Georgia Closes Cayman Classic Against Georgia State

Georgia Basketball Game Notes
Cayman Islands Classic: Georgia (3-2) vs. Georgia State (3-2)
Wednesday, November 21 at 5:00 p.m. ET
John Gray Gymnasium (2,000) in George Town, Grand Cayman.
Listen: Georgia Bulldog Sports Network Flagship: WSB AM 750 Atlanta; XM: TBD. (Scott Howard, play-by-play; Chuck Dowdle, analyst; Tony Schiavone, producer)
TV: None
Video: Stadium via Facebook (Noah Coslov, play-by-play; Tim Scarborough, analyst)

Pos	No.	Name	PPG	RPG

Georgia Bulldogs
Coach: Tom Crean
3-2 in 1st season at UGA
359-233 in 19th season overall
G	14	Tye Fagan	6.8	2.0
6-3; 185; Fr.; Thomaston, Ga.
G	0	William Jackson	3.4	2.0
6-4; 185; Sr.; Athens, Ga.
F	20	Rayshaun Hammonds	15.0	6.2
6-8; 235; So.; Norcross, Ga.
F	33	Nicolas Claxton	12.0	8.8
6-11; 220; So.; Greenville, S.C.
F	34	Derek Ogbeide	10.4	5.6
6-9; 250; Sr.; Atlanta, Ga

Pos	No.	Name	PPG	RPG

Georgia State Panthers
Coach: Ron Hunter
150-87 in 8th season at GSU
424-306 in 25th season overall
G	12	Kane Williams	10.8	2.6
6-3; 190; So.; Douglasville, Ga.
G	15	D'Marcus Simonds	22.6	5.0
6-3; 195; Jr.; Gainesville, Ga.
F	50	Jordan Tyson	2.0	3.0
6-9; 215; Sr.; Cincinnati, Ohio
F	30	Jeff Thomas	14.6	5.0
6-5; 190; Sr.; Norwalk, Va.
F	2	Malik Benlevi	8.0	6.0
6-6; 225; Sr.; Savannah, Ga.

TEAM COMPARISON

STATISTIC	GEORGIA	GEORGIA STATE
Points Per Game	78.2	70.6
Opp. Point Per Game	70.6	73.4
Scoring Margin	+7.6	-2.8
Field Goal Pct.	.482	.419
Opp. Field Goal Pct.	.375	.418
3-Point Pct.	.315	.351
3-Pointers Per Game	5.6	8.0
Opp. 3-Point Pct.	.305	.316
Free Throw Pct.	.705	.602
Free Throws Per Game	18.2	11.8
Rebounds Per Game	42.8	38.2
Opp. Rebound Per Game	37.6	41.2
Rebound Margin	+5.2	-3.0
Assists Per Game	15.6	10.6
Turnovers Per Game	17.2	13.8
Assist-to-Turnover Ratio	0.91	0.77
Turnover Margin	-3.6	+1.0
Steals Per Game	5.6	8.8
Blocks Per Game	6.4	6.0

The Starting 5...

Sophomore Teshaun Hightower turns 21 on Wednesday, the third member of the Georgia Basketball family to celebrate a Nov. birthday.
Freshman Tye Fagan secured his first career start versus Illinois State and played 36 minutes – the most PT of any Bulldog this season to date.
N. Claxton, R. Hammonds, and D. Ogbedie have started all five games. T. Crump, T. Fagan, T. Hightower and T. Jackson also have started.
Derek Ogbeide ascended to No. 16 among UGA's career rebound leaders in the Sam Houston State game and is 16 away from No. 15.
UGA's coaching staff sports a combined 80 seasons of D-I experience (Crean-28, Scott-27, Dollar-23, Abdur-Rahim-12) with 38 postseason bids

The Opening Tip

Georgia will face Georgia State in the third-place consolation game of the Cayman Islands Classic on Wednesday at 5:00.

Since arriving on Grand Cayman, the Bulldogs bested Illinois State, 80-68, on Monday before dropping a 64-59 decision to No. 16 Clemson on Tuesday.

Georgia State topped Saint Bonaventure, 75-65, in their quarterfinal outing. The Panthers then lost to Creighton, 93-68, in the semifinals.

Series History

Georgia owns a 5-2 lead in its series with Georgia State, including a 1-0 mark at neutral site affairs.

The most recent meeting was also the only neutral site contest, with the Bulldogs earning a 72-61 win over the Panthers at the Arena at Gwinnett Center on Dec. 10, 2015.

Georgia won the first four meetings in the series from 1982-96 before State took back-to-back victories in 2000 and 2001. The Bulldogs snapped that streak with a win in the aforementioned neutral site matchup.

Up Next: The Owls Visit Athens

When the Bulldogs return to the United States, they will host Kennesaw State next Tuesday evening at Stegeman Coliseum.

Happy Birthday Teshaun

Georgia sophomore Teshaun Hightower is celebrating his 21st birthday on Wednesday.

Hightower is the third Bulldogs will celebrate a birthdays during November.

Jake Thelen, Georgia's Director of Basketball Operations, enjoyed his birthday on Thursday, Nov. 8. Thelen, who turned 26, is the youngest "DOBO" at a Power 5 Conference program.

On Nov. 10, Rayshaun Hammonds turned 20.

Career-High Outings Against ISU

Sophomores Rayshaun Hammonds and Nicolas Claxton exploded for career-high offensive outputs of 31 and 22 points, respectively, against Illinois State.

Hammonds scored 31 points in 31 minutes of playing time. He topped his previous best effort of 21 points against LSU last season. In fact, Hammonds almost reached that mark in the first half alone. He scored 18 points in the opening period and eventually moved to 22 with an emphatic slam dunk at the 14:20 mark of the second half.

Claxton did much of his damage after the intermission. He scored 14 second-half points and also hauled in a game-high 11 rebounds for his second double-double of the young season. Not to be lost in the box score, Claxton also dished out a career-high four assists.

Dogs Face Panthers In Caymans

Georgia will take on Georgia State on Wednesday in the third-place matchup of the Cayman Islands Classic at John Gray Gymnasium on Grand Cayman.

The Bulldogs are 3-2 on the season. Sophomore Rayshaun Hammonds, who scored a career-high 31 points against the Illinois State on Monday, paces a trio of double-digit scorers in Georgia's frontcourt at 15.0 ppg. Nicolas Claxton is adding 12.0 ppg (and a team-high 8.8 rpg), and Derek Ogbeide is chipping in 10.4 ppg.

Georgia State also is 3-2. D'Marcus Simmons averages 22.6 ppg to lead the Panthers offensively. Jeff Thomas and Kane Williams also score at double-digit paces of 14.6 ppg and 10.8 ppg.

Series History With the Panthers

Georgia enters this evening's game with a 5-2 record against Georgia State.

The most recent meeting, just under 13 years ago, featured the Bulldogs earning a 72-61 win at the Arena at Gwinnett Center in Duluth, Ga., outside Atlanta.

Sundiata Gaines scored 14 points to lead Georgia, which trailed just once in the game.

After State took its only lead at 15-13, Georgia took control with 12 straight points. Gaines had three buckets during the streak, including a pair of fast-break layups.

Once the Bulldogs got their first double-digit lead, they never trailed by fewer than eight points thereafter. Nonetheless, they encountered difficulty negotiating the Panthers' variety of zone defenses.

Georgia also got double-figure scoring from Billy Humphrey (12 points) and Mike Mercer (10), who returned to play in their home county.

Last Time Out...

Georgia dropped a 64-49 contest to 16th-ranked Clemson in the semifinals of the Caymans Classic on Tuesday afternoon.

Derek Ogbeide reached double-digit points late in the second half to become the Bulldogs' leading scorer with 11 points. Tyree Crump added nine points and a career-high six rebounds. Nicolas Claxton hauled in nine boards and swatted a career-high five blocks.

"I think what we learned yesterday is what happens when you come out as a team," Tom Crean said. "When you come out and you play together, you realize you are only as good as your teammates and that is not how we played today. We have a lot of growing up to do, and we will. We have got to get it turned around in a hurry. We have got to go home and get better and get in better shape."

In the first half, Crump led the team in scoring with eight points, but Bulldogs trailed by eight points at the intermission at 34-26.

Georgia was unable to cut into the lead by a significant margin in the second half.

Fagan Gets First Nod

Freshman Tye Fagan secured his first career start against Illinois State and went on to play 36 minutes – the most PT any Bulldog has seen on the young season.

Fagan scored eight points for the third time in four games and also grabbed a season-most five rebounds.

The Dogs Are Drawing

Crowds of 9,018 and 7,195 attended Georgia's first two home games of the 2018-19 campaign. All told, that's 16,213 Bulldogs.

That is the largest two-game tally for the initial two outings at Stegeman Coliseum in 15 seasons.

In 2002-03, Georgia welcomed crowds of 8,643 for the season opener against Belmont and then drew 8,527 for the second home game of the campaign versus South Alabama – a combined tally of 17,170.

A Historic Opener

Georgia christened both the 2018-19 campaign and the Tom Crean era on Nov. 9 with an impressive evening on and off the court at Stegeman Coliseum.

The Bulldogs secured a 110-76 victory over Savannah State, Georgia's most points in a game in the 2000s.

The last time the Bulldogs scored more was in a 113-74 victory over Grambling on Nov. 27, 1999, at the Great Alaska Shootout.

A crowd of 9,018 fans turned out at Stegeman for the opener.

The last time the Bulldogs drew a larger crowd for their initial home outing was in 37 years ago in 1981, which was Dominique Wilkins' sophomore year. A then-capacity crowd of 11,200 turned out for a 62-61 win over Georgia Tech on Dec. 5, 1981.

That also represented the most fans for a home opener since the Stegeman Coliseum's capacity became 10,523 in 1994.

Also on the scoreboard front, Georgia's 59 first-half points were its most in a half since putting up 60 in the second period against Jacksonville State 11 years earlier to the day...on Nov. 9, 2007.

"First things first, I want to say thank you to everybody who was here for this," Crean said. "This is largest crowd on an opening night since they redid Stegeman Coliseum, and it was fun. It was fun to see the enthusiasm that people have had turn into bodies and live energy and loud fans tonight. That was tremendous. I want to say that first and foremost."

Bulldogs Set Sellout Record

The Tom Crean regime established an impressive attendance record before the Bulldogs ever setting foot on the Stegeman Coliseum floor.

Georgia sold out three regular-season games in October.

On Oct. 24, Georgia announced sellouts for both the Florida and Kentucky games. That represented the earliest sellout in Georgia Basketball history.

Two days later, the Bulldogs' matchup with Texas also became a sellout.

Prior to this year, Georgia had never sold out more than one home game prior to the season opener.

It's Games Time!

The Bulldogs will play six games in the first 13 days of the 2018-19 campaign.

That stretch began with the Nov. 9 season opener against Savannah State, a trip to Temple on Nov. 13 and a matchup with Sam Houston State on Nov. 16. The Bulldogs will complete the stretch with three games in three days on Grand Cayman.

Dogs' Lineup A Work In Progress Georgia's starters in the matchup box on the PDF of these Game Notes are just the same five players who got the nod against Clemson. Tom Crean has been adamant that the lineup is anything but set.

"I've said to them, and it's going to be like this for a while, we don't have a starting five," Crean said after the season opener. "It's not coach-speak. In my mind, we don't have one. I don't think you can build a program and not have real competition.

"We had some very good individual nights, but we also have a lot of things that we can improve upon," Crean added. "That's the exciting thing because the things we need to improve upon are very correctable things – the free throw shooting, the decision making, the two-handed rebounds, the blocking out."

Bulldogs' Roster Loaded With Peach State Products

Nearly three-fourths of Georgia's roster – 11-of-15=.733 to be exact – played high school hoops in the Peach State.

The list includes: seniors Christian Harrison (Woodward Academy), William "Turtle" Jackson (Athens Christian School), Connor O'Neill (Blessed Trinity Catholic High) and Derek Ogbeide (Pebblebrook High); juniors Tyree Crump (Bainbridge High) and Jordan Harris (Seminole County High); sophomores Rayshaun Hammonds (Norcross High) and Teshaun Hightower (Collins Hills High); and freshmen Tye Fagan (Upson-Lee High); Amanze Ngumezi (Johnson High) and JoJo Toppin (Norcross High).

Ogbeide Already Ranks Among Bulldogs' Best Boarders Ever

Derek Ogbeide began his senior season with 614 rebounds and ranked No. 17 among the Georgia's career leaders.

Derek Ogbeide began his senior season with 614 rebounds and ranked No. 17 among the Georgia's career leaders. Ogbeide ascended to the No. 16 – as outlined below – during the Sam Houston State victory and enters today's game 12 away from No. 15.

Georgia Closes Cayman Classic Against Georgia State

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Nicolas Claxton

Tyree Crump

Tye Fagan

Rayshaun Hammonds

Jordan Harris

Christian Harrison

Teshaun Hightower

Amanze Ngumezi

Connor O'Neill

Derek Ogbeide

JoJo Toppin

Georgia Closes Cayman Classic Against Georgia State

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Nicolas Claxton

Tyree Crump

Tye Fagan

Rayshaun Hammonds

Jordan Harris

Christian Harrison

Teshaun Hightower

Amanze Ngumezi

Connor O'Neill

Derek Ogbeide

JoJo Toppin

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