University of Georgia Athletics
Bulldogs Open SEC Slate Against Tennessee Saturday
January 09, 2009 | Men's Basketball
GAME 16
#15 Tennessee 9-4 0-0
at Georgia 9-6 0-0
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Athens, Ga.
Tip-off Time: 12:05 p.m. (EST)
TELEVISION
Live regional telecast by Fox SportsSouth (Tim Brando and Joe Dean, Jr.).
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 GXtra (subscription required).
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 Open SEC Slate vs. Tennessee
Georgia tips off the Southeastern Conference portion of its schedule with a Saturday afternoon contest against Tennessee. The Bulldogs enter SEC play with a 9-6 overall record, having lost their final two pre-conference tune-ups to Missouri and, most recently, last Tuesday night at Georgia Tech.
Both teams, in fact, enter today’s game having lost their last two games. Tennessee arrives in Athens having dropped a pair of contests in the past seven days -- at Kansas last Saturday and at home to Gonzaga on Wednesday -- for its 9-4 overall record.
Despite those two losses, the Volunteers remain the 15th-ranked team in this week’s Associated Press Top 25. As such, they are the first nationally-ranked opponent for Georgia this season. Two of the Bulldogs’ previous opponents are currently receiving votes in the weekly polls: Illinois and Missouri.
Georgia’s 9-6 pre-conference record represents the most losses before SEC play since the 2001 season. That year, the Bulldogs eventually won nine SEC games and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. The NCAA berth came largely as a result of Georgia’s strength-of-schedule rating, which was rated No. 1 nationally by a wide margin.
Tennessee won both meetings last season, first in Knoxville by an 85-69 score and lastly, on Feb. 16 in Athens by a 74-71 margin. In the Athens contest, Georgia’s Sundiata Gaines missed a tying 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded.
Probable Starting Lineups
GEORGIA BULLDOGS (9-6 overall this season, 0-0 in SEC games)
Head Coach: Dennis Felton (84-86 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. 13.7 4.0
F - 33 Trey Thompkins 6-9 247 Fr. Lithonia, Ga. 13.8 6.4
C - 34 Albert Jackson 6-10 265 Jr. Earlington, Ky. 4.5 4.1
G - 23 Corey Butler 6-3 195 Sr. Decatur, Ga. 7.5 4.6
G - 5 Zac Swansey 6-1 175 So. Dunwoody, Ga. 6.8 4.4*
Top Reserves
G - 3 Dustin Ware 5-11 182 Fr. Powder Springs, Ga. 6.1 3.0*
F - 22 Travis Leslie 6-4 202 Fr. Decatur, Ga. 8.4 5.0
TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS (9-4 overall this season, 0-0 in SEC games)
Head Coach: Bruce Pearl (86-28 in fourth season at Tennessee)
Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Cl. Hometown PPG RPG
F - 1 Tyler Smith 6-7 215 Jr. Pulaski, Tenn. 17.2 6.0
C - 4 Wayne Chism 6-9 242 Jr. Jackson, Tenn. 12.5 9.3
G - 32 Scotty Hopson 6-7 185 Fr. Hopkinsville, Ky. 8.7 2.2
G - 25 Josh Tabb 6-4 196 Jr. Carbondale, Ill. 3.7 2.0
G - 3 Bobby Maze 6-2 185 Jr. Suitland, Md. 9.5 4.1*
Top Reserves
G - 23 Cameron Tatum 6-6 196 Fr. Lithonia, Ga. 10.2 2.6
C - 33 Brian Williams 6-10 267 So. Bronx, N.Y. 5.8 6.5
*Assists Per Game
Georgia vs. Tennessee
Saturday’s game is the 139th all-time meeting between Georgia and Tennessee in basketball. Tennessee leads the series, which began in 1913 and has been renewed annually since the 1951 season, by an 87-51 count.
Tennessee has won eight straight meetings, including four regular-season sweeps, with Georgia. The Bulldogs last won in this series on Feb. 21, 2004 in a 71-60 decision in Athens. Its last win in Knoxville came on Feb. 21, 2001 (88-76). Its most recent consecutive wins there came in the 1993-95 seasons.
UT is the fourth most frequent opponent in the history of UGA hoops. Florida ranks first (190 meetings), Ga. Tech is second (185) and Auburn is third on that list (170).
Despite Tennessee’s recent success, the home team has a decided advantage in this series. Tennessee has won nine of the past 10 meetings in Knoxville, and 11 of the past 12. Georgia is 15-8 overthe past 23 meetings in Athens.
UT coach Bruce Pearl made one other appearance at Stegeman before moving to Knoxville. His 2003 Wisconsin-Milwaukee squad lost 89-69 in Athens that year.
Georgia Bulldog Minutiae...
Still rounding into shape after a high ankle sprain in October, freshman Trey Thompkins has nonetheless managed to emerge as the Bulldogs’ leading scorer and rebounder. His 22-point effort Dec. 22 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. Thompkins also leads the Bulldogs in blocked shots (19) and 3-point FG percentage (51.6)...
...Thompkins leads Georgia in rebounding at 6.6 boards per game, a figure that continues to climb. Over the past four games, he’s averaged 8.8 rebounds, including his first double-double in a loss to Texas A&M - Corpus Christi. In that same span, he’s averaging 18.5 points per contest....All of this in just 24 minutes per game, fourth-most among the five regular starters for Georgia.
...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 in free-throw percentage at 62 percent, but it’s not because of Terrance Woodbury or Trey Thompkins, who have made 79 percent of their combined 77 attempts from the line. The 10 other Bulldogs who have tried free throws this season have a combined accuracy rate of 55.9 percent (122x218)...
...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 10th in the SEC in that statistic.
...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 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 832 points before today’s game. The next highest number is that of Jeremy Price, who has 381 career points before today. Both Zac Swansey (so.) and Corey Butler (sr.) scored their 200th career points Dec. 20 against Wofford.
...Georgia is 2-3 in games against teams with RPIs of 100 or lower: wins vs. Wofford and Va. Tech, losses vs. Western Ky., Illinois and Missouri. The Bulldogs have yet to play a Top 25 opponent in 14 games, a streak which will end today against No. 15 Tennessee. Just four of Georgia’s 15 opponents to date 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...You need only to go back to the SEC Tournament last season for the last time Georgia played consecutive OT games before the Wofford and TAMU-CC games...
...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. The Georgia medical staff recommended that Swansey sit out the Kennesaw game in order to give his stitches the proper healing time.
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.
> 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 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 467-681 (.407). 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 two SEC Tournament crowns (1983, 2008).
Georgia has had just one Associated Press SEC Player of the Year: Dominique Wilkins in 1981 and no POY, as voted by the league’s coaches since 1987.
Georgia has an all-time SEC Tournament record of 36-46. The 2008 tournament marks the first time since 1997 that Georgia has reached the semifinals, and also the finals.
Since the league expanded and was pared into East and West Divisions in 1992, Georgia has a 122-149 (.450) 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 65-105 record (.382) record against the Eastern Division, a 57-45 mark (.559) against SEC Western Division teams. Bulldog teams have had winning records against the West in 12 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. The Bulldogs’ timing, however, left much to be desired. That same year, Kentucky won the East with a perfect 16-0 mark and Florida placed second at 12-4. Georgia’s 11-5 mark would’ve won the West by two games.
