Bulldogs Play Host to UMass Minutemen on Sunday

Georgia Basketball Game Notes
Georgia (7-4) vs. Massachusetts (7-5)
unday, December 30 at 6:00 p.m. ET
Stegeman Coliseum (10,523) in Athens, Ga.
Listen: Georgia Bulldog Sports Network Flagship: WSB AM 750 Atlanta; XM: 190; Internet: 961. (Scott Howard, play-by-play; Chuck Dowdle, analyst; Adam Gillespie, producer)
TV: SEC Network (Richard Cross, play-by-play; Mark Wise, analyst)
Video: SECN+

Pos	No.	Name	PPG	RPG

Georgia Bulldogs
Coach: Tom Crean
7-4 in 1st season at UGA
363-235 in 19th season overall
G	0	William Jackson	3.6	1.3
6-4; 185; Sr.; Athens, Ga.
G	1	Teshaun Hightower	8.3	2.7
6-5; 180; So.; Lithonia, Ga.
F	20	Rayshaun Hammonds	14.7	6.8
6-8; 235; So.; Norcross, Ga.
F	33	Nicolas Claxton	12.6	10.1
6-11; 220; So.; Greenville, S.C.
F	34	Derek Ogbeide	9.1	6.5
6-9; 250; Sr.; Atlanta, Ga

Pos	No.	Name	PPG	RPG

UMass Minutemen
Coach: Matt McCall
20-25 in 2nd season at UMass
68-43 in 4th season overall
G	2	Luwane Pipkins	19.8	5.4
5-11; 180; Jr.; Chicago, Ill.
G	20	Keon Clergeot	6.4	2.0
6-1; 185; R-So.; Winter Haven, Fla.
G	12	Carl Pierre	10.7	2.3
6-4; 185; So.; Boston, Mass.
F	5	Samba Diallo	2.3	2.3
6-7; 195; Fr.; Rufisque, Senegal
C	45	Rashaun Holloway	9.8	6.1
6-11; 310; Gr.; Elmer, N.J.

TEAM COMPARISON

STATISTIC	GEORGIA	MASSACHUSETTS
Points Per Game	78.1	79.8
Opp. Point Per Game	70.4	74.6
Scoring Margin	+7.7	+5.3
Field Goal Pct.	.473	.478
Opp. Field Goal Pct.	.377	.438
3-Point Pct.	.341	.378
3-Pointers Per Game	6.7	9.2
Opp. 3-Point Pct.	.307	.343
Free Throw Pct.	.722	.677
Free Throws Per Game	17.0	14.0
Rebounds Per Game	43.2	35.6
Opp. Rebound Per Game	35.5	32.9
Rebound Margin	+7.6	+2.7
Assists Per Game	15.4	16.3
Turnovers Per Game	16.8	13.1
Assist-to-Turnover Ratio	0.91	1.25
Turnover Margin	-4.5	-0.3
Steals Per Game	5.7	5.0
Blocks Per Game	6.5	2.8

The Starting 5...

Georgia has already sold out 6 games this season, the most sellouts for the Bulldogs since they had 8 during the 2002-03 season.
Nicolas Claxton is the only SEC player to lead his team in points, boards, assists, blocks & steals in a game this season...and he's done it twice.
Derek Ogbeide enters the UMass game eight rebounds shy of catching No. 11 Trey Thompkins among UGA's career leaders.
The crowd of 9,018 against Savannah State was UGA's largest for a home opener since Dominique Wilkins' sopho-more year in Athens.
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 wraps up the 2018 calendar and the pre-SEC portions of its schedule on Sunday evening when the Bulldogs host the UMass Minutemen at Stegeman Coliseum.

Georgia is returning to the court for the first time in eight days, its first outing since a 70-59 victory at Georgia Tech on Dec. 22. The Bulldogs never trailed against the Yellow Jackets en route to their fourth-consecutive double-digit decision over their arch rival.

Series History With UMass

The Minutemen won the only previous meeting between Georgia and UMass, 72-62, last Dec. 16 in Amherst.

Up Next: Bulldogs Begin SEC Play

Georgia's next action will be the Bulldogs' Southeastern Conference opener next Saturday at No. 3 Tennessee.

Georgia will begin its league campaign with consecutive weekend trips to the defending SEC co-Champions. The Bulldogs also will venture to No. 12 Auburn the following Saturday.

Georgia will host Vanderbilt on Wednesday, Jan. 9 between those road outings.

Dogs' Sellout Count Climbs To 6

The Tom Crean regime established some attendance records before the season even began by selling out three games.

That number has now ascended to six sold-out contests.

On Oct. 24, Georgia announced sellouts for both the Florida and Kentucky games. That represented the earliest sellout(s) in UGA 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 opener.

Dates with LSU, South Carolina and Ole Miss also sold out in December, lining up the Bulldogs to have their most capacity crowds since the 2002-03 campaign. The last time the Bulldogs had six sellouts was during 2002-03 when they hosted eight capacity crowds.

It should be noted that the 2,000 free seats reserved for UGA's students must be filled at those games for capacity crowds of 10,523 to be in attendance at the Bulldogs' half-dozen "sellouts."

The Dogs Are Drawing

A combined 45,507 members of the Bulldog Nation have attended Georgia's first six home dates of the 2018-19 campaign.

That is the second-largest tally for the initial six outings at Stegeman Coliseum during the 2000s. In 2002-03, Georgia welcomed a total of 54,485 spectators for the first six home dates. It should be noted that the same span that season featured four weekend games and dates vs. No. 2 Pittsburgh and No. 21 LSU.

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.

The Bulldogs secured a 110-76 victory over Savannah State, Georgia's most points in the 2000s. The last time the Bulldogs scored more than 110 points was in a 113-74 victory over Grambling on Nov. 27, 1999.

A crowd of 9,018 fans flocked to Stegeman Coliseum for the opener. That represented the most fans for a home opener since the Stegeman Coliseum's capacity became 10,523 in 1994. The last time the Bulldogs drew a larger crowd for their initial home outing was 37 years ago in 1981, which was Dominique Wilkins' sophomore year. A then-capacity crowd of 11,200 saw Georgia defeat Georgia Tech, 62-61, on Dec. 5, 1981.

"First things first, I want to say 'thank you' to everybody who was here," 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. That was tremendous."

Also on the scoring front, UGA's 59 first-half points were its most in a half since scoring 60 in the second period against Jacksonville State 11 years earlier...on Nov. 9, 2007.

Bulldogs Begin With Busy Stretch

Georgia played six games in the first 13 days of the 2018-19 campaign.

The season began with the Nov. 9 opener against Savannah State, a trip to Temple on Nov. 13 and a matchup with Sam Houston State on Nov. 16. The Bulldogs then played three games in as many days on Nov. 19-21 in the Cayman Islands Classic.

Bulldogs Are Shot Swatters

Georgia has ranked among the nation's top shot-blocking teams since swatting nine attemps in the season opener.

Through games of Dec. 27, Georgia ranked No. 4 nationally in blocked shots, averaging 6.5 rejections per game.

Nicolas Claxton leads the Bulldogs' blockers and ranked No. 7 nationally at 3.1 bpg.

Seniors Perfect Against Tech

With last Saturday's win at McCamish Pavilion, Georgia's Class of 2019 secured a unique spot in the Bulldogs' history.

In the first 113 seasons of Georgia Basketball, only four, four-year letterwinners finished their careers undefeated against the Yellow Jackets - James Banks, Vern Fleming, Richard Corhen and Gerald Crosby.

The Bulldogs more than doubled that ledger with their 70-59 victory a week ago, adding Mike Edwards, Turtle Jackson, Connor O'Neill, Derek Ogbeide and E'Torrion Wilridge to that quartet.

It should be noted that Georgia and Georgia Tech played two or three times each season from the beginning of the series through the 1981-82 campaigns.

UGA Hosts UMass In '18 Finale

Georgia returns to the friendly - and increasingly consistently crowded - confines of Stegeman Coliseum on Sunday evening to host UMass at 6:00 p.m. The contest will be the Bulldogs' last outing of the 2018 calendar and also their final tuneup before beginning Southeastern Conference play next weekend.

Georgia is 7-4 to date with victories in four of their last five games. The Bulldogs are 5-1 at Stegeman Coliseum.

Sophomores Rayshaun Hammonds and Nicolas Claxton continue to lead Georgia.

Hammonds is averaging a team-high 14.7 ppg in an extremely efficient fashion. He ranks No. 4 in the SEC in field goal percentage and No. 6 in free throw percentage.

Claxton paces not only the Bulldogs but the SEC in rebounding (10.1 ppg) and blocks (3.1 bpg). He also leads Georgia in assists and steals, making him one of only three Division I players to top his team in those four stats.

UMass is 7-5 on the year, with each of its final three games decided on the final play. The Minutemen have one-point wins at Providence and over Fairleigh Dickinson and a two-point setback at Temple during its most recent trio of outings.

Luwane Pipkins 19.8 ppg scoring average headlines a list of four double-digit scorers, Jonathan Laurent adds 12.1 ppg, while Curtis Cobb and Carl Pierre chip in 10.7 ppg apiece.

Series History With UMass

The Minutemen won the initial meeting in the series between Georgia and UMass last season, 72-62, in Amherst.

Masschusetts used a quick start - racing to an 8-0 lead over the game's initial 1:42 - and withstood several attempted rallies by Georgia in the second half en route to a 72-62 win on Dec. 16.

Yante Maten scored 20 points for the Bulldogs, his ninth double-digit and fourth 20-point performance on the season. Luwane Pipkins' 17 points led the Minutemen, who distributed the ball well. UMass recorded assists on 21 of its 27 field goals.

Last Time Out...

Nicolas Claxton's extremely impressive linescore of 13 points, 13 rebounds, six assists and six blocks led Georgia in a 70-59 victory over Georgia Tech last Saturday at McCamish Pavilion in Atlanta.

Teshaun Hightower added 12 points, three assists and three steals; Rayshaun Hammonds chipped in 11 points and Tyree Crump contributed 10 pionts for Georgia.

The Bulldogs never trailed and used a 13-0 run to build a 25-9 lead with 3:02 left in the opening half.

The Jackets closed that gap to 10 points at the intermission and pulled within 29-26 less than two minutes into the second stanza.

Hightower thwarted that surge with a 3-pointer. Tech made it a one-possession game three more times, but a different Bulldog answered each time - on a dunk by Amanza Ngumezi, with a pair of free throws from E'Torrion Wilridge and on a 3-pointer from Tyree Crump.

Dogs' Depth Paying Dividends

Georgia's bench has outscored its counterparts in 10 of 11 games...consistently doing so by a significant amount. The Bulldogs have been +10 or more in bench scoring for eight of those outings, gradually growing UGA's overall advantage in bench points to an eye-catching +180 for the season.

Claxton Doing It All For Dogs

Nicolas Claxton not only leads the Bulldogs in rebounding, he also does so in assists, blocks and steals.

Through games of Dec. 27, Claxton was one of only three Division I players leading their team in those four aforementioned statistics as outlined below.

Team Leader in r, A, B & S

Player, School	Rebs.	Asts.	Blks.	Stls.
Nicolas Claxton, Georgia	111	29	34	15
Sandy Cohen III, Green Bay	76	64	14	28
Matt Rafferty, Furman	120	57	21	28

Claxton Doing It All ... Take II

Claxton Doing It all ... Take II Nicolas Claxton is the only player in the Southeastern Conference this season to - in the same game - lead his team in points, rebounds, assists, blocks and steals...and he's done so twice.

The sophomore from Greenville, S.C., native did so Nov. 27 against Kennesaw State with 16 points, 15 boards, four assists, two blocks and two steals. He again did versus Oakland on Dec. 18 with 17 points, 13 boards, three assists, three blocks and one steal.

The Deflection Objective

The deflection is an extremely key statistic for Georgia. Head coach Tom Crean regularly discusses the deflection and its significance.

"I was told a long time ago - and I don't think you can say it any better - deflections are barometer of active defense. It's any type of activity on the ball. It's a finger tip, a hand, blocked shots, chargers, a steal. That's what we're aiming for. I want our team at a deflection-to-turnover ratio of 3.5-to-1. To me, that is an optimal number."

"You will hear me talk a lot about it," Crean said in his press session following the Sam Houston State game. "Some of you will get tired of it, and some of you will buy into it."

The quote above gives a definition of the stat. The Bulldogs' season totals to date are below. Nicolas Claxton leads the team, including 18 deflections against Sam Houston State.

"I have only coached four other guys, and all four of them played in the NBA, that ever had more than 18 in a game," Crean said.

UGA Deflections
Player	Number
Nicolas Claxton	105
Rayshaun Hammonds	39
Teshaun Hightower	36
Jordan Harris	33
E'Torrion Wilridge	33
Tye Fagan	31
Tyree Crump	27
Turtle Jackson	27
Derek Ogbeide	25
Amanze Ngumezi	11
Ignas Sargiūnas	8
JoJo Toppin	6
Christian Harrison	2
Connor O'Neill	2
Mike Edwards	1

Giving Some Credit Where It's Due

A couple of "specialty statistics" common to box scores track points off turnovers and second-chance points. In those instances, the player putting the digits on the scoreboard is awarded credit.

In an effort to better indicate "hustle stats," the lists in the next column credit the Bulldog who created the opportunity for those points to be scored instead of the player who capitalized on that chance.

For "points off turnovers," the points are awarded to the player whose steal created the subsequent points instead of the person who put the ball in the basket. A large number of those are credited to the team if a steal did not create the TO.

For "second-chance points," the points are awarded to the player who grabbed the offensive rebound that resulted in those points, not the player who ultimately scored them.

Points Off TOs (who stole it)
Player	No.
Nicolas Claxton	18
Teshaun Hightower	12
Tyree Crump	9
Jordan Harris	9
Turtle Jackson	8
E'Torrion Wilridge	7
Tye Fagan	4
Rayshaun Hammonds	3
Derek Ogbeide	3
Mike Edwards	2
Christian Harrison	2
Ignas Sargiūnas	2
Team	82

2ND-CHANCE POINTS (who boarded it)
Player	No.
Nicolas Claxton	39
Derek Ogbeide	24
Rayshaun Hammonds	21
Tye Fagan	18
Team Rebounds	11
Amanze Ngumezi	8
Jordan Harris	4
Teshaun Hightower	4
Turtle Jackson	4
Ignas Sargiūnas	4
JoJo Toppin	4
Tyree Crump	3
Christian Harrison	2
Connor O'Neill	2

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.

Ogbeide has since ascended to No. 12 on that ledger and is just eight boards shy of the current No. 11 Trey Thompkins and 20 rebounds away from joining the Bulldogs' top-10 career leaders.

eel Free To Call Him "Ty-3" Crump

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

With a 25 3-pointers this season, Crump has now knocked down 88 3s for the Bulldogs, directly accounting for 264 of his 421 (62.7 percent) points at UGA.

Those trifectas also account for 67.7 percent (88-of-130) of his made shots from the floor at Georgia.

Devils Were Dogs' Second Top-25 Foe

Arizona State represented the second ranked opponent for Georgia this season.

The Bulldogs also faced No. 16 Clemson in the semifinals of the Cayman Islands Classic.

The last time Georgia played two ranked teams prior to the start of SEC play was during 2011-12. That season, the Bulldogs faced No. 1 Indiana (coached by guess who?) and No. 11 UCLA in back-to-back contests of the Progressive Legends Classic in Brooklyn on Nov. 19-20.

Hammonds Puts Up Rare Stat Line

Rayshaun Hammonds poured in a career-high 31 points while not turning the ball over once versus Illinois State.

Hammonds became the first SEC player this season to put up 30 points with no turnovers. Only two SEC players did so last season - Vanderbilt's Jeff Roberson and Terence Davis from Ole Miss.

Hammonds, Yante Maten and Jumaine Jones are the only Bulldogs to do so in the last 20 seasons as outlined below.

30 Points, 0 Turnovers
Player	Pts.	Opponent (date)
R. Hammonds	31	Illinois State (11/19/18)
Y. Maten	30	Charleston Southern (12/17/16)
Y. Maten	30	Kansas (11/22/16)
J. Jones	34	Kentucky (1/26/99)

Career-High Outings Against ISU

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

Hammonds scored 31 points in 31 minutes. He scored 18 first-half points, almost topped his previous best effort of 21 points before intermission. Claxton did much of his damage after the break with 14 second-half points.

Excitement Surrounds Bulldogs

Tom 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' days in Athens during the early-80s.

Before this season, Georgia had never sold out more than one game before its 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 prior to the season opener. "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."

UGA Loaded With Peach Products

Nearly three-fourths of Georgia's roster played high school hoops in the Peach State. Eleven of 15 Bulldogs - that's 73.3 percent to be exact - did so.

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).

Fagan Owns Unique Record

The first recruit to commit to Tom Crean at Georgia certainly brought a winning résumé.

Spring signee Tye Fagan helped Upson-Lee High School to back-to-back state titles and 63 consecutive victories as a junior and senior. The Knights' effort represents the third-longest winning streak in Georgia boys' high school hoops history.

"Any time you 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."

Georgia's loss at Temple on Nov. 13 represented Fagan's first setback representing his school since an Upson-Lee setback to New Hampstead on Feb. 17, 2016 in the first round of the 2016 state tournament.

Inaugural StegMania A Success

Tom Crean arrived in Athens with a distinct vision. One thing he wanted to create was an preseason event to display the new energy and enthusiasm around 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 intros, a high-flying dunk contest, a dance battle with the Georgia Lady Bulldogs, an impromptu performance of the hit song "Rolex" by hip-hop artists Ayo & Teo and a scrimmage with Crean "mic'd up."

"When you're brand new coming into something like this, you really don't have an expectation," said Crean after the event. "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.

And for full effect, the above headline should be read in a voice immitating Dan Magill, the greatest Bulldog of all time. If you're not familiar with Coach Magill, ask.

University of Georgia Athletics

Players Mentioned

Nicolas Claxton

Tyree Crump

Mike Edwards

Tye Fagan

Rayshaun Hammonds

Jordan Harris

Christian Harrison

Teshaun Hightower

Yante Maten

Amanze Ngumezi

Connor O'Neill

Derek Ogbeide

JoJo Toppin

E'Torrion Wilridge

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