University of Georgia Athletics
Bulldogs Host MSU Bulldogs In SEC Matchup
January 23, 2009 | Men's Basketball
GAME 19
Miss. State 13-6 3-1
at Georgia 9-9 0-3
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Athens, Ga.
Tip-off Time: 6:05 p.m. (EST)
TELEVISION
Live national telecast on ESPN2 (Brad Nessler and Jimmy Dykes)
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
Today’s game can be heard on XM Radio’s Channel 199.
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).
Today’s game can also be seen on ESPN360.com by logging onto the following link: http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/espn360/index?id=290240061
TICKETS
Reserved Seat Tickets: $15. Available online at www.georgiadogs.com and by phone at 1-877-542-1231. Also, at Stegeman Coliseum Ticket Booths 1, 2, 5 on the day of the game, starting 1.5 hours before tipoff. UGA Student Tickets: $2 with UGA ID.
Bulldogs Play Host to MSU Bulldogs
Georgia returns to action after its “bye” date in the SEC schedule by playing host to Mississippi State in a Saturday evening contest. The homestanding Bulldogs are still seeking their first win of the conference slate. They arrive at this game with a 9-9 overall record, 0-3 in the league. Most recently, Georgia dropped a 68-45 decision at home to SEC East leader Kentucky six days ago.
It’s been four years since Georgia went this far into the SEC schedule without a victory. The 2005 Bulldogs dropped their first four conference games before winning. Other similar starts of recent years include 2000 (0-3) and 1998 (0-5).
The all-time series between Georgia and Mississippi State is tied at 49-all. Fittingly, these two teams split a pair of games last season. They opened the SEC schedule with a 60-49 MSU victory in Starkville. In the rematch, Georgia capped its marathon doubleheader on Saturday of the SEC Tournament by defeating the maroon Bulldogs 64-60. Having needed overtime to defeat Kentucky in a 12 Noon tipoff that day, Georgia faced off against State at 8:45 p.m.
Starting next week, Georgia will face even greater challenges in its quest for victories. The Bulldogs will play just one home game over the next three weeks. Four of their next five SEC games on the road, where Georgia has won just six times in SEC competition over the past five years.
Probable Starting Lineups
GEORGIA BULLDOGS (9-9 overall, 0-3 in SEC games)
Head Coach: Dennis Felton (84-89 in sixth season at Georgia)
Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Cl. Hometown PPG RPG
F - 30 Terrance Woodbury 6-7 221 Sr. Virginia Beach, Va. 13.4 3.8
F - 33 Trey Thompkins 6-9 247 Fr. Lithonia, Ga. 13.2 6.4
C - 34 Albert Jackson 6-10 265 Jr. Earlington, Ky. 4.1 4.0
G - 23 Corey Butler 6-3 195 Sr. Decatur, Ga. 7.1 4.4
G - 5 Zac Swansey 6-1 175 So. Dunwoody, Ga. 6.0 4.2*
Top Reserves
G - 3 Dustin Ware 5-11 182 Fr. Powder Springs, Ga. 6.0 2.8*
F - 22 Travis Leslie 6-4 202 Fr. Decatur, Ga. 7.6 4.6
MISSISSIPPI STATE BULLDOGS (13-6 overall, 3-1 in SEC games)
Head Coach: Rick Stansbury (221-121 in 11th season at MSU)
Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Cl. Hometown PPG RPG
C - 32 Jarvis Varnado 6-9 210 Jr. Brownsville, Tenn. 12.9 9.3
G - 25 Phil Turner 6-3 170 So. Grenada, Miss. 7.4 3.5
G - 3 Dee Bost 6-2 170 Fr. Concord, N.C. 9.9 4.6*
G - 22 Barry Stewart 6-3 170 Jr. Shelbyville, Tenn. 10.8 3.3
G - 3 Ravern Johnson 6-7 175 So. Lyon, Miss. 12.0 3.7
Top Reserves
F - 5 Romero Osby 6-8 230 Fr. Meridian, Miss. 6.3 3.6
G - 4 Twany Beckham 6-5 190 Fr. Louisville, Ky. 2.2 1.5
*Assists Per Game
Georgia vs. Miss. State
Saturday’s game is the 99th all-time meeting between Georgia and Mississippi State in basketball. The series, which began in 1932 and has been renewed annually since 1949, is currently tied at 49 wins apiece.
Since the SEC expanded and was pared into East and West divisions in 1992, Mississippi State has a 12-10 edge in games. That includes five SEC Tournament matchups (Georgia 3, MSU 2).
Since 1992, the home team has won 14 of the 17 annual meetings. The exceptions: a Georgia win at Starkville in 2002 and State wins in Athens in 1995 and 2005. Here’s a geographical breakdown of this series:
Games in Athens: UGA leads 25-17
Games in Starkville: MSU leads 30-14
Neutral-Court Games: UGA leads 9-1
SEC Tournament Games: UGA leads 8-2
A couple of oddities from this series:
1) Georgia’s highest & lowest FG percentages in SEC games during the Dennis Felton era came against Mississippi State: 57.9% in 2007 and 24.6% last season.
2) Georgia’s lowest-ever point total in a victory -- during the so-called Modern Era took place in a 26-20 win at MSU on 1/13/82.
Georgia Bulldog Minutiae...
Just twice in the history of Georgia basketball has an opponent blocked at least 10 Bulldog shots. MSU’s Jarvis Varnado recorded 10 blocks in last year’s regular-season matchup between these two schools. The other time? Feb. 10, 1996, when Roy Rogers of Alabama blocked 14 Georgia shots to set an SEC record that still stands...
Heading into this week, Georgia ranked 12th nationally in 3-point field-goal percentage defense at 29.0%...In those same NCAA stats, Terrance Woodbury ranks 37th in the nation in free-throw percentage (86.0%), though he barely meets the minimum qualfying standards...
...Assuming his current scoring pace, Woodbury will become the 39th player in UGA history to score 1,000 career points. Sundiata Gaines was the last Bulldog to do so. Seven Georgia players have reached that milestone during this decade.
Still rounding into shape after a high ankle sprain in October, freshman Trey Thompkins has nonetheless managed to emerge as the Bulldogs’ leading offensive threat and their top rebounder. 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. Thompkins also leads the Bulldogs in blocked shots (20) and 3-point FG percentage (43.6)...
...Thompkins has accrued his impressive numbers while playing catch-up with his teammates. A stress fracture and then a knee sprain kept him inactive throughout the summer and early fall.
...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 ranks 11th in the SEC (and 309th nationally) in free-throw percentage at 62 percent, but it’s not because of Terrance Woodbury or Trey Thompkins, who have made 77 percent of their combined 90 attempts from the line. The 10 other Bulldogs who have tried free throws this season have a combined accuracy rate of 56.3 percent (139x247)...
...Along a similar theme, Georgia’s two young point guards, soph Zac Swansey and freshman Dustin Ware, have a combined assist/turnover ratio of +1.64/1. The other 11 Bulldogs have a A/TO ratio of 0.58/1 or 1.78 TOs per 1 assist...Georgia ranks 11th in the SEC in that statistic.
...Georgia’s inability to score from the free throw line last week at Vanderbilt was the first time since 07 for the Bulldogs. Their only two tries in the game occurred with 3:56 left.
...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 Dec. 20 ended a string of 59 consecutive straight games played for the Virginia Beach native. He had also started the previous 43 games before that day.
...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 30 minutes per game. In addition, the rookie trio of Thompkins, Leslie and Ware combine to average over 63 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 868 points before today’s game. The next highest number is that of Jeremy Price, who has 395 career points before today. Both Zac Swansey (so.) and Corey Butler (sr.) scored their 200th career points Dec. 20 against Wofford.
...A few notes about the schedule & RPIs: > Georgia is 1-5 in games against teams with RPIs of 100 or better: win vs. Va. Tech, losses vs. Western Ky., Illinois, Missouri, Tennessee and Kentucky.
> Still, the Bulldogs’ RPI has risen slightly, and their Strength of Schedule rating has jumped dramatically since SEC play began.
> On Jan. 10, the Bulldogs played their only Top 25 opponent to date (#15 Tennessee).
> Just five of Georgia’s 15 non-conference opponents currently have winning records...
...Georgia’s loss to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi ended an 8-game winning streak in overtime contests, a span that stretched back to the 2004 season...
...Zac Swansey had played in all 46 collegiate games before the Dec. 31 contest against Kennesaw State. Late in the previous game vs. N.C. A&T, he scraped his left knee badly enough to warrant stitches. Problem was, the sutures were in a spot that stretched (and came apart) anytime he bent his knee.
What Georgia Has Replaced 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 Dogs have just 13 letters earned between them, counting walk-on Ricky McPhee’s two letters at Gardner-Webb. If all 14 players were 4-yr. 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.
> 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).
