University of Georgia Athletics

Bulldogs Host Kennesaw State in Final Game of 2008

December 30, 2008 | Men's Basketball

GAME 13

Kennesaw State    5-5    1-1
at Georgia    8-4    0-0

Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Athens, Ga.
Tip-off Time:  4:07 p.m. (EST)



TELEVISION
Live regional telecast by Comcast Sports Southeast (Paul Crane and Shaun Golden)
GEORGIA RADIO
Georgia Bulldog Radio Network:  Scott Howard (Play-by-Play), Jeff Dantzler (Color)
Local stations:  In Atlanta: WSB (750 AM) In Athens: WPUP-FM (100.1 FM) & WRFC (960 AM).
SATELLITE RADIO
The majority of Georgia basketball games in 2008-09 can be heard on XM Satellite Radio.  For up-to-date SEC programming information, log on to:
http://www.xmradio.com/schedule/sport/get_schedule_servlet.jsp'sub_cat_id=187
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).

Bulldogs Host Kennesaw State
Georgia plays its final game of 2008 in a Wednesday afternoon contest against in-state neighbor Kennesaw State.  The Bulldogs arrive at this game with an 8-4 overall record.  Most recently, they matched their highest offensive output of the season in a 98-68 win over North Carolina A&T on Sunday in Athens.

The Owls come to Stegeman Coliseum with a 5-5 overall record, having already split a pair of Atlantic Sun Conference games.  Wednesday’s game is their first since a Dec. 23 loss at home to East Tennessee State.  The two combatants today have shared one common opponent:  USC Upstate.  Both teams defeated the Spartans.  Georgia opened its regular season with a 72-48 win over USCU while Kennesaw registered a 66-64 win in its A-Sun opener on Dec. 1.

The Bulldogs rang up 98 points against N.C. A&T on Sunday despite their leading scorer, senior Terrance Woodbury, missing his third consecutive game.  Woodbury, who hasn’t played since Georgia’s 67-66 win over Virginia Tech on Dec. 9, aggravated an ankle sprain in practice on Dec. 19.  In the meantime, freshman Trey Thompkins has assumed team scoring honors at 13.3 points per game, thanks to a 22-point effort three days ago.

After today’s game, the Georgia schedule ratchets up dramatically in difficulty as the SEC slate looms on the horizon.  The Bulldogs round out their pre-conference slate by hosting Missouri (current RPI of 49) on Jan. 3 before a Jan. 6 game at Georgia Tech.

Probable Starting Lineups
GEORGIA BULLDOGS (8-4 overall this season)
Head Coach: Dennis Felton (83-84 in sixth season at Georgia)
Pos.    No.    Name    Ht.    Wt.    Cl.    Hometown    PPG    RPG
F -    22    Travis Leslie    6-4    202    Fr.    Decatur, Ga.    8.7    5.1
F -    33    Trey Thompkins    6-9    247    Fr.    Lithonia, Ga.    13.3    6.3
C -    34    Albert Jackson    6-10    265    Jr.    Earlington, Ky.    4.0    3.5
G -    23    Corey Butler    6-3    195    Sr.    Decatur, Ga.    8.0    4.8
G -     5    Zac Swansey    6-1    175    So.    Dunwoody, Ga.    7.1    4.1*
Top Reserves
G -    3    Dustin Ware    5-11    182    Fr.    Powder Springs, Ga.    6.1    2.9*
F -    50    Jeremy Price    6-8    264    So.    Decatur, Ga.    6.8    4.5

KENNESAW STATE OWLS (5-5 overall this season, 1-1 in A-Sun games)
Head Coach: Tony Ingle (155-105 in eighth season at KSU)
Pos.    No.    Name    Ht.    Wt.    Cl.    Hometown    PPG    RPG
F -    30    Jon-Michael Nickerson    6-6    215    Jr.    Millbrook, Ala.    12.4    7.5
F -    33    Zadrian Gibson    6-6    195    So.    Enterprise, Ala.    4.8    4.6
F -    41    Jonathan Whipple    6-7    215    Jr.    Gordon, Ga.    4.3    2.9
G -    3    Kelvin McConnell    6-0    185    So.    Smyrna, Ga.    14.0    3.2*
G -    21    Kurtis Woods    6-3    200    Fr.    Huntsville, Ala.    9.2    2.7
Top Reserves
F -    24    Artie Marine    6-6    205    Fr.    Cambridge, Md.    1.5    1.9
G -    5    Spencer Dixon    6-0    170    Fr.    Marietta, Ga.    5.3    2.7
*Assists Per Game

Georgia vs. Kennesaw State
    Today’s game is just the second all-time meeting between Georgia and Kennesaw State.  Georgia won the first encounter by a 75-66 score on Feb. 14, 2007 in Athens.
    KSU coach Tony Ingle, a native Georgian who got his start in the profession in his home state, has coached against Georgia in one other setting. Seven games into the 1996-97 season, he ascended into the head coaching position at BYU. His first game was against Georgia in what was then called the Delta Air Lines Holiday Classic for Kids. Georgia won the game, played in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, 84-65.

Georgia vs. the Atlantic Sun
Bulldog teams are certainly no strangers, to teams from the Atlantic Sun Conference, formerly known as the Trans America Athletic Conference. Kennesaw State is the seventh school of the current A-Sun membership to have played Georgia.

Bulldog teams have previously played Belmont (2-0), East Tenn. State (1-2), Jacksonville (8-0), Mercer (51-23), USC Upstate (1-0) and Stetson (7-3).

Georgia Bulldog Minutiae...
Out of shape and still recovering from a high ankle sprain suffered in October, freshman Trey Thompkins has nonetheless managed to emerge as the Bulldogs’ leading scorer and rebounder.  His 22-point effort three days ago against N.C. A&T pushed him past Terrance Woodbury for team scoring honors.  Were he to maintain his team-high pace, Thompkins would be the first UGA freshman to lead the Bulldogs in those two categories since Jumaine Jones in 1998...
...Georgia’s improbable run to the SEC Tournament championship last March ranked as the 7th most memorable college hoops story of 2008, according to a recent story by Mike Huguenin of Rivals.com.  It ranked just ahead of UCLA’s third straight trip to the NCAA Final Four and just behind the in-season resignation of Texas Tech coach Bob Knight.  Kansas’ miraculous rally in the NCAA title game ranked No. 1 on Huguenin’s list.
... Georgia’s performance against N.C. A&T on Sunday was a refreshing break from its previous struggles on offense.  Twenty-seven of the Bulldogs’ 35 field goals were assisted, an exceedingly good rate of efficiency (77 percent) by any college team’s standards.  For the season, Georgia has assisted on 54 percent of its 303 field goals. 
...Maybe the most improved player on the Georgia squad has been sophomore Chris Barnes, who continues to add productive minutes off the bench.  His 11-point outing Dec. 9 against Virginia Tech marked just the fourth double-figure scoring game of his young career, and against the best opponent by far.      ...Terrance Woodbury’s absence from the Wofford game last Saturday ended a string of 59 consecutive straight games played for the Virginia Beach native.  He had also started the previous 43 games before Saturday.
 ...Small wonder that the Bulldogs are struggling to produce on offense this season.  Only two returning players -- Terrance Woodbury and Albert Jackson -- are filling roles that even remotely resemble those from last season.  Senior Corey Butler has doubled his playing time from last season, from 13 to 26 minutes per game.  In addition, the rookie trio of Thompkins, Leslie and Ware combine to average over 57 minutes of court time...
...Is there any greater testament to Georgia’s predominant youth than this tidbit?  Terrance Woodbury is the Bulldogs’ top career scorer with 790 points before today’s game.  The next highest number is that of Jeremy Price, who has 357 career points before today.  Both Zac Swansey (so.) and Corey Butler (sr.) scored their 200th career points Dec. 20 against Wofford.


What Georgia Must Replace in 09
Terrance Woodbury is Georgia’s lone returning double-figure scorer from the 2008 SEC Tournament championship team.  Its leading rebounder coming back is junior Albert Jackson at just 4.3 boards per game.

The 2009 Bulldogs have just 13 collegiate letters earned between them, counting walk-on Ricky McPhee’s two letters at Gardner-Webb.  If all 14 players were 4-year seniors, there would be 42 letters among the entire squad.

The Bulldogs lost just three  contributors to their 08 squad, but they loomed significantly in their absence as the season began:
> Sundiata Gaines, Pt. Guard, 14.8 ppg (1st on team), 6.0 rpg (1st on team), 4.2 apg (1st on team).  Finished career as the school’s all-time leader in steals and ranks 9th in scoring, 11th in rebounding and 2nd in steals.  Currently playing professionally for the Pallacanestro Cantu team in Italy, the same club for which ex-Georgia great Bob Lienhard played eight seasons in the 1970s.
> Billy Humphrey, Guard, 12.2 ppg (2nd on team), 37% 3-pt. FG (1st on team), 1.7 apg (2nd on team), 32.3 mpg (2nd on team).
> Dave Bliss, Center, 7.6 ppg (5th on team), 5.6 rpg (2nd on team), 34 blks (1st on team).

Woodbury Tapped 2nd team All-SEC
Senior forward Terrance Woodbury was named to the Coaches’ Pre-Season All-Southeastern Conference 2nd team.  The 6-7 swingman was a key figure in Georgia’s run to the SEC Tournament championship last March, averaging 15.8 points over the 4-game weekend, including a career-best 25 points against Ole Miss in the first round.
In other pre-season picks, the Georgia team was predicted to finished 6th in the SEC East by selected media in the league.

Georgia Gets Two Early Signees
In the early national signing period that began Wednesday, Nov. 12 -- and concluded this Wednesday --  Georgia got signatures from two local prospects:
DeMario Mayfield, Guard, 6-4, 190, Carnesville, Ga. (Franklin County High School)  Regarded as a combo guard prospect in the college ranks.  Averaged 24.6 points, 4.9 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game last year for Franklin County.  Rated the No. 17 point-guard prospect in the nation by espn.com’s recruiting service.
Daniel Miller, Center, 6-11, 240, Loganville, Ga. (Loganville Christian Academy)...Rated the ninth-best prospect at center in the country, according to Rivals.com...Averaged 28.8 points, 12.3 rebounds and 7.0 blocks per game in leading LCA to the 2008 championship of the Independent Christian Schools of Georgia-Alabama (LCSGA).  It was LCA’s second straight title.

Dogs Get Early Christmas Presents
When Georgia basketball players attended their annual pre-season banquet in September, they assumed their reward was a chance to meet noted ESPN analyst Jay Bilas.  They got much more than that.

The Bulldogs, at least the ones returning from last season, were presented their 2008 SEC Tournament Championship rings by head coach Dennis Felton.  The presentation turned an already festive occasion into something truly special.

The ring is pictured smaller-than-life on the back of the 2009 UGA media guide.  Ask any incumbent member of the current team after tonight’s game.  There’s a better-than-fair chance he’ll have it handy to show off.

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