University of Georgia Athletics
Georgia Men's Basketball Hosts Commodores On Saturday
January 12, 2007 | Men's Basketball
GAME 15
Overall Conf.
Vanderbilt 11-5 1-1
at Georgia 9-5 1-1
Saturday, Jan. 13, 2007 - Athens, Ga.
Tip-off Time: 4:07 p.m. (EST)
TELEVISION
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 & WPUP-FM (103.7) in Athens.
ON THE INTERNET
For up-to-date stats, notes and other information, log on to: http://www.georgiadogs.com
Online radio broadcasts of Georgia games can be found on the GXtra web site (subscription required).
TICKETS
Home-game tickets are on sale for all games. Reserved seats are $15 and are available by calling 1-877-542-1231, by logging onto www.georgiadogs.com, or by purchasing at Stegeman Coliseum ticket booths 90 minutes prior to tipoff.
Visa and MasterCard accepted at all three options.
Georgia vs. Vanderbilt
Georgia plays host to Vanderbilt in each team's third SEC contest of the season. Both teams enter Saturday's game having won their previous outing. Georgia defeated South Carolina 80-56 -- the program¹s largest victory margin in an SEC game since January of 2003 -- in Athens on Wednesday night. Vanderbilt defeated Tennessee 82-81 in Nashville in its mid-week matchup.
The win over Carolina improved Georgia's overall record to 9-5, evened its SEC slate at 1-1, and stopped the Bulldogs' losing streak at four games. Georgia hasn't won more than two straight SEC games since the
2004 squad won home contests against Kentucky, Florida and Tennessee during mid-February.
Georgia and Vanderbilt have split their regular-season series in each of the past five years. Last season, the visitor won each time, Georgia by a 74-73 score in Nashville and Vandy by a 72-55 count two weeks later in Athens.
Saturday's game will be Georgia¹s last home contest until the Bulldogs face Kentucky on Wednesday, Jan. 24. In the meantime, they'll see one-third of the SEC Western Division in the next week, with nationally-televised games at Arkansas on Wednesday and Alabama on Saturday.
Probable Starting Lineups
GEORGIA BULLDOGS (9-5 overall, 1-1 in SEC Games) Head Coach: Dennis Felton (48-54 in fourth season at Georgia)
Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Cl. Hometown PPG RPG
F - 42 Takais Brown 6-8 250 Jr. Flint, Mich. 14.3 5.3
C - 44 Dave Bliss 6-10 255 Jr. Wausau, Wis. 4.5 3.7
G - 2 Sundiata Gaines 6-1 205 Jr. Jamaica, N.Y. 8.1 5.6
G - 14 Levi Stukes 6-1 205 Sr. Randallstown, Md. 12.6 2.7
G - 33 Mike Mercer 6-4 185 So. Snellville, Ga. 15.5 4.8
Top Reserves
F - 15 Steve Newman 6-9 235 Sr. Orlando, Fla. 5.6 2.7
G - 31 Billy Humphrey 6-2 185 So. Dacula, Ga. 7.5 3.0
VANDERBILT COMMODORES (11-5 overall, 1-1 in SEC Games) Head Coach: Kevin Stallings (133-101 in eighth season at Vanderbilt)
Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Cl. Hometown PPG RPG
F - 41 Ross Neltner 6-9 247 Jr. Fort Thomas, Ky. 11.1 5.9
F - 4 Derrick Byars 6-7 230 Sr. Memphis, Tenn. 14.6 4.9
G - 32 Shan Foster 6-6 200 Jr. Kenner, La. 15.2 5.0
G - 20 Dan Cage 6-5 215 Sr. Indianapolis, Ind. 11.1 3.1
G - 3 Alex Gordon 5-11 164 Jr. Pensacola, Fla. 7.9 2.1
Top Reserves
G - 0 Jermaine Beal 6-3 207 Fr. DeSoto, Texas 5.1 2.5
C - 54 Ted Skuchas 6-11 242 Sr. Audobon, Pa. 4.8 3.3
Georgia - Vanderbilt Series
Saturday's game is the 121st meeting between these two schools in basketball. Vanderbilt leads the series, which began in 1914, by a 76-44 count.
Georgia has won barely half of the 53 previous meetings held in Athens. Bulldog teams have a 28-25 record here. Their longest home-court winning streak against Vanderbilt is 10 games, a run that stretched between the 1978 and 1987 seasons.
This year marks the 50th time that Georgia and Vanderbilt have played a home-and-home, regular-season series. Georgia has swept the series just seven times, most recently in 2001.
Oddly, these two programs have met twice in post-season play on their respective home courts. Georgia defeated Vanderbilt at Memorial Gymnasium in the 1991 SEC Tournament second round. Seven years later, Georgia defeated Vandy at Stegeman Coliseum in the NIT third round.
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 74 years, is 456-662 (.408). That ranks 10th of the 12 current SEC members.
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 110-130 (.458) record. Seven times since Œ92 Georgia has had a league record of .500 or better (1993, Œ95, Œ96, Œ97, Œ01-'03).
In the 16-game SEC schedule format, Georgia¹s most wins came in 2003, when it compiled an 11-5 mark. Good enough only for third place in the Eastern Division, that record would have won the West by two full games.
Murderous Row
Through early December, the Georgia schedule had ranked among the nation¹s lowest in degree of difficulty. Things changed significantly in the latter half of December.
Florida represented the fifth Georgia opponent in its last six games to either be ranked or to receive Top 25 poll votes at game time.
The Bulldogs defeated then-No. 16 Gonzaga on Dec. 16, played at Georgia Tech on the 22nd and at No. 25 Clemson on Dec. 27.
In playing Wisconsin and Florida consecutively, the Bulldogs faced Top Five opponents back-to-back for the first time since 2003. Within 48 hours of each other, Georgia lost to then-No. 2 Kentucky
(74-66) and defeated No. 3 Florida (82-81), both at home, in March of Œ03.
Random Facts...
All 10 Georgia players on scholarship currently average at least 13.3 minutes per game...Despite cold shooting over much of the past month, five of them are still making over 50 percent of their shots...Mike Mercer has attempted almost twice as many shots (210) as any other Bulldog.
He received his fair share of ribbing from teammates in the post-Gonzaga game euphoria for launching a career-high 22 shots. For a little perspective, Mercer is still 374 attempts short of the UGA record, set by Dominique Wilkins in 31 games of 1982 (18.8/game)...Against Jacksonville, Mercer came within two rebounds of becoming the first player in UGA history to achieve a triple-double.
Sundiata Gaines was named the SEC¹s Player of the Week on Dec. 18 for his outstanding all-around game against Gonzaga on Dec. 16.
It was the first such honor of his career but the second time of the month a Georgia player had won the award. Mike Mercer got the league¹s P-O-W trophy after he led the Bulldogs to a win at Wake Forest on Dec. 2.
Headlines From the Games...
vs. South Carolina (1/10): For the first time since Dec. 16 vs. Gonzaga, Georgia had a positive AST/TO ratio...vs. Florida (1/6): As far back as game stats are available (1980), Georgia had never before failed to score from the foul line...They managed to become the third opponent to outrebound the Gators...vs. Wisconsin (12/31): For the first time this season, Georgia lost to an opponent it outrebounded, and decisively at that (42-33)...In his best effort of the season, Takais Brown had compiled a double-double by halftime...vs. Clemson (12/28): Bad combination: season-high 26 turnovers = season-low 60 points...The Tigers scored 29 of their 75 points off Georgia miscues...vs. Georgia Tech (12/22): Georgia¹s pinch-hitter for the injured Gaines (ankle), Mike Mercer, had seven turnovers and failed to score a field goal for the first time...vs. Jacksonville (12/19): Sundiata Gaines went down with a sprained right ankle near the 10-minute mark of the first half...Levi Stukes scored 27 points, the second-highest total of his career...vs. Gonzaga (12/16): This was Georgia¹s first win over a Top 25 opponent since 02/14/04, when the Bulldogs defeated Kentucky...vs.
Gardner-Webb (12/5): Georgia sank double-digit 3-point shots for the third time this season, and for the highest percentage since Game 3 of last season (vs. Eastern Ky.)... vs. Wake Forest (12/2): For the fifth time in six games four or more Georgia players posted double-digit scoring efforts...vs.
Alabama A&M (11/24): Georgia shot over 50 percent on FGs for the fourth time in five games...vs. S.C. State (11/21): The Bulldogs went over the 100-point mark for the second straight game, the first time in almost 13 years Georgia has done so...vs. Valdosta State (11/18): Takais Brown made his Georgia debut with a strong, 23-point outing...The Bulldogs went over the 100-point mark for just the second time of the Felton era...vs. Western Ky. (11/14): Levi Stukes scored his 1000th career point....For the third straight year in this 4-game series, the visiting team won...vs. Southern
(11/10): Southern¹s 35 turnovers marked the most by a Georgia opponent since Mercer committed 40 miscues against the Bulldogs on Dec. 8, 1990..
Can they keep it up?
ŒTis a strange sight indeed, seeing Georgia at or near the top of the current SEC statistics in many categories. For much of the past three seasons, the Bulldogs had ranked on the opposite end of these same stats.
Of the 19 statistical categories kept by the SEC, Georgia ranks among the top three in nine of them. It leads the SEC in offensive rebounds (14.8/game).
Individually, Sundiata Gaines currently leads the SEC in steals per game with 2.54. Levi Stukes leads the league in 3-point shooting percentage and ranks 2nd in 3-pointers made, while Mike Mercer ranks sixth in scoring, seventh in steals and 12th in assists. Takais Brown ranks fifth among all SEC players in FG percentage at 57.9 percent...
Just wondering...
As the week began, Levi Stukes ranked eighth among all NCAA Division I players in 3-point FG percentage. Sundiata Gaines ranked 15th in steals and Takais Brown was 35th in overall FG percentage...Granted, blowout margins lend themselves to more even playing time, but never before in the Felton era has court time been better divided. Sundiata Gaines, for example, is currently averaging 10 fewer minutes per game as a junior than he did as a freshman in 2005...Three-year starter Levi Stukes is also averaging 10 fewer minutes than his busiest season of 2005... Here¹s an indication of how important the Gonzaga game was to the Bulldogs...Before Dec. 16, just three times this season had a Georgia player played 30 or more minutes in a game: Gaines twice (37 vs. Wake Forest, 30 vs. Valdosta State) and Mercer (34 vs. Western Ky.). Four Bulldogs hit the 30-minute mark against the Zags, including Steve Newman, who did so for just the 12th time of his career...Here¹s another indication of just how valuable Gaines is to these Bulldogs. His absence from the last 3/4 of the Jacksonville game no doubt led to a career-high 38 minutes by Mike Mercer.
Little has been said about how valuable the late Kevin Brophy would have been while Gaines mends his right ankle. Brophy, a solid ballhandler with a high basketball IQ, was pegged as the Bulldogs¹ top backup at point guard.
Looking for a common tie that binds Georgia¹s last four games? The Dogs have averaged 21.0 turnovers in those four defeats, with an A/TO ratio of -1.95/1. Overall, they're averaging 18.6 miscues.
Georgia's 62 percent shooting Nov. 21 against S.C State was the program¹s best effort since a 62 percent game vs. Ga. Southern in Nov. of 2001...Just twice last season the Bulldogs shot over 50 percent in consecutive games...Not since the 2002-03 season, however, has Georgia shot over 55 percent in two straight games like the Bulldogs did in those contests.
Gonzaga shot superbly (58.9%) in losing by 13 points to Georgia on Dec. 16. That¹s the highest percentage by a team that lost to the Bulldogs since Auburn shot 60% in losing to Georgia in 1988. That was 570 games ago!
Georgia on the Road
Three of Georgia's four road games to date have come against ACC opponents. The Bulldogs defeated Wake Forest in Winston-Salem before dropping matchups at Georgia Tech and Clemson.
Last season's squad, which went 15-15 overall, went 3-7 in true road games, winning at Western Ky., Vanderbilt and South Carolina. It represented a vast improvement over the previous year, when the 2005 Bulldogs were winless in nine road games.
The 2004 team won just once in 11 tries on the road, its victory coming at Kentucky.
Loaded with Experience...
How much is experience worth to a college basketball program? Georgia will certainly be the litmus test for the 2006-07 season.
Following are the amounts of statistics that return for the Bulldogs from last season:
Minutes 4,442 of 6,025 (74%)
Scoring 1,602 of 2,110 (76%)
Field Goals 582 of 773 (75%)
3-Pointers 177 of 209 (85%)
Rebounds 695 of 1,045 (67%)
Assists 299 of 377 (79%)
Steals 221 of 272 (81%)
Blocks 83 of 134 (62%)
Big Year for UGA Hoopsters of Yore
This has been a momentous year for the Georgia program and two of its alumni.
Dominique Wilkins, perhaps the school's most visible hoops figure, became its first inductee into the Basketball Hall of Fame in September. Wilkins played in Athens for three years (1980-82) before turning pro and being taken third in the Œ82 NBA Draft by the Utah Jazz. He was soon traded to the Atlanta Hawks, for whom he played 12 of his 17 years in the league.
Last spring, Shandon Anderson, who lettered at Georgia from 1993-96, became the Bulldogs' first alum to play on an NBA championship team as a reserve on the Miami Heat. A veteran of 10 pro seasons, Anderson played for Utah, Houston and the New York Knicks before reaching the championship in Miami. He had played in the NBA finals once before (1998) for the Jazz.
