University of Georgia Athletics
Georgia Hosts Tennessee In Regular Season Finale
March 02, 2007 | Men's Basketball
GAME 29:
Tennessee 21-9 (9-6)
at Georgia 17-11 (8-7)
Saturday, March 1, 2007
Athens, Ga.
Tip-off Time: 4:06 p.m. (EST)
TELEVISION
Live regional telecast by Lincoln Financial Sports (Tim Brando and Barry Booker). Producer: Dave Barringer.
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
All tickets for today’s game have been sold.
AT THE GAME TODAY
Senior Day Recognition
Bulldog seniors Steve Newman and Levi Stukes will be playing their final home games. Also senior student managers Cory Cason and “Super” Dave Meropol will also join the pre-game recognition at midcourt.
Letterman of the Game. All-American and Academic All-American Alec Kessler (1987-90) will be recognized during the pre-game lineup.
Georgia vs. Tennessee
Georgia completes the 2007 regular season with a home contest against Tennessee. The Bulldogs arrive at this game with a 17-11 overall record, 8-7 in the SEC, having dropped its most recent decision, 82-70 at Kentucky three nights ago. Despite the loss, Georgia has assured itself of a winning record in league play for the first time since 2003.
Many issues remain unresolved, particularly in the Western Division, as the SEC schedule reaches the final weekend. For the Bulldogs, they will finish either fourth or fifth in the Eastern Division, depending on their own outcome and also the outcome of the Kentucky-at-Florida game Sunday afternoon. A Georgia win, coupled with a Florida win, would land the Bulldogs in a fourth-place tie with Kentucky, against which Georgia would win a tie-breaker because of a better record against the East. Either a Tennessee win on Saturday or a Kentucky win Sunday would make Georgia the fifth seed at the SEC Tournament next week in Atlanta.
Saturday marks the final home game for a pair of Bulldog seniors, as well as two senior student managers. Steve Newman and Levi Stukes, as well as Cory Cason and “Super” Dave Meropol, will be honored in a pre-game recognition at midcourt.
Probable Starting Lineups
Georgia - Tennessee Series
Saturday’s game is the 136th all-time meeting between Georgia and Tennessee in this series. Tennessee leads the series, which began in 1913, by an 84-51 count.
Tennessee has won five straight meetings in this series and eight of the past 10, going back to the 2002 season. The Bulldogs last defeated Tennessee on Feb. 21, 2004 in Athens in a 71-60 decision.
Though Georgia has won 15 of the past 21 games against Tennessee in Athens, it has never won more than six straight times here. That longest streak scanned the 1993-98 seasons. That also matches Tennessee’s longest winning streak in Athens (1945-52 and 1971-76).
Tennessee is the fourth most frequent opponent in the history of Georgia basketball. Florida ranks first (188 meetings), Georgia Tech is second (183) and Auburn is third on that list (169).
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 463-668 (.410). 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 118-137 (.463) record. Eight times since 92 Georgia has had a league record of .500 or better (1993, 95, 96, 97, 01,’03, 07).
Since the league’s expansion, Georgia has a 51-41 record against SEC Western Division teams. Bulldog teams have had winning records against the West in 11 of 16 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 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...
...Because of various injuries and suspensions, only three of 14 Bulldogs have played in every game: Billy Humphrey, Steve Newman and Rashaad Singleton. These three have combined for 29 of Georgia’s 140 total starts...In five of Georgia’s losses, the Bulldogs were without a key starter or reserve:
Western Kentucky (Brown...suspension)
Georgia Tech (Gaines...injury)
Alabama (Woodbury...death in family)
Ole Miss (Mercer...injury)
Kentucky (Stukes..suspension; Mercer, Bliss, Jackson...injury).
...Sundiata Gaines has become the first Georgia player since Rashad Wright (2001-04) to hand out 100 assists in two straight seasons. Wright did it three straight years. Gaines already ranks 12th on the school’s career assists list with 304...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 did so.
Stukes Etches Name in History
This has been an historic season 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 1,314 career points, 35 points shy of Ezra Williams in the No. 14 position.
Just in the past month, 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. On Feb. 10 at South Carolina, he moved past Layne as the Bulldogs’ all-time leader in 3-pointers made.
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 15th nationally in rebounding margin (+6.2), second in the SEC behind Florida.
A few random notions about Georgia’ s rebounding success this year:
The Bulldogs have outrebounded 12 of their first 15 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 +7.7 margin on the boards, but Georgia beat the Gators both times this season. Just two other teams thus far -- Kansas and Kentucky -- have outrebounded Florida. Georgia also outdid the Badgers -- who rank second in the Big Ten in board margin at +6.2 -- by 42-34.
Georgia has accrued these numbers without a truly great rebounder in the post position. Takais Brown, who has traded places with point guard Sundiata Gaines for team rebounding honors, has more offensive boards than defensive. Gaines has led Georgia in rebounding for much of the past two seasons.
As far back as team stats are available (1960), no Georgia team has had as large a rebounding margin as the current mark of +6.3. 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.
Numbers to Ponder...
Comb. record of all UGA opponents:
390 - 281 (.581)
Comb. record of all non-SEC opps:
196 - 169 (.537)
Comb. record of all SEC opps:
197 - 112 (.638)
Comb. record of all teams that UGA has beaten: 226 - 216 (.511)
Comb. record of all teams that have beaten UGA: 183 - 74 (.712)
Avg. RPI of all non-SEC opps: 167
Avg. RPI of all SEC teams: 51
...Other RPI notes of interest...In the past two weeks, during which Georgia has won three of four games, the Bulldogs have dropped 18 spots in the RPI listings, from a high of 38 to their current 56. Why? Primarily because a win over 277 Kennesaw State, stuck amidst a steady diet of top-100 RPI matchups in SEC play...This week represents Georgia’s best opportunity to climb in those ratings, with both opponents having sky-high RPIs...The highest current RPI of any team that Georgia has beaten is 10 by Kentucky. The next highest? 30 by Vanderbilt.
...In the RPI vernacular, Georgia has but a 16-11 record because Valdosta State is an NCAA Division II school. RPI ratings consider only games against Division I opponents...Consequently, Georgia’s 16 wins are the fewest among all of the teams in the RPI’s top 60...Eight other teams in that top 60 have as many losses as Georgia.
...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 11 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:
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%)
Highlights from the Games...
vs. Kentucky (2/28): Because of injuries & a suspension, just seven Bulldogs played...Both Steve Newman and Terrance Woodbury played career-high minutes.
vs. Miss. State (2/24): Georgia shot 58 percent overall, 63 percent from 3-point range, both SEC season-high numbers...Levi Stukes went over the 20-point mark for the second time of the SEC schedule.
vs. Ole Miss (2/21): The Bulldogs were doomed by a scoring drought (1 FG over 14:45 of clock time!) reminiscent of 2005...Ole Miss won this game despite shooting just 37 percent in the second half.
vs. Auburn (2/17): Georgia trailed just once (0-2), had taken control by the 11-minute mark of the first half, and twice pushed the lead to 19 points...Two Bulldogs played 40 minutes for the first time in two years.
vs. Kennesaw State (2/14): The Dogs shot 89.5% (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...
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).
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 it 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.
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 scored in double-digits.
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 Dogs went over the 100-point mark for just the 2nd 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.
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 on Feb. 10. An MRI exam performed the next day 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: 17th in scoring, 18th in rebounding, 5th in FG Percentage, 2nd in offensive rebounds
Sundiata Gaines: 14th in rebounding, 7th in assists, 1st in steals, 10th in AST/TO ratio
Mike Mercer: 18th in scoring, 8th in steals
Levi Stukes: 27th in scoring, 5th in 3-pt. FG Pct., 5th in 3-pt. FG made, 8th in steals
In the SEC Games-only stats, here is where they rank:
Brown: 18th in scoring, 14th in rebounding, 5th in FG Pct., t4th in off. rebounds.
Gaines: t15th in rebounding, t6th in assists, t3rd in steals, 5th 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 Utah. 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 New York before reaching the championship in Miami. He had played in the NBA finals once before (1998) for the Jazz.
Still More Random Thoughts
...Beginning this week, SEC teams had a .250 winning percentage (21-63) on the road in conference play. Georgia was one of six SEC teams to have won multiple conference games on the road.
...The Bulldogs are certainly not immune to diminished performances on the road. Here are some stats -- from SEC games to date -- that support this fact:
PPG -- Home: 76.1; Road: 64.0
Team FG% -- Home: 46%; Road: 41%
3-pt. FG% -- Home: 38%; Road: 35%
FT% -- Home: 70%; Road: 65%
A/TO Ratio--Home: +1.17/1; Road: -1.14/1
...Individually, Levi Stukes own the largest disparity between home and road stats. He averages 13.1 points at home, 9.9 on the road. Reserve swingman Terrance Woodbury averages 8.0 points at Stegeman Coliseum, just 2.7 on the road. Oddly, Takais Brown has fared better on the road (14.0 ppg) than at home (13.1).
...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 February 10 at Columbia.