Bulldogs Head to the Swamp for Tuesday Night Showdown

Jan. 24, 2005

2004-05  Georgia Basketball
GAME 16: Georgia vs. Florida

Date: Jan. 25, 7:01 pm ET; Site: Gainesville, Fla.;
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
Television:Live national cable telecast by ESPN2 (Dave O’Brien and Larry Conley)
Internet Broadcast: Live Audio coverage provided by GXtra on georgiadogs.com

Complete Game Notes in PDF Format
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Probable Starting Lineups
GEORGIA BULLDOGS (7-8 overall, 1-4 in SEC)
Head Coach: Dennis Felton (23-22 in second season at Georgia)
Pos.	No.	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Cl.	Hometown	PPG	RPG
F -	15	Steve Newman	6-8	230	So.	Orlando, Fla.	8.2	4.3
C -	44	Dave Bliss	6-10	240	Fr.	Wausau, Wis.	6.5	5.7
G -	25	Channing Toney	6-4	195	Fr.	Snellville, Ga.	10.5	2.9
G -	2	Sundiata Gaines	6-1	180	Fr.	Jamaica, N.Y.	12.7	4.3
G -	14	Levi Stukes	6-1	180	So.	Randallstown, Md.	16.3	3.7
Top Reserves
F -	00	Younes Idrissi	6-7	200	Fr.	Casablanca, Morocco	2.8	2.4
G -	3	Kevin Brophy	6-1	180	Fr.	Melbourne, Australia	3.9	1.3

FLORIDA GATORS (11-4 overall, 3-1 in SEC)
Head Coach: Billy Donovan (180-88 in eighth season at Florida)
Pos.	No.	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Cl.	Hometown	PPG	RPG
F -	24	David Lee	6-10	200	So.	St. Louis, Mo.	12.5	7.8
F -	2	Corey Brewer	6-8	183	Fr.	Portland, Tenn.	7.5	3.1
C -	42	Al Horford	6-8	225	Fr.	Grand Ledge, Mich.	6.7	6.1
G -	1	Anthony Roberson	6-1	180	Jr.	Saginaw, Mich.	18.4	2.3
G -	12	Lee Humphrey	6-2	180	So.	Maryville, Tenn.	6.1	1.3
Top Reserves
F -	44	Matt Walsh	6-6	205	Jr.	Holland, Pa.	15.1	2.9
G -	11	Taurean Green	6-0	170	Fr.	Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.	5.5	1.3

Opening Tipoff

• Georgia resumes its SEC schedule with a Tuesday night game at Florida. In their last outing the Bulldogs ended a 5-game losing streak, improving to 7-8 overall with a 68-59 win over Vanderbilt in Athens three days ago. It was their first SEC win in five tries, the first time in six years a Georgia team has gone this deep into its league schedule before winning.

Georgia played that game against Vanderbilt without its leading scorer, sophomore guard Levi Stukes, who had sprained his right ankle in practice two days before. Stukes’ replacement, walk-on Kevin Brophy, answered the call with a career-high 19 points that included nine in the game’s final five minutes. Brophy, a freshman from Australia, had reached double figures in scoring just one previous time this season.

Brophy’s role in the Vanderbilt game underscored the vital presence of walk-ons to this Georgia squad. It was the first time all season the Bulldogs played an entire 40 minutes with at least one non-scholarship player on the floor.

• Tonight’s game is the 189th meeting between Georgia and Florida. Georgia holds a 96-92 edge in the series, including a split in the two teams’ regular-season games in 2004.

Leftovers from the Vanderbilt Game

• Two key stats from this game:

Vanderbilt, the league’s top 3-point-shooting team at 42 percent, made just two of 16 from behind the arc (12.5%).
Georgia shot 61 percent from the field in the second half (14x23), its best single half of shooting all season.

• Brophy’s scoring honors prompted the question: when has a Georgia player not on a basketball scholarship led the Bulldogs in scoring? The answer: tight end-turned-forward Larry Brown vs. Ole Miss in 1998.

• Overshadowed somewhat was the return to active duty by forward Corey Gibbs after a 5-game absence. He had been out since late December with a bone bruise to his left knee but returned Saturday to chip in seven valuable points.

Odds, Ends and Trends

• Here’s where Georgia ranks in the 15 categories for which NCAA stats are kept. New NCAA rankings are released each Tuesday:

Category	Rank	Rank
	SEC	NCAA
Scoring Off. (66.0 ppg):	12th	236th
Scoring Def. (68.5 ppg):	9th	193rd
Scoring Marg. (-2.5):	12th	234th
FG Pct. (42.1%):	12th	230th
FG Pct. Def. (45.7%):	10th	273rd
3-Pt. FGs/G (6.1/game):	10th	188th
3-Pt. FG Pct. (31.7%):	11th	239th
FT Pct. (61.5%):	12th	307th
Reb. Marg. (-2.2):	11th	239th
Assists (10.8 apg)	12th	306th
Steals (8.1 spg):	6th	109th
W/L Pct (.467):	12th	218th
TOs (14.4 TO/g):	5th	106th
Fouls (19.6):	--	234th

• Channing Toney and Steve Newman are by far Georgia’s best free throw shooters. Together they’ve made 68 of 77 attempts (88.3%). Remove their totals and Georgia’s overall free throw percentage drops from 61.5 to 53.1.

Toney, in fact, now meets the minimum standard (2.5 FTM per game) to qualify as the SEC’s top free throw shooter. He’s also the 8th most accurate foul shooter among all Division I players, according to the lastest NCAA statistics.

• Georgia’s list of available players was reduced by two lastweek. Walk-on Alex Evans was lost for the season after injuring his right knee while Buzz Wehunt, another non-scholarship player, left the squad on Wednesday.

More on Frosh Contributions

Below is a table that shows just how vital Georgia’s freshman class is, as it relates to the other 11 SEC programs. The two columns listed are 1) the percentage of a team’s minutes that are logged by freshmen and 2) the total number of starts recorded by freshmen:

	Pct. of Min.	Starts
School	by Frosh	by Frosh

Alabama	27%	18
Arkansas	31%	35
Auburn	40%	35
Florida	41%	23
GEORGIA	68%	46
Kentucky	33%	32
LSU	14%	14
Ole Miss	14%	12
Miss. State	3%	0
S. Carolina	3%	0
Tennessee	17%	18
Vanderbilt	24%	11

Of RPIs and Power Ratings

• Georgia’s schedule is rated 131st most difficult in the country, according to the latest RPI listings.

• The average RPI of all 22 Georgia opponents is 112. Among the non-conference opponents, the average is 172; for SEC teams, it’s 52.

• Unfortunately, all of the Bulldogs’ remaining 14 games are against teams that have higher RPI ratings than their own. That includes nine against Top 50 teams.

• Georgia’s current Sagarin rating of 204 represents the first time since either power rating began that a Bulldog team has dipped that low.

• Below are the most recent RPI and Sagarin power ratings of Georgia and all teams on its schedule:

	RPI	Sagarin
GEORGIA	166	204
Western Kentucky	123	72
Nevada	68	60
Alabama A&M	308	302
Georgia Tech	20	18
Gardner-Webb	182	167
Oregon State	115	124
Wofford	193	200
Bethune-Cookman	290	262
Savannah State	329	332
Stetson	227	263
Tennessee	70	83
South Carolina	58	62
Ole Miss	97	91
Kentucky	14	9
Vanderbilt	24	33
Florida	49	31
Alabama	13	19
LSU	43	89
Arkansas	63	34
Clemson	40	47
Auburn	112	133
Miss. State	26	26

Georgia and the SEC

Following are a few tidbits about Georgia's history in the SEC:

• Georgia's all-time record in SEC games, covering 72 years, is 449-639 (.413). That ranks 10th of the 12 current SEC members.

• Nine times in 72 seasons, Georgia has won 10 or more SEC games: 1968, '70, '82, '85, '87, '90, '97, ‘02 and ‘03.

• Georgia can claim one SEC regular-season championship (1990), one regular-season divisional title (2002) and one SEC Tournament crown (1983).

• Since the league expanded and was pared into East and West Divisions in 1992, Georgia has a 104-108 (.490) record. Seven times since ‘92 Georgia has had a league record of .500 or better (1993, '95, '96, '97, '01-’03).

• When Georgia defeated Auburn in the 2004 SEC Tournament first round, it marked the Dogs’ first win in the tournament since the 1998 meeting. Before ‘98, Georgia had gone 20 straight years of reaching at least the tournament’s second round.

Starting Over, For Sure

Normally, a coach needs three, sometimes four years to put his imprint upon a program. That’s how long it usually takes to stock the roster with his own players.

Not so for Georgia under Dennis Felton.

He’s needed scarcely more than one year to reach a point of almost complete roster turnover. The four seniors that so dominated the program in 2004 are gone.

Even the closest followers of Georgia basketball will likely need some help identifying the home team this season. Of the 18 players that could suit up for Georgia, 11 of them were not on last year’s team.

Starting Over & Starting Young

When Georgia coach Dennis Felton says, “I have to believe that we’re the youngest team in the country,” it’s hard to question him.

The average age of the 2004-05 Georgia team is 19 years, 175 days, ranging from 22-year-old walk-on Tommy Wainscott to the quartet of freshmen (Gaines, Toney, Evans and Bliss) that start the season at 18 years of age. Three more -- Gibbs, Waldrop and Greavu -- won’t lose their “teenager” status until next year.

In addition to this team’s youth, it also has fewer scholarshipped players than virtually every team in America. Of the 18 players currently in the program, just seven of them receive athletic grants-in-aid.

Frosh Starters Make History

The Western Kentucky game marked just the second time at Georgia since freshmen became eligible in 1973 that three rookies started their first games together. Hugh Durham began his second season (1979-80) by starting three rookies on Opening Night: Dominique Wilkins, Terry Fair and Derrick Floyd.

The very next year Durham started multiple freshmen again: James Banks and Vern Fleming. No Georgia team did it again until last season, when Levi Stukes and Steve Newman started against Western Carolina.

All-time first-game freshmen starters at Georgia include:

Jacky Dorsey, 1975
Lavon Mercer, 1977
Terry Fair, D. Floyd, Dom. Wilkins, 1979
James Banks, Vern Fleming, 1980
Litterial Green, 1988
Charles Claxton, 1991
Carlos Strong, 1992
Jumaine Jones, 1997
Rashad Wright, 2000
Steve Newman, Levi Stukes, 2003
Dave Bliss, Channing Toney, Sundiata Gaines, 2004

Gibbs Returns, Delivers

The return to active duty of redshirt freshman Corey Gibbs last Saturday against Vanderbilt was a welcome sight for a beleaguered, undermanned Georgia frontcourt. Gibbs provides badly-needed athleticism and strength under the basketball for the Bulldogs, and he supplied it in Georgia’s win over the Commodores.

The Lithonia, Ga., native incurred a bone bruise to his left knee during the Savannah State game on Dec. 28. He then missed Georgia’s next five games before receiving clearance to practice during the team’s “bye” date in the conference schedule.

That Gibbs can even suit up seems a minor miracle. He’s undergone three surgical procedures on his right knee over the past two years, trying to repair cartilage damage.

Sikes Dismissed, Seven Left

In mid-December, Georgia coach Dennis Felton announced the dismissal of sophomore forward Marcus Sikes from the team. Sikes had been on indefinite suspension since September for disciplinary reasons. His dismissal reduced the number of scholarship players on UGA’s roster to seven.

Have Snorkel, Sunscreen, Will Travel

The 2005-06 season will certainly tip off in grand style for the Bulldogs. They’ve signed on to participate in the 2005 Paradise Jam, which will be played on campus at the University of the Virgin Islands on St. Thomas. The 8-team tournament is slated for the opening weekend of the season: Nov. 18-21.

Edmonds, Wash.-based Basketball Travelers, Inc. -- the same company which arranged Georgia’s trip to Vancouver this year -- annually produces the Paradise Jam tournament.

Stukes Wins SEC P-O-W Award

Sophomore guard Levi Stukes, whose career-high 31 points led Georgia to its overtime victory against Oregon State, was named Dec. 13 as the SEC’s Player of the Week. In both of Georgia’s comeback wins that week, Stukes played key roles. Against Gardner-Webb he scored 10 of his 15 points in the final nine minutes, including the go-ahead free throws with 1:09 left.

Stukes became the16th UGA player to win the P-O-W award since its inception in 1985. Three former Bulldogs were multiple winners, led by 4-time recipient Ezra Williams.

On Stukes & 3-Point Shooting

Levi Stukes is well on his way toward becoming Georgia’s all-time leader in 3-point shooting. Assuming a 4-year career, he would surpass D.A. Layne, the current career leader in 3-pointers made with 231, sometime early in his senior year. Layne, who played just three seasons, made his 231 treys in 91 games (2.3/game). Stukes currently averages 2.1 treys per game.

Top 3-Pt. Shooters in UGA History
D.A. Layne (1999-2001)	231x583	2.5/g
Litterial Green (1988-92)	215x544	1.9/g
Ezra Williams (2001-03)	213x582	2.4/g
G.G. Smith (1996-99)	193x500	1.5/g
Bernard Davis (1991-94)	184x453	1.7/g

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