Georgia Travels To Columbia For Rematch With Gamecocks

Wednesday, February 21

Columbia, S.C.

6:30 PM

University of Georgia

South Carolina

Georgia Travels To Columbia For Rematch With Gamecocks

February 20, 2018 | Men's Basketball

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Georgia Basketball Game Notes
Georgia (15-11, 6-8) vs. South Carolina (14-13, 5-9)
Wednesday, February 21 at 6:30 p.m. ET
Colonial Life Arena (18,000) in Columbia, S.C.
Listen: Georgia Bulldog Sports Network. (Flagship: WSB AM 750 Atlanta; Scott Howard, play-by-play; Chuck Dowdle, analyst; Tony Schiavone, Producer
TV: SEC Network (Tom Hart, play-by-play; Jon Sunvold, analyst)
Video: SECN+

Complete Game Notes (PDF)

Pos	No.	Name	PPG	RPG

Georgia Bulldogs
Coach: Mark Fox
160-129 in 9th season at UGA
283-172 in 14th season overall
G	0	William Jackson II	8.9	2.3
6-4; 185; Jr.; Athens, Ga.
G	3	Juwan Parker	8.8	3.6
6-4; 205; R-Sr.; Tulsa, Okla.
F	20	Rayshaun Hammonds	6.1	4.8
6-8; 227; Fr.; Norcross, Ga.
F	1	Yante Maten	19.5	8.6
6-8; 243; Sr.; Pontiac, Mich.
F	33	Nicolas Claxton	3.8	3.3
6-11; 215; Fr.; Greenville, S.C.

Pos	No.	Name	PPG	RPG

South Carolina Gamecocks
Coach: Frank Martin
110-87 (6th season at USC)
227-141 (11th season overall)
G	2	Hassani Gravett	7.3	3.5
6-2; 187; R-Jr.; Villa Rica, Ga.
G	23	Evan Hinson	3.1	1.4
6-4; 240; Soph.; Delonta, Fla.
F	10	Justin Minaya	8.4	4.2
6-5; 210; Fr.; Harrington Park, N.J.
F	0	Chris Silva	14.2	7.7
6-9; 223; Soph.; Libreville, Gabon
F	21	Maik Kotsar	7.8	4.5
6-10; 260; Soph.; Tallinn, Estonia

TEAM COMPARISON

GEORGIA		SOUTH CAROLINA
68.7	Points per game	6.95
+1.7	Scoring margin	+1.3
42.8	FG pct.	39.8
39.9	FG defense	41.9
32.2	3FG pct.	31.9
32.7	3FG defense	33.7
6.0	3FGs per game	6.7
71.4	FT pct.	70.1
16.0	FTs per game	17.5
+5.3	Rebound Margin	+3.4
12.5	Assists per game	12.7
0.95	Assists-to-TOs	0.94
4.4	Blocks per game	3.1
4.1	Steals per game	5.6

The Starting 5...

UGA has a combined nine "Q1" and "Q2" wins in the new NCAA RPI rating matrix.
Five Bulldogs scored in double digits in UGA's victories over Florida & Tennessee.
Yante Maten is the only player in the SEC's top 10 in scoring, rebounding, FG pct. & FT pct.
Juwan Parker, the only DI MBB player with a master's, is now 3rd on UGA's career FT pct. leaders list.
Nicolas Claxton started at Vandy, becoming the 9th current Bulldog to start as a freshman.

Georgia Travels To Columbia For Rematch With Gamecocks

The Georgia Bulldogs will make the three-hour trek from Athens to Columbia, S.C., to face South Carolina at Colonial Life Arena on Wednesday evening. The Bulldogs are looking to continue to build upon momentum gained with victories at Florida and over No. 18 Tennessee last week.

The streak began with an improbable comeback in Gainesville last Wednesday, when Georgia rallied from six down with 16 seconds remaining and eventually won in overtime, 72-69. On Saturday, the Bulldogs led for 31:53 against the Volunteers en route to a 73-62 decision.

Georgia was solid on both ends of the floor in both games.

Five Bulldogs scored in double figures in each outing, led by Yante Maten's tallies of 23 and 19 against UF and UT, respectively. Georgia held the Gators and Vols to a combined .373 (44-of-118) shooting from the field.

The Bulldogs' two-game winning strek has upped their records to 15-11 overall and 6-8 in SEC play.

Yante Maten, a top-10 candidate for both the Senior CLASS and Karl Malone Awards, leads the SEC in scoring by almost a full point per game at 19.5 ppg (Arkansas' Jaylen Barford is second at 18.6 ppg). Maten is the only player ranked among the SEC's top-10 in scoring, rebounding (No. 3), field goal percentage (No. 7) and free throw percentage (No. 5)...and also is No. 2 in minutes played.

Maten has been a picture of consistency for the Bulldogs.

In 26 games this season, he has 25 double-figure outings, with 14 20-point performances and 10 double-doubles.

Over 89 games since the start of his sophomore year, Maten has 81 double-digit scoring performances, with 36 20-point and five 30-point outings, and 25 double-doubles.

"Turtle" Jackson and Juwan Parker are the Bulldogs' second- and third-leading scorers, separated by a single bucket. Jackson is averaging 8.9 ppg and has 13 double-figure games to date. Parker is scoring at a 8.8 ppg clip overall. He is averaging 9.8 ppg in SEC action, a considerable jump from the 7.4 ppg he averaged prior to league play.

South Carolina is coming off an 84-75 upset of No. 10 Auburn. The Gamecocks are currently 14-13 overall and 5-9 in the SEC.

Chris Silva leads South Carolina with averages of 14.2 ppg and 7.7 rpg, while Frank Booker adds 11.9 ppg.

Entering Today's Game Among UGA's Career Leaders

Yante Maten is...

20 points from No. 3 Vern Fleming
31 points from No. 2 Alec Kessler
354 points from No. 1 Litterial Green
9 rebounds from No. 6 Lavon Mercer
11 rebounds from No. 5 Charles Claxton
50 FGs from No. 5 Bob Leinhard
107 FGAs from No. 4 Dominque Wilkins
68 FTs from No. 3 Litterial Green
88 FTAs from No. 3 Alec Kessler
65 blocks from No. 2 Charles Claxton

Derek Ogbeide is...

22 rebounds from No. 20 Nemanja Djurisic
24 rebounds from No. 19 Jumaine Jones
28 rebounds from No. 18 Shandon Anderson
29 rebounds from No. 17 Dominique Wilkins

Series History With S.C.

Georgia sports a 58-53 lead in the all-time series with South Carolina; however, the Gamecocks own 33-19 edge in Columbia.

Last month in Athens, South Carolina gained an early lead and held off continuous Georgia rallies en route to a 64-57 win.

The Gamecocks jumped out to a 9-2 lead less than three minutes in and made that margin stand up.

South Carolina led by eight at halftime before the Bulldogs opened the second period with a 10-2 run to knot the score at 39-39.

Georgia tied the game again at 49-49 with 3:37 left before a Frank Booker 3-point ignited a decisive 10-1 surge.

The Bulldogs last visited Columbia on Feb. 4 last season, with No. 19 South Carolina holding off a furious Georgia rally in the closing moments to secure a 77-75 win.

The Gamecocks led by nine with 2:21 left before the Bulldogs reeled their deficit back in. A Turtle Jackson free throw cut it to 73-69 with 26 seconds left, but South Carolina converted free throws to secure the win.

Last Time out

Yante Maten's game-high 19 points led five Bulldogs in double digits as Georgia upset No. 18 Tennessee, 73-62, last Saturday evening in Athens.

Maten started hot, scoring 11 points in the opening 10:59 of the game. That staked Georgia to a 13-8 lead it never reliquished the rest of the way.

The margin grew to 21-12 before Tennessee closed the gap to two points at halftime.

The Bulldogs quickly regained control quickly after the intermission, pushing the lead to 38-28 less than three minutes into the second stanza.

The Vols made is a one-possession game twice thereafter, but Georgia answered each time. After Tennessee pulled within 54-51 at the 5:14 mark, Tyree Crump nailed a 3-pointer to open a 9-3 run that made it 63-54 with 94 seconds remaining.

Bulldogs' 'D' Reappears

For much of the season, Georgia has been one of the nation's best defensive teams.

Entering their Feb. 3 game at Mississippi State, the Bulldogs led the SEC and ranked No. 6 nationally in field goal percentage defense at .386. UGA was holding league opponents to an even more impressive .373. At that point, only three teams had shot 50.0 percent or better against Georgia in 21 games.

Over the next three outings, State, Vanderbilt and Auburn all shot better than 50 percent....a combined 83-of-159 (.522) from the field.

The Bulldogs' defense was much more solid last week in victories over Florida in Gainesville and No. 18 Tennessee in Athens.

Georgia held the Gators to .379 field goal shooting and then kept the Volunteers to a .349 clip. After slipping to No. 19 nationally in FG defense, the last two outings have lifted the Bulldogs back to No. 11 in Monday's edition of NCAA statistics at .399.

Georgia Sports "Q"uality Wins

Georgia, which was No. 66 in Monday's edition of the NCAA rpi, has secured more quality victories than most of the teams ahead of the Bulldogs on that ledger. Georgia owns five "Q1" and four "Q2" victories. The Bulldogs' nine victories in the NCAA's new matrix are more than 43 teams ahead of Georgia in the RPI.

Bulldogs Balanced In Ws

Five Bulldogs reached double figures in the scoring column during Georgia's wins over Florida and No. 18 Tennessee last week.

Yante Maten scored 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds against Florida. Derek Ogbeide also notched a double-double with 10 points and 10 boards. Tyree Crump chipped in 13 points to go along with career-high tallies of five rebounds and five assists. Rayshaun Hammonds and Juwan Parker rounded out the double-digit scoring performances with 10 points apiece.

Versus Tennessee, Maten led the Bulldogs with 19 points, the 22nd time he's paced Georgia offensively this season. Ogbeide produced his second-straight double-double with a season-high 16 points and 11 rebounds. Crump added 11 points, and Turtle Jackson and Juwan Parker chipped in 10 points each.

Those contests marked the second and third outings this season where five Bulldogs notched double-figure scoring outputs. Georgia also accomplished that feat in an 87-82 win over Winthrop during December.

Dogs Drawing At Home

Last Saturday's win over No. 18 Tennessee provided the Bulldogs with their fourth - of what will become at five - Saturday sellouts during the 2017-18 season. This Saturday's game with LSU also is sold out.

The Bulldogs have averaged 8,252 fans over 13 home games to date, the highest since Georgia averaged 8,619 during the 2003-04 campaign.

Georgia is well on its way to topping 8,000 fans per game for the sixth time in the 2000s. Previously, the Bulldogs averaged a school-record 9,857 in 2002-03; 9,064 in 2001-02; the aforementioned 8,619 in 2003-04; 8,250 in 2010-11; and 8,026 in 2000-01.

Claxton Joins Freshman Starters

Nicolas Claxton earned his first career start at Vanderbilt on Feb. 7.

Claxton, the son of former Bulldog and All-SEC center Charles Claxton, became the ninth of Georgia's 13 scholarship players on the 2017-18 roster to start at least one game as a freshman.

Claxton joined seniors Yante Maten and Juwan Parker, juniors Mike Edwards and Derek Ogbeide, sophomores Tyree Crump and Jordan Harris and freshmen Rayshaun Hammonds and Teshaun Hightower as the Bulldogs' freshman starters.

Dogs Win Thrilla In Gainesvilla

Georgia defeated Florida at Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center last Wednesday in very improbable fashion.

A pair of Yante Maten 3-pointers in the final 16 seconds helped the Bulldogs rally from a six-point deficit to tie the game at 59-59 and force overtime.

There, Georgia eased to a 72-69 win over the Gators.

The victory was Georgia's first over the Florida in Gainesville since 2002 and, combined with their win in Athens 15 days earlier, provided the Bulldogs with their first season sweep of Florida since 1997.

Maten Tabbed to Top-10 Lists

Yante Maten was named a top-10 candidate for both the Senior CLASS Award and the Karl Malone Award on Feb. 8.

The Senior CLASS Award is given to a student-athlete who makes a positive impact as a community leader. The Karl Malone Award honors the top power forward in the nation.

An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their athletic platforms to make a positive impact as leaders. The recipient will be announced during the Final Four.

The other finalists are: Shawn Anderson, Navy; Vladimir Brodziansky, TCU; Jevon Carter, West Virginia; Angel Delgado, Seton Hall; Rob Gray, Houston; A.J. Jacobson, North Dakota St.; Justin Johnson, Western Kentucky; Luke Morrison, Army; and Johnathan Williams, Gonzaga.

The Karl Malone Award, named after Hall of Famer and two-time NBA Most Valuable Player, is one of five position player of the year honors administered by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. The winner will be honored at ESPN's College Basketball Awards in Los Angeles on April 6.

Joining Maten in the top 10 candidates for the Malone Award are: DeAndre Ayton, Arizona; Gary Clark Jr., Cincinnati; Marvin Bailey III, Duke; Wendell Carter Jr., Duke; Nick King, MTSU; Jordan Murphy, Minnesota; Luke Maye, N. Carolina; Mike Daum, South Dakota St.; and Robert Williams, Texas A&M.

Dogs Take Part in CVC Challenge

The Georgia Bulldogs are teaming up with the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and the American Cancer Society to take part in the Coaches vs. Cancer 3-Point Challenge over the next month.

During Georgia's last nine regular-season games, every 3-pointer the Bulldogs make will help raise money to beat cancer.

Georgia fans can pledge their donation per 3-pointer made during those games at https://pledgeit.org/cvc18-georgia. Fans have the choice to donate retroactively beginning with the Mississippi State contest on Feb. 3 or just for the remaining games at the time of their donation.

Contributions of $100 or more to any team or to the general fund will earn an exclusive Coaches vs. Cancer 3-Point Challenge T-shirt. Fans also can earn an exclusive t-shirt by creating a personal fund raiser profile on the Bulldogs' page and collecting 10 pledges ($1+ min pledge).

Ratin' Maten A Popular Task

Preseason recognition was consistent and plentiful for Yante Maten.

Maten was ranked as one of the nation's top-25 players by three different online preseason ledgers. CBSsports.com put him No. 22, ESPN.com listed him No. 23 and NBCsports.com tabbed him No. 24.

Maten was tabbed preseason SEC Player of the Year by the Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook and a panel of SEC and national media. The media named Maten, Texas A&M's Robert Williams and Missouri's Michael Porter, Jr. as co-player of the year.

Maten was included on watch lists for the Wooden Award, Oscar Robertson Trophy, Naismith Trophy and Senior CLASS Award.

Maten also received a good bit of preseason All-America recognition. Jay Bilas included Maten on his first-team All-America ledger. Among others, Maten also earned All-America props from the Blue Ribbon Yearbook (third team), www.collegesportsmadness.com (fourth team) and NBCsports.com (honorable mention).

Bulldogs' Bench Producing

Last season, Georgia's bench outscored its opponents' just nine times in 34 total games.

This season, the Bulldogs' non-starters have produced more points than their counterparts in 17 of 26 outings.

Georgia's bench finished 2016-17 with a -95 scoring margin.

This year, the Bulldogs are +65, a massive swing of 160 points from a year ago.

Diatta Returns to Rotation

A significant ankle sprain last summer stymied Pape Diatta's senior season. Diatta practiced and played with a brace through the New Year and spent the next month strengthening the ankle.

After seeing action in just six contests and failing to score in Georgia's first 21 games, Diatta jump started his season on Feb. 3 at Mississippi State with 12 points off the bench. He did so in efficient faction, connecting on 4-of-4 attempts from 3-point range.

Diatta logged a combined 36 minutes during the first 21 outings of the season but then recorded 37 combined MP in back-to-back outings against State and Vanderbilt.

Hightower Shines In First Start

Freshman Teshaun Hightower certainly made the most of his first career start at LSU on Jan. 16, producing career-high outputs for points (8), rebounds (3), steals (2) and minutes played (27).

Parker Sets Standards High

Juwan Parker has enjoyed an extremely productive five years in Athens.

The redshirt senior from Tulsa is "America's Most Educated college basketball player" as the only D-I player who has earned a master's degree.

Parker secured his bachelor's degree in two and a half years and received his master's last summer. He is working on a second master's in family financial planning.

Parker produced the best outing of his Georgia career on Jan. 3 against Ole Miss, when career highs of 18 points and 11 boards resulted in his first career double-double.

This Turtle Started Quickly

William "Turtle" Jackson entered the season with two double-digit scoring performances in 66 games played at Georgia.

He had nine double-figure outputs in the first 11 contests this season and now has 13 double-figure performances.

Jackson produced a quartet of career-high scoring outputs in the first five games (from 10 points entering the season to 11 to 13 to 16 to 17).

In fact, he reached double figures in the scoring column in the first half alone of the first two games.

Jackson had 11 points - all in the first half - against Bryant. Against USC Upstate, he scored first-half 10 points and added three more following the break.

That mark lasted two games until Jackson put up 16 points versus Cal State Fullerton...and then topped that with 17 points less than 24 hours later against San Diego State.

While his scoring has increased from 2.8 ppg entering the season to 8.9 ppg, Jackson continues to do much of his damage from behind the 3-point arc.

This season, 43 of his 76 field goals (56.6 percent) have been 3-pointers. For his career, 79-of-137 (57.7 percent) of Jackson's makes from the floor have been 3s.

Maten Earns SEC Accolade

Yante Maten was named the SEC Player of the Week on Dec. 26, after leading Georgia to decisive victories over Georgia Tech and Temple. The senior forward from Pontiac, Mich., averaged 27.0 points and 9.0 rebounds while connecting on 56.7 percent of his shots from the floor in those contests.

Those performances had historic implications for Bulldog Basketball.

Maten joined Georgia's top-10 career rebounding leaders in the outing against Tech and then ascended into the Bulldogs' top-10 career scoring leaders versus the Owls. He is one of only four Bulldogs included on both of UGA's career top-10 ledgers.

The performance against Temple represented Maten's third 30-point, 10+ rebound outing of his career. Since 1996-97, Bulldogs have posted six such performances - three by Maten and one each by Trey Thompkins, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Jumaine Jones.

The SEC Player of the Week honor was Maten's second, also winning on Jan. 2, 2017 after scoring 31 points at Auburn.

Crump's Career Night Lifts Dogs

Tyree Crump's career-high 17 points against No. 21 Saint Mary's all came during the second half and overtime.

Crump knocked down back-to-back 3s in a 37-second span early in the second half and went on to connect on 6-of-10 shots overall and 4-of-6 3-pointers the rest of the way.

Much like "Turtle" Jackson, Crump has done most of his damage from 3-point range.

This season, 32 of his 43 makes (74.4 percent) have been 3-pointers, and 51-of-76 career field goals (67.1 percent) have come from behind the arc.

Dogs Go Viral...In A Bad Way

Georgia played through a stomach ailment that plagued 11 of 15 players on the Bulldogs' roster during the Wooden Legacy.

The illness originally hit around 2:00 a.m. PT on Friday, Nov. 24 following the win over Cal State Fullerton. About half the team, including multiple starters, were among the original group. Even more became ill after the San Diego State game.

Georgia entered its matchup with Saint Mary's with five unaffected players; however, Turtle Jackson, one of those, became ill in the first half and was forced to the locker room.

Still, the Bulldogs battled to force overtime against the Gaels and eventually win.

"It was a team win," Mark Fox said. "We've had a tough couple of days. We had 10 guys get the stomach flu up until tip time today, and we turn around in the first half and our point guard, who hadn't had it, gets sick. To battle through that the last couple of days and to compete tonight like a unit like we did and beat a very good Saint Mary's team, I'm extremely proud of our players."

Parker Heats Up In Cali

Redshirt senior Juwan Parker put together three solid outings over the Thanksgiving holiday at the Wooden Legacy.

In Georgia's first three games of the season, Parker averaged just 2.3 points, 1.7 rebounds and 12.0 minutes while shooting 20.0 percent from the floor.

In California, Parker averaged 12.0 points, 3.3 boards and 20.3 minutes and connected on 52.6 percent of his field goal attempts.

Hammonds Gets Nod For Opener

Rayshaun Hammonds became the first freshman to start the opener for Georgia since Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in 2011-12.

Hammonds was expected to do so after he got the nod for both of the Bulldogs' exhibitions, including a double-double of 17 points and 11 rebounds versus Valdosta State.

Hammonds also enjoyed an impressive "official" debut versus Bryant, scoring 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the floor.

That was the highest output by a UGA freshman in an opener in a decade and a day - since Jeremy Price scored 18 points against Jacksonville State on Nov. 9, 2007.

FYI, Caldwell-Pope, who signed an $18- million contract to play for the Lakers this season, had 15 points in his debut vs. Wofford.

While Hammonds became the first freshman to start an opener in six years, freshman starters is nothing new under Mark Fox.

Six members of 10 returning letterwinners also started as freshmen - seniors Yante Maten and Juwan Parker; juniors Mike Edwards and Derek Ogbeide; and sophomores Tyree Crump and Jordan Harris.

Foxes Donate Almost $20K

Head coach Mark Fox and his wife Cindy donated $1 to charity for every fan who attended the Bulldogs' three November home games. The amount was split equally between the Boys and Girls Club of Athens and the Clarke County Mentor Program.

The Foxes contributed $18,976 to those groups ($9,488 to each). Georgia drew 7,387 fans for the opener against Bryant - UGA's biggest crowd for a season opener in a decade - as well as 5,369 for the Upstate date and 6,220 against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

Mark Fox announced their effort in an Oct. 12 tweet.

Cindy Fox is on the board for Clarke Mentors, which recruits community volunteers to mentor children who attend the Clarke County School District. Derrick Floyd, director of operations for the Athens Boys and Girls Club, was a letterwinner for the Bulldogs from 1980-83 and today serves as the official scorer for Georgia basketball games and the SEC Tourney.

"Those groups are working to try and make the next generation better and to make society better," Mark Fox said. "If we can give them a little help, that's great."

Bulldogs Are HomeGrown

More than half of Georgia's roster played high school hoops in the Peach State - Tyree Crump (Bainbridge High School), Rayshaun Hammonds (Norcross High School), Jordan Harris (Seminole County High School), Christian Harrison (Woodward Academy), Teshaun Hightower (Collins Hill High School), "Turtle" Jackson (Athens Christian), Connor O'Neill (Blessed Trinity High School) and Derek Ogbeide (Pebblebrook High School).