University of Georgia Athletics
Georgia Hosts Auburn on Saturday
February 16, 2007 | Men's Basketball
Georgia wraps up its SEC Western Division slate with a trio of upcoming games, beginning with Saturday’s game against Auburn. Originally, the Bulldogs and Tigers were to have both enjoyed “bye” dates in their respective league schedules. Georgia, however, postponed its non-conference matchup with Kennesaw State from Dec. 9 until this past Wednesday.
Saturday, Feb. 17, 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 information, log on to: http://www.georgiadogs.com
Online radio broadcasts of Georgia games can be found on the GeorgiadogsXtra web site (subscription required).
TICKETS- Tickets for remaining home games are on sale for $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.
AT THE GAME TODAY
Promotional Activities
• ALFA KNIT CAP GIVEAWAY
The first 1,500 student fans through the doors will receive knit caps, courtesy of today’s game sponsor, Alfa Insurance.
• Levi Stukes commemorative basketball presentation. Before today’s game, Georgia senior Levi Stukes will be presented a basketball that commemorates his becoming the Bulldogs’ all-time 3-point shooter.
Georgia vs. Auburn
• Georgia wraps up its SEC Western Division slate with a trio of upcoming games, beginning with Saturday’s game against Auburn. Originally, the Bulldogs and Tigers were to have both enjoyed “bye” dates in their respective league schedules. Georgia, however, postponed its non-conference matchup with Kennesaw State from Dec. 9 until this past Wednesday.
The Bulldogs improved to 15-9 overall by beating the KSU Owls 75-66 three days ago. Victory did not, however, come easily for Georgia, which trailed Kennesaw by as many as six points in the second half, and found itself tied 62-all at the 4:00 media timeout.
• Regardless of the outcome Wednesday, Georgia watched its RPI rating dip 15 spots after the Kennesaw State game, from 38 to its current mark of 53. That’s because the Bulldogs, after six weeks of high-RPI opponents, detoured against the Owls, who entered this weekend with an RPI of 282.
• A victory over Auburn would give Georgia 16 wins for the season, surpassing last year’s victory total and doubling the total wins accrued by the 2005 Bulldogs. It would also give UGA seven SEC wins, the most by a Bulldog team -- that wasn’t forced to vacate its victories after the fact -- in six years, going back to the 2001 season.
Probable Starting Lineups (see attached pdf)
Georgia - Auburn Series
• Saturday’s game is the 170th all-time meeting between Georgia and Auburn in basketball. Auburn leads the series, which began in 1980 and has been renewed annually since 1928, by an 85-84 count.
• Since 1992, when the league was pared into East & West Divisions and these two teams played just once per season, the home team has won all but two meetings: 1994 (Georgia 83, @Auburn 80, OT) and 1999 (Auburn 75, @Georgia 74).
• Further breakdown of the series follows:
Games in Athens: Georgia leads 57-21
Games in Auburn: Auburn leads 55-21
Neutral-Site games: Auburn leads 9-6
SEC Tournament Games: UGA leads 4-3
Last SEC Tournament Meeting:
2004 -- Georgia 73, Auburn 59
Last Meeting:
1/28/06 @Auburn: AU 66, UGA 65
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 460-666 (.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 113-131 (.461) record. Seven times since ‘92 Georgia has had a league record of .500 or better (1993, ‘95, ‘96, ‘97, ‘01-’03).
> Since the league’s expansion, Georgia has a 51-40 record against SEC Western Division teams. Bulldog teams have had winning records against the West in 10 of 15 years. Georgia’s only undefeated season against the West came in 2003.
> In the 16-game SEC schedule format, Georgia’s most wins came in 2003, when it compiled an 11-5 mark.
Murderous Row
Through early December, the Georgia schedule had ranked among the nation’s lowest in degree of difficulty. Things changed dramatically in the latter half of December. So much, in fact, that perhaps no UGA team would ever again willingly make a stretch as difficult as that one.
Florida on Jan. 6 represented the fifth Georgia opponent in 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, at No. 25 Clemson on Dec. 27 and at home against #4 Wisconsin on 12/31.
In playing Wisconsin and Florida consecutively, the Dogs faced Top Five teams back-to-back for the first time since 2003.
Random Facts...
With five games left in the regular season, Georgia could surpass its 2006 victory total with a win against Auburn today...It could also post a seventh SEC win today, something no Georgia team since 2001 has done, without having to give back the wins afterward. The Bulldogs have already equalled last year’s win total of road games (3)...Going into this weekend, Georgia was one of just four SEC teams had won multiple conference games on the road
Takais Brown has been the Bulldogs’ workhorse through the SEC portion of their schedule. Though 11 conference games, he leads them in minutes, scoring and rebounding, and is the only regular shooting over 50 percent. In the past six games, Brown has averaged 14.5 points and 7.3 boards. Simultaneously, Georgia’s other four post players have combined to average just 7.3 points and 6.5 rebounds.
Stukes Etches Name in History
These are heady times for senior guard Levi Stukes. The Randallstown, Md., native started the season off by joining Georgia’s list of 1,000-point career scorers. He’s already climbed 20 places on that list and he enters today’s game in 15th place with 1,276 career points, 73 points shy of Ezra Williams in the No. 14 position.
Just in the past two weeks, Stukes has also become the school’s all-time leading 3-point shooter. In the LSU game on Jan. 28, he moved past D.A. Layne (1999-2001) as Georgia’s career leader in 3-point attempts. Last Saturday at South Carolina, he moved past Layne as the Bulldogs’ all-time leader in 3-pointers made.
Georgia’s top seven career 3-point shooters (see attached pdf)
Bulldogs Among Best on Boards
This current group of Bulldogs surely ranks among the strongest rebounders of recent UGA vintage, perhaps of all time. They began this week ranked 18th nationally in rebounding margin (+6.7), second in the SEC behind Florida.
A few random notions about Georgia’ s rebounding success this year:
• The Bulldogs have outrebounded nine of their first 11 SEC opponents. Last season, Georgia outdid just three SEC foes over the entire 16-game league schedule.
• Georgia outrebounded the two highest-ranked opponents on its schedule thus far -- Florida and Wisconsin -- each by a decisive margin. Florida currently leads the SEC with a +8.2 margin on the boards, but Georgia beat the Gators both times this season. Just one other team thus far -- Kansas, which also outscored the Gators, 82-80 -- has outrebounded Florida. Georgia also outdid the Badgers -- who rank second in the Big Ten in rebounding margin at +6.2 -- by a 42-34 count.
• Georgia has accrued these numbers without a truly great rebounder in the post position. Takais Brown, who just this week took over as the team’s rebounding leader, has more offensive boards than defensive. Point guard Sundiata Gaines had led Georgia all season until recently.
• As far back as team stats are available (1960), no Georgia team has had as large a rebounding margin as the current mark of +6.7. The closest came in 1995 (+5.2).
Fast Out of the Starter’s Blocks
Just how infrequently does Georgia attain five SEC wins before the calendar flips to February? Well, when the current Bulldogs got their fifth win Jan. 28 against LSU, it was the first time since 2002 and just the eighth time since the Hugh Durham era began in 1979.
Certainly, you can conclude by the table below that a 5-win January bodes well for the 2007 Bulldogs.
(see attached pdf)
*An 18-game, round-robin SEC schedule was played before 1992.
Numbers to Ponder...
• Comb. record of all UGA opponents: 355-239 (.598)
• Comb. record of all non-SEC opps: 176-144 (.550)
• Comb. record of all SEC opps: 179-95 (.653)
• Comb. record of all teams that UGA has beaten: 173-172 (.501)
• Comb. record of all teams that have beaten UGA: 156-51 (.754)
• Avg. RPI of all non-SEC opps: 167
• Avg. RPI of all SEC teams: 51
...Other RPI notes of interest...Of the five remaining opponents on the Georgia schedule, only Kentucky (7) and Tennessee (12) have higher RPI ratings than the Bulldogs...The highest current RPI of any team that Georgia has beaten is 7 by Kentucky. The next highest? 44 by Vanderbilt. Conversely, the lowest current RPI of any team that has beaten Georgia is the 93 by Western Kentucky. Other RIPs of note include the lowly 69 by Gonzaga, despite an 18-9 record..
...In the RPI vernacular, Georgia has but a 14-9 record because Valdosta State is an NCAA Division II school. RPI ratings consider only games against Division I opponents...Consequently, Georgia’s 14 wins are the fewest among all of the teams in the RPI’s top 55...Three other teams in that top 55 group have more losses than Georgia: #36 Texas Tech, #41 Bradley and #49 Arkansas, all with 10 losses.
...Other Georgia teams to have earned at-large NCAA Tournament berths include: 2000-01 (RPI of 27), 2001-02 (RPI of 18), 1996-97 (RPI of 19), 1995-96 (RPI of 33)...Conversely, notable Georgia teams that did NOT make the NCAAs included 2003-04 (RPI of 48), 1994-95 (RPI of 64) and 1997-98 (RPI of 54)...FYI: Georgia’s highest-ever end-of-season RPI came in the truncated year of 2003, when the Bulldogs finished with an RPI of 5...The RPI is available only as far back
as 1994.
Georgia on the Road
Three of Georgia’s eight 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 only Georgia team in the past 10 years with a road record better than .500 was the 2002 squad (6-5 record).
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:
(see attached pdf)
Highlights from the Games...
vs. Kennesaw State (2/14): The Bulldogs shot 89.5 percent (17x19) from the FT line, including 10x10 over the final 4:37...Billy Humphrey started for just the 2nd time ever and played a career-high 34 minutes...Georgia committed 18 turnovers but only one in the final four minutes.
vs. South Carolina (2/10): Billy Humphrey tied a school record with 7 steals...Rashaad Singleton pulled down a career-best 9 rebounds...
vs. Florida (2/7): Georgia shot a season-low 18 percent from 3-point range, but a season-best 85 percent from the foul line (min. 10 attempts)..Its six assists were the second-lowest of the season.
vs. Vanderbilt (2/3): The Bulldogs trailed by as many as 13 points in the 2nd half before thrice trimming their deficit to three....Terrance Woodbury pulled down a career-best 7 rebounds.
vs. Tennessee (1/31): The Vols, minus top scorer Chris Lofton, still managed to shoot 57 percent...Georgia, which finished the game shooting 23 percent from 3-point range, made just 7 percent in the first half.
vs. LSU (1/28): First time UGA has defeated back-to-back Top 25 opponents since 2002-03...first time for back-to-back home sellouts since the ‘03 season, too...In the decisive 2nd half, the Dogs were 1x12 on their 2-point shots, 8x15 from 3-pt. range.
vs. Kentucky (1/24): Georgia overcame a double-digit deficit for the first time since late in the 2003 season...The Bulldogs shot 38 percent in trailing 43-30 at halftime, 58 percent thereafter.
vs. Alabama (1/20): Georgia hasn’t lost a lead as large as the one it built against the Tide since 2002, when the Bulldogs led 30-11 over Southern Illinois in the NCAA Tournament.
vs. Arkansas (1/17): Lost amid the hub-bub over Georgia’s improbable comeback was its season-low total of 10 turnovers...Hero Steve Newman was the game’s final sub, entering just before he received the inbounds pass from Mike Mercer.
vs. Vanderbilt (1/13): Billy Humphrey’s 17 points were a career high in an SEC game...The 58 3-point shots tried by both teams were the most in one of Georgia’s SEC games in eight years.
vs. South Carolina (1/10): For the first time in 5 games, Georgia had a positive AST/TO ratio...It was Georgia’s third straight win over Carolina, only the second time that’s happened since the Gamecocks joined the SEC in 1992.
vs. Florida (1/6)
As far back as game stats are available (1980), Georgia had never before failed to score from the foul line...The Bulldogs got season-low figures in points and steals...
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)
Georgia got an untidy look at life without point guard Sundiata Gaines...His pinch-hitter, Mike Mercer, committed a career-high seven TOs and failed to score a FG for the only time as a collegian.
vs. Jacksonville (12/19)
Point guard Sundiata Gaines went down with a sprained right ankle near the 10-minute mark of the first half...Nonetheless, Georgia survived a 12-point deficit with an 18-0 run before halftime...
vs. Gonzaga (12/16)
This was Georgia’s first win over a Top 25 opponent since 2/14/04 vs. No. 8 Kentucky...The Zags shot 59 percent from the field, the highest rate by a fallen Georgia opponent since January of 1988 (Auburn).
vs. Gardner-Webb (12/5)
Georgia has now shot at least 50 percent from the field in six of seven games...Georgia guards -- Humphrey (8), Gaines (7) and Mercer (7) -- combined to pull down almost half of UGA’s 50 rebounds...
vs. Wake Forest (12/2)
This marked the second straight year that Georgia has won its first true road game of the season...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...It had a negative AST/TO ratio for just the second time this season...Georgia shot at least 43% on its 3-point shots for the third time.
vs. South Carolina State (11/21)
The Bulldogs went over the 100-point mark for the second straight game...It was the Dogs’ best offensive effor, with 32 assists (most in 7 years) to just 11 TOs.
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 Kentucky (11/14)
Levi Stukes became the 36th player in Bulldog annals to score 1,000 career points with a layup with 8:06 left in the second half....For the third straight year in this 4-game series, the visiting team won.
vs. Southern (11/10)
Southern’s 35 turnovers marked the most by a Georgia opponent since Mercer committed 40 miscues Dec. 8, 1990...Billy Humphrey’s seven 3-pointers were the third-highest total ever by a Bulldog and the most since Levi Stukes made eight treys in 2004.
Injury Sidelines Mercer for Season
Results of a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) exam confirmed that Georgia sophomore Mike Mercer suffered knee injuries that will keep him out of action for the remainder of the 2006-07 season.
Mercer injured his right knee with 9:45 remaining in Georgia’s win at South Carolina last Saturday. An MRI exam performed Sunday revealed that Mercer ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), and also incurred a second-degree sprain of the medial collateral ligament (MCL) in his knee.
Mercer is expected to recover fully from his injuries, according to team trainer Colby Pohlmann. He has begun rehabilitation with the UGA Sports Medicine department and is scheduled to undergo surgery on his knee in 10 days.
Mercer was the team’s second-leading scorer (13.6 ppg) and assist man (3.3 per game) and its leader in minutes played (29.3 per game). He was the Bulldogs’ only player to have started in all 23 games to that point in the season.
Where They Stack Up...
Here’s where Georgia players rank among the latest overall SEC Statistics:
Takais Brown: t15th in scoring, 14th in rebounding, 3rd in FG Percentage, 3rd in offensive rebounds
Sundiata Gaines: 17th in rebounding, 7th in assists, 1st in steals, 9th in AST/TO ratio
Mike Mercer: 19th in scoring, 7th in steals
Levi Stukes: 26th in scoring, 5th in 3-pt. FG Pct., 5th in 3-pt. FG made, 6th in steals
In the SEC Games-only stats, here is where they rank:
Brown: 23rdth in scoring, 12th in rebounding, 5th in FG Pct., t4th in off. rebounds.
Gaines: t19th in rebounding, 9th in assists, t7th in steals, 6th in AST/TO ratio
NOTE: Mike Mercer will remain among the SEC leaders until Georgia plays its 31st game of the season. To qualify for these rankings, a player must have played in a minimum of 75 percent of his team’s games.
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 ‘82 NBA Draft by the Utah Jazz. He was soon traded to Atlanta, for which 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.
Still More Random Thoughts
...All 10 Georgia players on scholarship currently average at least 10.8 minutes per game, although freshman Albert Jackson averages just 8.2 minutes during SEC play...
For Steve Newman, the cherry on top of his game-winning heroics Jan. 17 at Arkansas was that his mom, Downing, had made the 1,100-mile trip from Orlando to see her son’s team play. She was the only Bulldog parent among the red & black partisans in Fayetteville. Mrs. Newman is a wedding photographer by trade and she frequently brings her equipment with her to Georgia basketball games.
Newman, a senior Finance major, is basking in another glow this semester. He has but one class in his final academic term, and attendance is not required! He needs only to submit a 10-page paper in May to complete his “Directed Project in Leadership” class. Take that, Matt Leinart!
... On Jan. 13, Georgia and Vandy combined to try 58 three-point shots, the most in an SEC game involving Georgia since 2/13/99 (30 by Ga., 29 by Florida). In the return game three weeks later, they only shot a combined 47 treys. For what it’s worth, Tennessee leads the SEC in 3’s taken with 647. Vandy is 2nd with 595.
...At the time on Jan. 10, Georgia’s +14 rebounding margin against South Carolina was its largest against an SEC foe in five seasons, going back to a +16 margin against Ole Miss. The Bulldogs went one farther (+15) in the return game last Saturday at Columbia.
...Sundiata Gaines has just become the first Georgia player since Rashad Wright (2001-04) to hand out 100 assists in two straight seasons. Wright, the school’s all-time assists leader, did it three straight years. Gaines already ranks 14th on the school’s career assists list with 280 and is projected to finish among the top five of this list...Takais Brown is the first post player for Georgia to get a double-double in three years, going back to Jonas Hayes in 2004. Since then, only Sundiata Gaines in 2005 and Billy Humphrey last year compiled double-doubles.
