University of Georgia Athletics
Georgia at Vanderbilt On SEC Network Wednesday
January 13, 2015 | Men's Basketball
The team prepares to battle Vandy and we caught up with a few of the players in advance of the road contest.
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About the Game
• Georgia returns to action with a Wednesday night game at Vanderbilt. This is the first of two games between these programs. They'll conclude the series on Jan. 27 in Athens.
• The Bulldogs arrive at this game with a 9-5 overall record, 0-2 in SEC play, having dropped close decisions to #23 Arkansas at home and at LSU last week.
• Georgia could be without 14-game starter Juwan Parker in the Vanderbilt game. The sophomore injured an achilles tendon during the second half of the LSU game and missed the final 16:40 of action. The Bulldogs will also be without freshman reserve Yante Maten, who suffered a concussion when he was struck by a car on the UGA campus last Sunday evening.
• Georgia completed its non-conference schedule with a 9-3 mark, capped by six consecutive wins, the program's longest streak since the 2011 season (9 games). Highlights include a pair of road wins (at Chattanooga & Kansas State) and wins over 19th-ranked Seton Hall and Colorado. Georgia's 9-3 pre-conference record was also the program's best since the 2011 season (11-2 in pre-SEC games).
• Wednesday's game is the 138th all-time meeting between these two schools in basketball. Vanderbilt leads the series, which began in 1914 and has been renewed annually since 1951, by an 88-49 count. Georgia's last win in the series came Feb. 6, 2010; Commodore teams have won eight consecutive times since then.
• The 2015 season marks the first time in two years that Georgia and Vandy are scheduled to play twice in the same season. The home-and-home series took a brief hiatus in the wake of the SEC's expansion in 2012.
Probable Starters
| GEORGIA BULLDOGS | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos. | No. | Name | Ht. | Wt. | Cl. | Hometown | PPG | RPG |
| F | 42 | Nemanja Djurisic*** | 6-8 | 230 | Sr. | Podgorica, Montenegro | 11.6 | 5.4 |
| F | 2 | Marcus Thornton*** | 6-8 | 235 | Sr. | Atlanta, Ga. | 13.6 | 7.2 |
| G | 4 | Charles Mann** | 6-5 | 210 | Jr. | Alpharetta, Ga. | 12.1 | 3.8a |
| G | 30 | J.J. Frazier | 5-10 | 150 | So. | Glennville, Ga. | 8.7 | 3.8 |
| G | 12 | Kenny Gaines | 6-3 | 195 | Jr. | Atlanta, Ga. | 11.8 | 3.2 |
#Assists Per Game
Head Coach: Mark Fox
Record at Georgia / Years: 94-82 / 6th season
Overall Record/Years: 217-125 / 11th season
Assistant Coaches: Philip Pearson, Jonas Hayes, Yasir Rosemond
| VANDERBILT COMMODORES | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos. | No. | Name | Ht. | Wt. | Cl. | Hometown | PPG | RPG |
| F | 25 | Jordan Mickey | 6-8 | 235 | So. | Dallas, Texas | 15.8 | 10.8 |
| F | 1 | Jarell Martin | 6-10 | 235 | So. | Baton Rouge, La. | 17.5 | 8.8 |
| F | 31 | John Odo | 6-10 | 245 | Sr. | Lagos, Nigeria | 1.7 | 1.5 |
| G | 5 | Josh Gray | 6-1 | 183 | Jr. | Lake Charles, La. | 9.2 | 2.7 |
| G | 4 | Keith Hornsby | 6-4 | 210 | Jr. | Williamsburg, Va. | 12.6 | 4.6 |
Head Coach: Kevin Stallings
Record at LSU / Years: 303-196 / 16th season
Overall Record / Years: 426-259 / 22nd season
Assistant Coaches: Adam Cohen, Derrick Jones, Tom Richardson
Georgia vs. Vanderbilt
• Wednesday's game is the 138th all-time meeting between these two schools in basketball. Vanderbilt leads the series, which has been renewed annually since 1951, by an 88-49 count.
• In the 54 years that Georgia and Vanderbilt played a home-and-home series. Georgia swept the series just seven times and not since 2001.
• Vanderbilt took last season's only matchup by a 59-54 score in Athens on Jan. 29, 2014.
• Oddly, these two programs have met twice in post-season play on their respective home courts. Georgia defeated Vandy at Memorial Gym in the 1991 SEC Tournament second round. Seven years later, Georgia defeated Vandy at Stegeman Coliseum in the NIT third round, earning a trip to New York for the NIT Final Four in the process.
• Memorial Gym has proven to be a graveyard of sorts for nationally-ranked Georgia teams. Seven Bulldog teams traveled there as occupants of the AP Top 25. Just one of them left with a victory. The list of those games follows:
1/30/84: Vandy 81, #18 Georgia 74 1/26/02: Vandy 86, #15 Georgia 84
1/14/89: Vandy 76, #20 Georgia 75 1/29/03: Vandy 94, #15 Georgia 91
12/11/90: Vandy 75, #13 Georgia 74 (OT) 1/12/11: Vandy 73, #24 Georgia 66
1/8/97: #24 Georgia 61, Vandy 53 (the last time UGA was ranked in AP Top 25)
• A geographical breakdown of the series follows:
Games in Athens: UGA leads 33-29
Games in Nashville: Vandy leads 54-13
Neutral-Court Games: Vandy leads 5-3
Noteworthy
Four-fifths of Georgia's starting unit comprise one of the most experienced groups in the SEC. The seniors (Thornton & Djurisic) and juniors (Mann & Gaines) enter Saturday's game with a combined 494 career games played, 209 starts and over 8750 minutes played.
Sophomore guard J.J. Frazier has emerged this season as one of the Bulldogs' most indispensible players. This, after a fairly inconspicuous freshman year in 2014. His 17 minutes-per-game jump from last season is the largest among returnees on the current squad. Frazier has established career highs in scoring, rebounding, assists, steals and minutes in Georgia's six most recent games, highlighted by a 20-point effort last Saturday vs. Norfolk State.
Kenny Gaines was perhaps Georgia's best player during the SEC schedule in 2014. He led the Bulldogs in scoring in those 18 games (14.8 ppg) and was the league's top 3-point shooter (45.1%). The 2015 season thus far, however, has been an upstream swim for the junior from Atlanta. He missed all but four days of the pre-season period because of illness. He then sprained his right shoulder while diving for a loose ball Dec. 7 against Colorado and was inactive for another 10 days. Despite his health issues, Gaines has still managed to be Georgia's third-leading scorer.
Fifth-year senior Marcus Thornton is currently playing career-best basketball. Three times already this season -- most recently Dec. 2 at Chattanooga -- he's established a new career scoring high. His 24 points against the Mocs marked his first collegiate game over the 20-point threshold. This season,Thornton has now scored 30 percent of his career total points in just 14 games. Additionally, he's also picked up three of his seven career double-doubles this season. Thornton received a medical redshirt year in 2012-13 after a knee injury in the season's ninth game sidelined him.
Georgia's current official RPI of 37 represents rarified air for a Bulldog squad. Not only is it helped by a pair of road wins, but it's also gotten recent boosts from teams that the Bulldogs have beaten, namely Stony Brook, which won at Washington in December, and Seton Hall, which opened Big East play with wins over St. John's and Villanova and is ranked 21st in the current AP Top 25; and Kansas State, which won at #16 Oklahoma last weekend.
Thus far, Georgia has continued one of its trademarks from last season: getting to the FT line. The Bulldogs have attempted more free throws (383) than any other SEC team, despite 10 of the league's 14 teams having played one more game than Georgia...The win at Kansas State on Dec. 31 showed Georgia's rotation coming into sharper focus. Against K-State, just eight Bulldogs saw the court, the smallest number to date this season...In 110 years of basketball, Georgia has played more than one multiple-OT game in a season just twice before this year: in 1978-79 (a 3OT and 4OT game) and 2011 (two 2OT games)...Georgia's 3OT win over Mercer on Dec. 27 was the longest game in Stegeman Coliseum history (building opened in 1964) and the program's first 3OT game since December of 1990Georgia's win at Chattanooga on Dec. 2 represented the program's largest victory margin in a road game since Hugh Durham's final UGA squad won at Central Florida 83-52 on Dec. 8, 1994.
About the Schedule...
Highlights of Georgia's 2014-15 schedule include:
• According to KenPom.com, Georgia's schedule is currently the 21st most difficult in the country. The SEC team ranking closest to that is Kentucky, whose scheduled is rated 35th toughest.
• A season-opening renewal of the Bulldogs' annual rivalry with Georgia Tech. Their Nov. 14 date in Atlanta, in fact,was the earliest meeting ever the two schools, who have played each other a total of 191 times.
• Participation in the NIT Season Tip-Off, which guarantees that the Bulldogs will face perennial power Gonzaga and another top-flight opponent in New York in late November.
• The return to Athens of traditional SEC foes Kentucky, Florida and Tennessee. In a rare quirk of scheduling, none of these three visited Athens last season, the first time it had happened since 1944.
• Regular-season series against SEC opponents Auburn, Kentucky, Ole Miss, South Carolina and Vanderbilt.
• Long a staple of the SEC schedule, the Wednesday night game has nearly vanished from the Bulldogs' 2015 slate. Of their nine mid-week contests, just three will be played on Wednesday, all on the road: 1/14 at Vandy; 2/11 at Texas A&M; and 2/25 at Ole Miss.
• Four non-conference games against teams which played in the NCAA Tournament last season.
• Additional opponents that played post-season games last season include Kentucky (NCAA), Florida (NCAA), Tennessee (NCAA), LSU (NIT), Arkansas (NIT), Missouri (NIT), St. John's (NIT), Minnesota (NIT), Stony Brook (CBI), Texas A&M (CBI), UTC (CollegeInsider) and Norfolk State (CollegeInsider).
- Among the conferences represented in Georgia's non-conference schedule include:
> ACC (Ga. Tech)
> Big Ten (Minnesota)
> Pac-12 (Colorado)
> Big 12 (Kansas State)
> Big East (St. John's, Seton Hall)
> America East (Stony Brook)
> West Coast (Gonzaga)
- When Georgia played at Kansas State on New Year's Eve afternoon, it was a red-letter date for head coach Mark Fox. The Garden City, Kan., native returned to home territory, back to a school where he worked as a young assistant 20 years ago. Fox served seven seasons (1994-2000) under Tom Asbury on the Wildcats coaching staff.
The Dec. 31 game was also Georgia's first-ever trip to Manhattan. The two teams will return the game in Athens next season at a date to be determined.
The NIT Season Tipoff -- created in 1985 as the Big Apple Pre-Season NIT -- will get underway with on-campus games in mid-November. Georgia will play host to Stony Brook on Nov. 18 in its only campus game before heading to New York for games on Nov. 26-28.
This will be the Bulldogs' fourth all-time appearance in the early-season tournament. Their previous three times came in 10-year increments: 1988, 1998 and 2008. Georgia never advanced to New York among the final four teams, when teams reached NYC by winning preliminary rounds.
When Georgia plays Gonzaga on Nov. 26 in New York, it will mark the program's eighth trip to the metro area for competition. Bulldog teams have played six previous games in Madison Square Garden:
vs. NYU on Dec. 20, 1948
vs. Purdue on Mar. 22, 1982
vs. Penn State on Mar. 24, 1998
vs. Fresno State on Mar. 26, 1998
vs. Texas on Nov. 15, 2002
vs. St. John's on Dec. 9, 2009
Georgia has made the post-season NIT Final Four twice: in 1982 (lost to Purdue) and again in 1998 (lost to Penn State before defeating Fresno State in the long since defunct consolation game).
Mann Named Coaches' All-SEC
No question that junior guard Charles Mann has earned the favor of all 14 SEC head basketball coaches. For the third straight year, he has received some kind of all-star recognition from this group.
As the season commences, Mann was named to the 9-man Coaches' Pre-Season All-SEC First Team. This group also named him in 2013 to its SEC All-Freshman team, and last year the coaches annointed him to their post-season All-SEC second team.
Mann led Georgia in scoring, assists, steals and minutes played last season. He also ranked among the top 20 nationally in free throws made and attempted.
The 9-man Coaches All-SEC team follows:
> Mann
> Dorian Finney-Smith, Florida
> Michael Frazier II, Florida
> Aaron Harrison, Kentucky
> Andrew Harrison, Kentucky
> Damian Jones, Vanderbilt
> Jordan Mickey, LSU
> Bobby Portis, Arkansas
> Jarvis Summers, Ole Miss
Landmarks to Look for in 2015
With veterans playing key roles for the Bulldogs in 2015, it's nearing time for several to approach individual landmarks in their respective careers.
Leading active career scorers:
Nemi Djurisic: 922 points (112 games)
Charles Mann: 842 points (79 games)
Kenny Gaines: 692 points (76 games)
Leading active career rebounders:
Marcus Thornton: 548 rebs. (116 games)
Nemi Djurisic: 483 rebs. (112 games)
*Note: UGA's No. 10 career rebounder, Trey Thompkins, has 693 rebounds.
Leading active career assists:
Charles Mann: 239 assists (79 games)
*Note: UGA's No. 10 career assist leader, Donald Hartry, has 355 assists.
*One additional note: if he completes the season in sound health, Marcus Thornton will likely set the UGA career record for most games played. The current mark, owned by G.G. Smith and Michael Chadwick (1995-99) is 129. Thorton began this season having played in 102 games.
Free Throws a Key in 2014
A vital element in Georgia's ability to win 20 games last season was its advantage at the free-throw line. The Bulldogs ranked 17th nationally in FT attempts (941 or 27.7/game) and 30th in FTs made (642 or 18.9/game). Each figure was signficantly better than their opponents' average. They also shattered single-season school records in the respective categories and tied the school single-game record for attempts (50 vs. South Carolina).
Leading the way was point guard Charles Mann, who attempted nearly 30 percent of the team's foul shots, was second in the SEC and 10th nationally in that category.
Big Opportunity for Thornton
Marcus Thornton returns for his senior season, capping a career the started back in the summer of 2010. The Atlanta native was awarded an extra year of eligibility through a medical redshirt after he played in nine games of the 2013 season.
The fifth year has given Thornton an opportunity to join a very short list of UGA basketball alumni: those who have played on at least three Bulldog teams to win 20 games.
Of the hundreds of UGA hoops alums that span the past 110 years, only five can say that they played on three 20-game-winning squads: those that were underclassmen on the 1996 Georgia team. Larry Brown, Michael Chadwick, Ray Harrison, Jon Nordin and G.G. Smith played on three consecutive teams that won at least 20 games. If Georgia is fortunate enough to reach that landmark this season, Thornton would join that list.
Dogs Projected 5th in SEC
by blue ribbon
Georgia which tied for second in the SEC race a season ago, has been projected to finish fifth in 2015, according to Blue Ribbon Basketball Yearbook, which enjoys a biblical reputation among the world of college hoops. Chattanooga-based writer Chris Dortch edits the Blue Ribbon book each year and covers the SEC material himself.
Here's how the SEC will shake down in 2015, according to Blue Ribbon:
1. Kentucky
2. Florida
3. LSU
4. Arkansas
5. Georgia
6. Ole Miss
7. Texas A&M
8. Vanderbilt
9. Missouri
10. Tennessee
11. Auburn
12. Alabama
13. South Carolina
14. Mississippi State
Staff Changes for 2015
For the second consecutive year, head coach Mark Fox has introduced a new member of his full-time assistant coaching staff. This year, Atlanta native Yasir Rosemond joined the staff in May of 2014. He came to Athens after two seasons at Samford in Birmingham, Ala. Rosemond is a 2003 graduate of Oregon and spent five seasons on the Ducks' staff under former head coach Ernie Kent.
Rosemond, like fellow UGA assistant coach Jonas Hayes, is also an alumnus of Douglass High School in Atlanta. He was four years ahead of Hayes and his twin brother Jarvis at the home of the Astros.
Additionally, Matt Bucklin was promoted to Operations Coordinator, after two years as a graduate assistant on the staff. Bucklin, a 2012 UGA graduate and a 4-year letterman, is also the nephew of longtime Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo. To replace Bucklin in the graduate assistant's position, Fox promoted 2014 graduate Lainn Wilson, who served as a student manager in the program the previous four years.
Trio of Prospects Sign Early
Georgia signed three high school seniors during the week-long early national signing period, which ended on Wednesday of last week: forward E'Torrion Wilridge of Beaumont, Texas; guard Will "Turtle" Jackson of Athens; and forward Derek Ogbeide of Mableton, Ga.
Wilridge is currently a senior at Central High School in Beaumont. As a junior last year, he led the Jaguars to a 31-5 record and a berth in the semifinal round of the Texas Class 4A state tournament. He averaged 22.3 points, 12.1 rebounds and 4.0 blocks per game in 2014.
Jackson, meanwhile, is in his senior year at Athens Christian School, which has played for the Class A Private school state semifinals each of the past three years. In his junior season, he averaged 23.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and 7.7 assists for the Eagles.
Jackson becomes the first UGA signee from Athens since Carlos Strong and Terrell Bell, a pair of Cedar Shoals High School teammates, signed with the Bulldogs as part of the Class of 1992.
Ogbeide, a native Nigerian who is from Toronto, Ont., is a senior this season at Pebblebrook, which went 24-6 in 2014 and reached the Georgia 6A state semifinals. He averaged 8.3 points, 7.0 rebounds and 4.9 blocks as a junior for the Falcons.
