Bulldogs Open Season Against Savannah State

Georgia Basketball Game Notes
Georgia (0-0) vs. Savannah State (0-1)
Friday, November 9 at 8:30 p.m. ET
Stegeman Coliseum (10,523) in Athens, Ga.
Listen: Georgia Bulldog Sports Network Flagship: WSB AM 750 Atlanta; XM: 392. (Scott Howard, play-by-play; Chuck Dowdle, analyst; Tony Schiavone, producer)
Video: SEC Network + (Kaleb Frady, play-by-play; Shaun Golden, analyst)
Giveaways: The first 1,000 UGA students will receive a Georgia Basketball t-shirt

Pos	No.	Name	PPG	RPG

Georgia Bulldogs
Coach: Tom Crean
0-0 in 1st season at UGA
356-231 in 19th season overall
G	0	William Jackson II	2.5	0.5
6-4; 185; Jr.; Athens, Ga.
G	2	Jordan Harris	4.0	1.5
6-4; 190; Jr.; Iron City, Ga.
F	20	Rayshaun Hammonds	11.5	9.0
6-8; 235; So.; Norcross, Ga.
F	33	Nicolas Claxton	11.0	7.0
6-11; 220; So.; Greenville, S.C.
F	25	Amanze Ngumezi	3.0	2.5
6-9; 245; Fr.; Savannah, Ga.

Pos	No.	Name	PPG	RPG

Savannah State
Coach: Horace Broadnax
171-229 in 13th season at SSU
213-317 in 18th season overall
G	3	Zach Sellers	6.0	4.0
6-1; 175; Jr.; Cheraw, S.C.
G	1	Zaquavian 'Qua' Smith	13.0	2.0
6-1; 170; Sr.; Statesboro, Ga.
G	11	Jaquan Dotson	13.0	7.0
6-4; 195; Jr.; Philadelphia, Miss.
F	12	Jahlin Smith	6.0	0.0
6-7; 180; Sr.; Barnwell, S.C.
F	00	Tyrell Harper	11.0	3.0
6-7; 180; Jr.; Sanford, Fla.

TEAM COMPARISON

STATISTIC	GEORGIA	SAVANNAH STATE
Points Per Game	68.1	86.1
Opp. Point Per Game	66.7	93.5
Scoring Margin	+1.4	-7.4
Field Goal Pct.	.420	.400
Opp. Field Goal Pct.	.394	.493
3-Point Pct.	.318	.300
3-Pointers Per Game	6.1	12.2
Opp. 3-Point Pct.	.332	.356
Free Throw Pct.	.699	.696
Free Throws Per Game	15.5	15.1
Rebounds Per Game	39.4	38.2
Opp. Rebound Per Game	34.0	47.7
Rebound Margin	+5.4	-9.5
Assists Per Game	12.2	15.8
Turnovers Per Game	12.7	14.0
Assist-to-Turnover Ratio	0.96	1.13
Turnover Margin	-3.1	+4.9
Steals Per Game	3.8	9.4
Blocks Per Game	4.7	2.8

The Starting 5...

Tom Crean coaches his first regular-season game with the Bulldogs after being named Georgia's 22nd head basketball coach on 3/15/18.
The Bulldogs won both of their preseason exhibitions outings, defeating UAB (56-64) on 10/18 and topping West Georgia (98-59) on 11/1.
Sophomore Rayshaun Hammonds was UGA's leading scorer (11.5 ppg) & rebounder (9.0 rpg) in the Bulldogs' two exhibition games
Athens native Turtle Jackson is UGA's leading returning scorer (8.4 ppg) and led the Dogs in both assists (115) & steals (23) in '17-18.
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 christens both the Tom Crean era and its 2018-19 campaign on Friday night when the Bulldogs host Savannah State at Stegeman Coliseum at approximately 8:30 p.m. The contest is the second outing of a Georgia Basketball doubleheader and follows the Lady Bulldogs facing St. Bonaventure at 6:00 p.m.

Series History

Georgia is 2-0 all-time against Savannah State, with both early-2000s meetings taking place in Athens.

In the initial matchup on Dec. 28, 2004, Levi Stukes poured in a game-high 23 points to lead the Bulldogs in a 100-69 decision.

The following season on Dec. 3, 2005, Steve Newman's team-high tallies of 22 points and nine rebounds paced Georgia en route to an 84-48 victory.

Up Next: Temple on Tuesday

Georgia will return to action next Tuesday when the Bulldogs venture to Philadelphia to face Temple.

The matchup is the back end of a home-and-home contract. The Bulldogs won 84-66 last Dec. 22 in Athens behind 30 points and 12 rebounds from Yante Maten, the eventual 2018 AP SEC Player of the Year.

It's Games Time!

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

Following the date with Savannah State, Georgia will play at Temple next Tuesday and host Sam Houston State next Friday. The Bulldogs will then trek to the Cayman Islands Classic and play three games in as many days.

Bulldogs Set Sellout Record

The Tom Crean regime established an impressive attendance record even before the Bulldogs ever set foot on the Stegeman Coliseum floor, selling 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 game prior to beginning the regular season.

Bulldogs in Openers

Georgia has compiled an 80-33 record in season-opening contests during the Bulldogs' first 113 campaigns of basketball.

That tally includes a 34-6 mark when the Bulldogs have opened the season at Stegeman Coliseum.

Georgia's biggest victory in an opener at the Coliseum also was its first. In the Bulldogs' first-ever season opener in the Coliseum on Dec. 3 1964, UGA bested No. 13 North Carolina, 64-61.

A year ago, Georgia defeated Bryant 79-54 in the season opener, snapping a three-year skid when the Bulldogs started the season with an 0-1 record.

Crean's Opening Outings

Tom Crean is 17-1 in season openers as a head coach. Crean was 8-1 to begin his nine seasons at Marquette from 1999-2008. He was a perfect 9-0 at Indiana from 2008-17.

The biggest season-opening victory for a Crean-coached team was two years ago when the No. 11-ranked Hoosiers defeated No. 3 Kansas, 103-99, in overtime at the Armed Forces Challenge in Honolulu.

The Hoosiers raced to an 8-1 start that season – including a second signature victory in November over eventual 2017 NCAA Champion North Carolina – before injuries decimated Indiana's roster.

The Bulldogs Who Are Back

Georgia returns three starters – seniors William "Turtle" Jackson and Derek Ogbeide and sophomore Rayshaun Hammonds – and 11 total letterwinners from last season's team.

Of those 11 returnees, nine have starting experience within SEC play.

Georgia's Four Puppies

The Bulldogs' roster features a quartet of freshmen. Three of those are Peach State prep products – Tye Fagan from Thomaston, Amanze Ngumezi from Savannah and JoJo Toppin from Norcross. The fourth, Ignas Sargiunas, hails from Kaunas, Lithuania.

Bulldogs Win Exhibitions

Bulldogs Win Exhibitions Georgia won both of its preseason exhibition outings. The Bulldogs bested UAB in Birmingham, 56-54, on Oct. 18 and the topped Division II West Georgia, 98-59 on Nov. 1.

Against UAB, Rayshaun Hammonds led Georgia with 13 points and nine rebounds. Nicolas Claxton and JoJo Toppin added eight points each for the Bulldogs.

Hammonds scored on a three-point play that ignited a 9-3 run over the final 3:58 for the Bulldogs. Georgia held UAB without a field goal for the final 5:41 of the contest.

Tyree Crump led a quartet of Bulldogs in double figures against West Georgia. Crump knocked down 6-of-10 3-point attempts en route to 18 points.

Nicolas Claxton added 14 points, while Rayshaun Hammonds and Teshaun Hightower chipped in 10 apiece. Claxton and Hammonds each grabbed a game-high nine rebounds.

The Bulldogs raced to a 12-1 lead and held the Wolves without a field goal for the first 6:37 of the game.

Some Early-Season Birthdays

Three Bulldogs will celebrate their birthdays during November.

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

On Saturday, Rayshaun Hammonds will turn 20, and Teshaun Hightower will turn 21 on Nov. 21.

Georgia Begins Regular-Season By Hosting Savannah State

The Georgia Bulldogs will open both the 2018-19 season and the Tom Crean era as head coach on Friday when they host the Savannah State Tigers. The contest will serve as the second half of a doubleheader at Stegeman Coliseum. The Lady Bulldogs will host St. Bonaventure at 6:00 p.m., with Crean's Bulldogs and the Tigers set to meet no earlier than 8:30 p.m.

Crean was hired as the Bulldogs' head coach on March 15 and has created an off-season buzz surrounding Georgia Basketball that it hasn't been seen since Dominique Wilkins' playing days in Athens during the early-1980s.

Before this season, Georgia had never sold out more than one game before the regular-season opener. This fall, the Bulldogs had three sellouts – Florida, Kentucky and Texas – in October.

In addition, the number of contributors and the amount donated to UGA's Basketball Enhancement Fund (BEF) set records by considerable margins. The BEF tally topped $1 million for the first time ever and as of Nov. 7 had bettered the previous watermark by just shy of 25 percent.

"I'm just looking forward to this enthusiasm that is being generated around the program being live, screaming bodies in the seats," Crean said. "We want bodies that are there early, that are there during, that are loud at the beginning, that are helping us through it and that coming to have some fun. It's going to hit on Friday that it's actually here. It will still be under eight months in our time here, but it will hit on Friday that it's here. And I hope it hits with everybody to use all those tickets that they've been buying. And we need to get to students out because we want to get this started the right way."

Savannah State opened the season with a 98-83 loss at Texas A&M on Wednesday. Joseph Collins scored 20 points in his collegiate debut to lead four Tigers in double digits. The Tigers won their only exhibition, 111-107, over Thomas University on Nov. 1.

Savannah State returns four letterwinners from last year's team that finished 15-17 overall but tied for the MEAC regular-season title with a 12-4 league record. Zach Sellers started 27 of 32 games last season and was one of four double-digit scorers for the Tigers, averaging 10.3 ppg and also dishing out a team-high 123 assists.

"Horace Broadnax is leading the country in pace right now at Savannah State," Crean said. "That's the most important thing we've got to do. If we don't get back in transition and match up with shooters and get the ball stopped and get into their corners, we're going to have a hard time."

The Tigers finished second nationally in scoring offense in 2017-18 at 86.3 ppg, largely due to averaging a nation-leading 12.2 3-pointers per game. However, Savannah State was last in Division I in scoring defense, allowing 93.5 ppg.

Last Time Out...

Tyree Crump scored 18 points – all coming on six 3-pointers – to lead Georgia to a 98-59 exhibition victory over West Georgia 98-59 on Nov. 1.

Nicolas Claxton followed with 14 points and led the team with four steals, while Teshaun Hightower and Rayshaun Hammonds also scored 10 points apiece.

"I thought they took some really tough shots, but we defended them," Tom Crean said. "We have to get so much better guarding the dribble, talking on defense and all the things that make a team successful. We've just got to continue to improve at that. We've got some more players to evaluate based on this game and based on the UAB game. Now we're going to get ourselves ready to go next week (against Savannah State)."

Crump's initial 3-pointer of the night at the 14:53 mark of the first half gave Georgia a 12-1, a double-digit advantage the Bulldogs did not relinquish for the remainder of the game.

Starting at the 11:27 mark, 13 unanswered points were spread between freshmen Ignas Sargiunas and Tye Fagan and sophomores Claxton and Hammonds.

Georgia extended the lead to as many as 27 in the first frame, using points from 11 different Bulldogs to do so, and headed into halftime with the 44-22 advantage.

Georgia opened the second half with eight unanswered points featuring two dunks from Derek Ogbeide.

The Bulldogs owned a 20-plus point lead from the 12th minute of the first half through the rest of the game and secured a 30-point edge from the 11th minute of the second half through the final horn.

Georgia held West Georgia to a 22-percent clip from the field.

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 School) and Derek Ogbeide (Pebblebrook High School); juniors Tyree Crump (Bainbridge High School) and Jordan Harris (Seminole County High School); sophomores Rayshaun Hammonds (Norcross High School) and Teshaun Hightower (Collins Hills High School); and freshmen Tye Fagan (Upson-Lee High School); Amanze Ngumezi (Johnson High School) and JoJo Toppin (Norcross High School).

Feel Free To Call Him "Ty-3"

Tyree Crump has scored nearly two-thirds of his career points on shots from at least 20-feet, 9-inches away from the basket.

Crump has knocked down 63 3-pointers in his first two seasons in Athens, directly accounting for 62.8 percent of his points (189-of-301) for the Bulldogs.

Those 63 trifectas also account for 67.0 percent (63-of-94) of his made shots from the floor as a Bulldog.

That trend continued during Georgia's two exhibition outings, when all seven of Crump's made field goals were 3-pointers.

Claxton Goes International

Nicolas Claxton spent a portion of his summer playing for the U.S. Virgin Islands national team in qualifying contests for the 2019 FIBA World Cup. He is eligible to do so since his father, Charles, an All-SEC center for UGA in the early-90s, was born on the U.S.V.I.

Claxton helped ignite a closing 13-0 surge in an 84-74 victory over the Bahamas on June 28. He was fouled and converted a free throw to start the run and then made a stickback with 3:15 left to put the U.S.V.I up for good. With 2:51 remaining, Claxton stole a Buddy Hield pass that resulted in a bucket on the other end.

In a loss to Canada on July 2 in Ottawa, Claxton scored seven points and had a team-high six rebounds.

Fagan Owns Unique Record

The first recruit to commit to Georgia under Tom Crean certainly brings a winning résumé to Athens.

Tye Fagan, who inked papers with Bulldogs on May 1 during the spring signing period, helped Upson-Lee High School to back-to-back state titles and 63 consecutive victories as a junior and senior. That represents the third-longest winning streak in Georgia boys' basketball prep history.

"Any time you can add a championship-winning player and person to your program, it's great," Crean said. "But I can't recall ever signing anyone that was 63-0. That's unique."

Ogbeide Already Ranks Among Bulldogs' Best Boarders Ever

Derek Ogbeide begins his senior season ranked No. 17 among Georgia Basketball's career rebounding leaders as outlined below. Ogbeide hauled down 614 boards – 152 as a freshman, 259 as a sophomore and 203 as a junior – during his first three seasons at UGA.

Workouts Feature Belted "Dawg OF The Week" Accolade

Georgia's summer and fall workouts have included the naming of a "Dawg of the Week," an award accompanied by an authentic wrestling-style championship belt.

"That was (strength & conditioning director) Sean Hayes' idea," Tom Crean said. "He showed me the design and I liked it and he got it done. It's something that Sean really spearheads, and he's really basing it not only on who had the best week themselves but most importantly who's helping others the best. It's about who's not only pushing themselves to a very high level but through the fatigue, through the frustration that comes through the adversity that comes. Are they really helping their teammates, especially the young guys?"

Inaugural StegMania A Success

Tom Crean arrived in Athens with a distinct vision. One of the first things he wanted to create was an preseason event to display the new energy and enthusiasm surrounding Georgia Basketball.

On Friday, Oct. 5, the first-ever StegMania drew a crowd of more than 5,000. It was, by all measures, a significant success.

UGA students lined up around the Coliseum to receive commemorative "StegMania" t-shirts. A lengthy autograph session with a distinct family feel wrapped up the festivities.

StegMania itself was packed with pyrotechnic player introductions, a high-flying dunk contest, a dance battle with the Georgia Lady Bulldogs, a impromptu performance of the hit song "Rolex" by hip-hop artists Ayo & Teo and a scrimmage with Crean "mic'd up" for the crowd.

"When you're brand new coming into something like this, you really don't have an expectation," said Crean, who donned a "Georgia vs. All Y'all" t-shirt for the evening. "But if I would've had one, it would have exceeded it. When I saw people in line to get into the Coliseum, I got a lump in my throat. It was awesome because you never take it for granted. Hopefully, everyone walks out of here knowing that they matter."

The Leftiest Lads In The Land

The Bulldogs' roster features six – count 'em on two hands – left-handed players. Georgia's southpaws include Nicolas Claxton, Tye Fagan, Rayshaun Hammonds, Jordan Harris, Derek Ogbeide and JoJo Toppin.

We're relatively confident that tally is the most any NCAA Division I basketball team will suit up during 2018-19.

During the summer months, J.D. Hamilton of the NCAA sends out a laundry list of questions to the nation's Division I men's basketball SIDs. The inquiries can range from statistical – what school has the most 2,000-point scorers – to staff – who has the nation's most experienced coaching staff – to roster related – who has the most newcomers.

Round 1 of the email on September 5 including the following offering from Athens: "Georgia has six left-handed players. Does any other team in the country have as many or more players who are left-handed?"

Not that SIDs are bound to answer every request, but that question received no replies. So, the ask was modified for a second email correspondence sent out by Hamilton on September 26 to read: "Georgia has six left-handed players. Does any other team in the country have as four or more players who are left-handed?"

That led to Tennessee (D.J. Burns, John Fulkerson, Jalen Johnson and Yves Pons), Washington (David Crisp, Elijah Hardy, Bryan Penn-Johnson and Nate Roberts) and Winthrop (Adam Pickett, Jermaine Ukaegbu, Kyle Zunic and Raivis Scerbinskis) supplying lists of four.

While nothing is official, Georgia will claim the unofficial title of the leftiest team in America until proven otherwise.

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Players Mentioned

Nicolas Claxton

Tyree Crump

Tye Fagan

Rayshaun Hammonds

Jordan Harris

Christian Harrison

Teshaun Hightower

William Jackson II

Yante Maten

Amanze Ngumezi

Connor O'Neill

Derek Ogbeide

Ignas Sargiunas

JoJo Toppin

University of Georgia Athletics