round victory over Murray State in Gottfrieds last game as the Racers' coach.
Leftovers from the Vandy Game
Following are a few tidbits from Georgias 83-70 victory over Vanderbilt in Athens three days ago:
- The biggest difference in this game and the two teams' first meeting in Nashville? Georgia's defensive effort forced Vandy into just 34 percent shooting, compared to the Commodores' 57 percent in the first matchup. Vandy's top scorer, Matt Freije who had rung up a career-high 31 points in that first meeting didnt scratch until the 9:07 mark of the second half and finished with eight points on 2-of-10 shooting.
- The 59 combined fouls and 82 foul shots were the most in a Georgia game since a 1997 contest against Kentucky, when the two teams committed 59 fouls and shot a whopping 90 free throws.
- The ejection earned by Vandy coach Kevin Stallings was the first by an opposing head coach in 273 games, going back to Dale Brown's heave-ho at the 1994 SEC Tournament first round.
- Point guard Rashad Wright had a negative assist/TO ratio (4/5) for the first time this season.
RPIs? Go Figure...
Who can decipher the computer formula that thinks Georgia is a Top 5 team? For three weeks in mid-January, the Bulldogs were ranked either 1 or 2 in the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI). Only since their loss to Kentucky last week have they dropped to their current mark of 5th. They're now the only member of the RPI's top 20 that has at least seven losses.
Through December the Bulldogs held an RPI rating in the 30s. Since the calendar flipped over to January, though, theyve stayed among the top 1-2 positions. Why? Most likely because their Strength of Schedule rating is a solid #1.
Following are some current numbers on Georgia's non-conference opponents, listed in chronological order:
Team Current RPI W/L Record S-O-S Rating Texas 1 17-4 3 Belmont 139 13-11 148 Ga. Tech 67 12-10 40 Minnesota 43 14-7 57 Colorado 50 15-8 63 California 27 18-4 95 Gonzaga 49 19-6 130 S. Alabama 47 10-12 92 App. State 160 12-7 258 Wis.-Milw. 91 19-6 251 Pittsburgh 24 17-4 77 Avg. RPI of all 11 teams: 72.5 Agg. W/L Record: 166-79 (.678) Avg. S-O-S Rating: 103
Dogs Teetering on Edge of Polls
Since Jan. 6, the day after their second straight win over a Top 25 foe, the Bulldogs have re-claimed a solid spot in those weekly polls. After struggling through much of the past two weeks, however, that spot is somewhat in jeopardy
Georgia began this season ranked 16th in both national Top 25 polls, probably an inflated standing, given the Bulldogs' partial roster. Three losses in their first four games caused them to drop from the polls and, in essence, the national college hoops radar screen.
The return of Steve Thomas on Dec. 18 gave Georgia a full roster, and since then, the Dogs have gone 10-4.
Footballers Gibson, Moses Join Dogs
Georgia added two more players to its teeming roster, bringing to 16 the total of active Bulldogs. On Tuesday, Jan. 7, football players Fred Gibson and Quentin Moses suited up and have practiced with their new teammates.
Gibson is surely no stranger to the Georgia basketball program. He averaged 4.9 points in 18 games last season. Three times during the SEC schedule he scored in double figures, most notably at Florida, where he had 13 points, including six in the final 51 seconds.
Moses, a freshman from Athens, was redshirted as a defensive end in football this past season. In basketball, he averaged 20.3 points and 10 rebounds for Cedar Shoals High School last season, playing primarily in the frontcourt for the Jaguars.
Gibson last year 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
Despite a full roster that totals 16 players, Georgia still has just nine student-athletes that are on basketball scholarships.
TV, TV and more TV
Never before has Georgia been slated for more television appearances than in 2002-03. Tonight's game is just the 19th in 22 that is being televised, the fourth with nationwide coverage.
How ironic that, in this season of almost total TV coverage, the year's most dramatic moment went almost unnoticed because of a lack thereof. No broadcast-quality footage exists of Jonas Hayes' game-winning shot against Colorado on Dec. 3.
All but four of the Bulldogs' 27 games are being carried by some TV entity, including seven times with national coverage: three times each on CBS and ESPN and another on ESPN2. Through a new agreement with the UGA Athletic Association, Comcast Charter Sports Southeast (CSS) carried four of Georgias non-conference home games: Belmont, South Alabama, Appalachian State and Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
What a difference a year makes! Before the postseason, the 2002 team played just twice on national TV and only 14 times overall. It also went four straight games in the middle of the SEC schedule between appearances.
Schedule Difficulty A UGA Trademark
Since coming to Athens, Georgia coach Jim Harrick has developed a knack for putting together a rigorous pre-conference schedule. Two of the past three schedules have ranked #1 nationally in degree of difficulty. The 2001 slate, in fact, rated #1 and was the biggest reason Georgia was invited to the NCAA Tournament with only a 16-14 record.
This season is no different. The Dogs' schedule currently ranks 1st in both of the latest CollegeRPI and Sagarin power ratngs. The difference in rating between Georgia's schedule and anyone else's, in fact, is significant. The Bulldogs' current S-O-S rating is 0.6263. The No. 2 spot, held by another SEC school (Arkansas) is 0.6101.
Short Shots...
- For the past six weeks, Georgia has led all 325 NCAA Division I teams in assists, currently at 18.2 per game. No Bulldog team has ever claimed a statistical national championship in any category.
The Bulldogs' No. 1 standing there is likely to end. The No. 2 team last week, Maryland, began this week at 18.5 assists per game. - Here's where Georgia ranks in the other 14 categories for which NCAA stats are kept. New NCAA rankings are released each Tuesday:
SEC NCAA Category Rank Rank Scoring Off. (80.4 ppg): 1st 13th Scoring Def. (73.8 ppg): 12th 249th Scoring Marg. (+6.6): 6th 53rd FG Pct. (46.7%): 6th 47th FG Pct. Def. (44.0%): 11th 212th 3-Pt. FGs/G (6.9/game): 2nd 67th 3-Pt. FG Pct. (39.7%): 1st 5th FT Pct. (72.6%): 2nd 59th Reb. Marg. (+1.7): 8th 108th Blocks (4.7 bpg): 3rd 49th Steals (8.2 spg): 6th 81st W/L Pct (.667): t6th 63rd TOs (11.9 TO/g): 1st 8th Fouls (17.3): -- 33rd
- Despite negative numbers in the past two games, Georgia currently leads the SEC in assist/turnover ratio at +1.53/1. That mark is a significant improvement from last season, when the Bulldogs ranked 3rd in the league at +1.08 assists per turnover.
The Bulldogs have had a negative Assist/Turnover ratio in just four of 21 games: Cal, Pitt, Kentucky and Vandy.
If this stat, in fact, is any indicator of a team's overall quality, check out the A/TO ratio of all nine of Georgia's previous NCAA Tournament teams:
Year W/L Record A/TO Ratio 1983(Final 4) 24-10 +1.11/1 1985 22-9 +1.35/1 1987 18-12 -1.13/1 1990(SEC Ch.) 20-9 +1.03/1 1991 17-13 +1.08/1 1996(Sweet 16) 21-10 +1.26/1 1997 24-9 -1.08/1 2001 16-15 -1.03/1 2002(SEC East) 22-10 +1.08/1
- For all the talk of providing more relief this year for point guard Rashad Wright, his playing time has barely decreased in 2002-03. He's down all of six seconds per contest, from 32.7 to his current mark of 32.6. Others, however, have decreased more: Jarvis Hayes (-2.0 mpg), Ezra Williams (-1.8 mpg) and Chris Daniels (-3.1 mpg). The dropoff in their respective minutes, in addition to Wrights, can likely be attributed to the versatility of Damien Wilkins, and also to the improved play of Jonas Hayes, whose average time is a +1.0 mpg.
- Last year Georgia was the SEC's only team with four players averaging at least 30 minutes per game. This year so far, the Bulldogs are one of four SEC teams with THREE players over the 30-minute mark (UGA, UF, MSU, UT). Tennessee freshman C.J. Watson leads the league in minutes at 36.4 per game. Bama's Mo Williams and Chuck Eidson of USC are second at 34.9 mpg. Georgia's leader, Rashad Wright, ranks 10th at 32.6 mpg.
- The most meaningful contributions from super-sub Damien Wilkins have almost all come in the past five games. Aside from his 16-point, 7-board outing in the opener against Texas, he'd had a largely unobtrusive season. In this recent 5-game stretch, hes averaged 11.8 points while shooting 58 percent from the field. During the course of this season, Wilkins has seen action at all five positions on the floor. Since Steve Thomas returned in December, he's remained mostly in the backcourt.
- Six times in their 1 1/2 seasons together have Jarvis Hayes and Ezra Williams hit for 20 or more points apiece in the same game. The Tennessee game Jan. 22 marked the latest such occurrence. Georgia is 6-0 in those games: - When Ezra Williams won SEC Player-of-the-Week honors Jan. 7, it marked the fourth time of his career he's won it. In doing so, he became Georgias career leader in that honor, passing Alec Kessler, who thrice won the award during the 1990-91 seasons. - Jim Harrick described the game-winning 3-pointer made by Jonas Hayes against Colorado on Dec. 3 as "the luckiest shot I've ever seen in all my years of coaching." Perhaps it was, for how often does a player kiss in a 30-footer at the buzzer? Especially a player who had never before attempted a 3-pointer in a game! Hayes deserves high praise, however, for his presence of mind in flagging down his brother's errant pass that seemed headed out of bounds. - The Bulldogs added four walk-ons through open tryouts in October. They are Jay and Nick McAuley, freshmen from Marietta (Pope HS); Daniel Laird, a freshman from Dalton (Dalton HS); and Michael Bucklin, another freshman from Pope High School. Jay McAuley was the only one to make the travel squad. Hayes Named to SEC "Good Works" Team During the Christmas holidays, Hayes visited Fourth Street Elementary School in Athens and entertained kindergarten students as Santa Claus. He's also been a volunteer for the Toys for Tots program; the Northeast Georgia Food Bank; the Athens Boys & Girls Club; and a participant in the National Assn. of Basketball Coaches Reading Program. Signing Period Nets Fivesome In addition, he also added junior-college players Marcus Jackson, a 6-9 forward from Peoria, Ill.; and Cassiano Matheus, a 6-10 forward from Sao Paulo, Brazil. Both players currently attend South Plains College in Levelland, Texas. The 6-9, 200-pound Abukar has just begun his final season at Rancho Bernardo High School. As a junior there last season, he averaged 20.3 points, 11.8 rebounds and 4.0 assists, shooting 48 percent overall and 41 percent from 3-point range. Last summer Abukar was the youngest member of the U.S. team at the World Junior Championships Qualifying Tournament in Venezuela. Abukar, who made his official visit to Athens in the off-season, got an early in-person glimpse of his future teammates. He watched Georgias win over California at the Pond in Anaheim on Dec. 7. Gibbs is widely considered to be the top senior prospect in Georgia for the 2003 season. Though he now attends Redan High School, the 6-8, 235-pound forward starred last season for Pace Academy in Atlanta, averaging 22.5 points, 15.0 rebounds and 6.2 blocks per game. He is ranked 79th among the top 100 national senior prospects, according to ESPN.com's recruiting analysts. Howell, a 6-3 point guard, is currently a senior at Bob Jones High School. Last season he averaged 13.8 points, 4.2 rebounds and 7.1 assists per game and was an All-State selection.
43 pts (EW 22/JH 21) vs. Ga. Tech in O02
50 (JH 30/EW 20) vs. Kentucky in O02
50 (JH 29/EW 21) vs. Gonzaga in O03
45 (EW 25/JH 20) vs. LSU in O03
52 (EW 29/JH 23) vs. Tennessee in O03
Georgia junior Jonas Hayes has been selected to represent the Bulldogs on the 2003 SEC "Good Works" team. This squad, which includes one player from every league member, is chosen to showcase players that contribute their time to acts of community service.
In the early national signing period, Georgia basketball coach Jim Harrick signed the following high school seniors to national letters-of-intent: Mohamed Abukar of Escondido, Calif.; Corey Gibbs of Lithonia, Ga., and Jordan Howell of Madison, Ala.
