Bulldogs Set To Host Auburn

Saturday, February 10

Athens, Ga.

3:30 PM

University of Georgia

Auburn

Tickets

February 09, 2018 | Men's Basketball

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Georgia Basketball Game Notes
Georgia (13-10, 4-7) vs. No. 8/9 Auburn (21-3, 9-2)
Saturday, February 10 at 3:30 p.m. ET
Stegeman Coliseum (10,523) in Athens, Ga.
Listen: Georgia Bulldog Sports Network. (Flagship: WSB AM 750 Atlanta; Satellite: Sirius 183, XM 191; Scott Howard, play-by-play; Chuck Dowdle, analyst; Tony Schiavone, Producer
TV: SEC Network (Mike Morgan, play-by-play; Dane Bradshaw, analyst)
Video: SECN+

Complete Game Notes (PDF)

Pos	No.	Name	PPG	RPG

Georgia Bulldogs
Coach: Mark Fox
158-128 in 9th season at UGA
281-171 in 14th season overall
G	4	Tyree Crump	5.3	0.9
6-1; 182; Soph.; Bainbridge, Ga.
G	0	William Jackson II	9.3	2.5
6-4; 185; Jr.; Athens, Ga.
G	3	Juwan Parker	8.5	3.4
6-4; 205; R-Sr.; Tulsa, Okla.
F	1	Yante Maten	19.3	8.8
6-8; 243; Sr.; Pontiac, Mich.
F	33	Nicolas Claxton	4.0	3.5
6-11; 215; Fr.; Greenville, S.C.

Pos	No.	Name	PPG	RPG

AUBURN TIGERS
Coach: Bruce Pearl
65-57 (4th season at AU)
525-202 (23rd season overall)
G	1	Jared Harper	12.9	2.2
5-10; 170; Soph.; Mableton, Ga.
G	2	Bryce Brown	16.6	2.3
6-3; 198; Jr.; Stone Mountain, Ga.
G	5	Mustapha Heron	16.2	5.5
6-5; 218; Soph.; Waterbury, Conn.
F	13	Desean Murray	11.2	6.9
6-3; 225; Jr.; Stanley, N.C.
F	24	Anfernee McLemore	7.5	5.1
6-7; 220; Soph.; Warwick, Ga.

TEAM COMPARISON

GEORGIA		AUBURN
68.7	Points per game	85.8
+2.0	Scoring margin	+12.9
42.7	FG pct.	45.6
39.7	FG defense	41.6
32.0	3FG pct.	38.8
31.8	3FG defense	34.9
5.9	3FGs per game	10.1
71.5	FT pct.	78.2
15.7	FTs per game	19.1
+5.5	Rebound Margin	+4.2
12.7	Assists per game	15.3
0.96	Assists-to-TOs	1.21
4.7	Blocks per game	5.9
4.2	Steals per game	7.5

Game Promotion

First 1,000 students will receive a "Dawg Pound" t-shirt.

The Starting 5...

UGA begins a string of 4 home dates in 6 games...after playing 5 of its last 7 on the road.
At Vandy, Yante Maten passed Dominique Wilkins at No. 4 among UGA's scoring leaders.
Juwan Parker, the only DI MBB player with a master's, is now 2nd on UGA's career FT pct. leaders list.
Yante Maten is the only player in the SEC's top 10 in scoring, rebounding, FG pct. & FT pct.
Nicolas Claxton started at Vandy, becoming the 9th current Bulldog to start as a freshman.

Bulldogs Set To Host Auburn

The Georgia Bulldogs open a home-heavy portion of their season on Saturday afternoon when they host No. 8 Auburn at Stegeman Coliseum. The Bulldogs will play four of their next six contests at home, a welcome change to the stretch they just completed of five road outings in a seven-game span.

Georgia is 13-10 overall and 4-7 in SEC play to date.

All-America and SEC Player of the Year candidate Yante Maten leads the SEC in scoring by a half-point per game at 19.3 ppg (Arkansas' Jaylen Barford is second at 18.8 ppg). Maten also is third in the league in rebounding at 8.8 rpg and is the only SEC player ranked among the conference's top-10 in scoring, rebounding, FG pct. (No. 6) and FT pct. (No. 9).

Maten has been a picture of consistency for the Bulldogs.

In 23 games this season, he has 22 double-figure outings, with nine double-doubles and 12 20-point performances.

Over 86 games since the start of his sophomore year, Maten has 78 double-digit scoring performances, with 34 20-point and five 30-point outings, and 24 double-doubles.

"Turtle" Jackson is the Dogs' second-leading scorer at 9.3 ppg, with 12 double-figure games. Juwan Parker is UGA's second-best point producer in SEC action at 9.4 ppg.

Auburn is 21-3 overall and 9-2 in the SEC.

Bryce Brown paces a quartet of double-digit scorers for the Tigers at 16.6 ppg, while Mustapha Heron adds 16.2 ppg, Jared Harper contributes 12.9 ppg and Desean Murray chips in 11.2 ppg and a team-high 6.9 rebounds per game.

Entering Today's Game Among UGA's Career Leaders

Yante Maten is...

82 points from No. 3 Vern Fleming
93 points from No. 2 Alec Kessler
416 points from No. 1 Litterial Green
29 rebounds from No. 6 Lavon Mercer
85 FTs from No. 3 Litterial Green
110 FTAs from No. 3 Alec Kessler
67 blocks from No. 2 Charles Claxton

Series History With The Tigers

The Bulldogs own a 94-92 edge in their all-time series with Auburn, including a 61-25 advantage in Athens.

Last month in Auburn, the No. 17-ranked Tigers rallied from a 14-point halftime deficit to defeat Georgia, 79-65.

The Bulldogs controlled the opening half, gradually building a 40-24 lead on a Juwan Parker 3-pointer with 1:41 left in the half.

Auburn trimmed two points off that margin prior to intermission and then exploded on a 21-4 run to open the second stanza.

After trailing 59-45, Georgia rallied to trim the margin to 64-59 at the 3:57 mark, but the Tigers answered with a three-point play.

In the most recent contest in Athens last March 1, a stellar performance from J.J. Frazier on helped Georgia defeat Auburn, 79-78, after trailing by as many as 16 points.

Frazier, who scored 31 points in the win, helped the Bulldogs fight back and go ahead 79-73 with 1:13 remaining.

The Tigers responded with a 5-0 run to cut Georgia's advantage to just one, and stole the ball with 14 seconds left. However, Jared Harper missed a 3-pointer, and Juwan Parker grabbed the rebound as time expired.

Frazier and fellow seniors Kenny Paul Geno, Houston Kessler and Brandon Young were honored prior to tipoff. That quartet represents one-third of just 12 Bulldogs to play on three 20-win teams during the first 112 seasons of basketball at UGA.

Last Time out

Despite a game-high 20 points from Yante Maten, Vanderbilt defeated Georgia, 81-66, on Wednesday evening at Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville.

The Commodores scored the game's first nine points during the opening 3:18 and never trailed the rest of the way.

Vanderbilt led 48-38 with 15:58 remaining before the Bulldogs mounted a comeback. Maten and Turtle Jackson scored all the points in a 9-0 surge that closed the gap with 48-47 at the 13:20 mark.

The Bulldogs gained possession down 53-51 but Maten missed a 3-pointer that would have given Georgia the lead and Joe Toye converted a three-point play on the Commodores' next possession.

During the contest, Maten ascended two spots - from No. 6 to No. 4 - among the Bulldogs' career scoring leaders. He passed Walter Daniels at No. 5 and hall-of-famer Dominique Wilkins at No. 4.

Claxton Joins Freshman Starters

Nicolas Claxton earned his first career start at Vanderbilt after an impressive four-game stretch in which he averaged 6.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.8 blocks.

Claxton, the son of former Bulldog and All-SEC center Charles Claxton, became the ninth of Georgia's 13 scholarship players to start at least one game as a freshman. He joined seniors Yante Maten and Juwan Parker, juniors Mike Edwards and Derek Ogbeide, sophomores Tyree Crump and Jordan Harris and freshmen Rayshaun Hammonds and Hightower on that list.

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 Thursday.

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 in their communities. Ongoing fan voting via the Senior CLASS website will be combined with those of the media and Division I head coaches to determine the winners. The recipient will be announced during the Final Four.

The other Senior CLASS finalists are: Shawn Anderson, Navy; Vladimir Brodziansky, TCU; Jevon Carter, West Virginia; Angel Delgado, Seton Hall; Rob Gray, Houston; A.J. Jacobson, North Dakota State; 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 in its fourth year and recognizes the top power forward in Division I. The award is one of five position player of the year honors administered by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. In March, five finalists will be named, and the winner will be honored at ESPN's College Basketball Awards presented by Wendy's in downtown Los Angeles on Friday, April 6, 2018.

Joining Maten in the top 10 leading candidates for the Malone Award are: DeAndre Ayton, Arizona; Gary Clark Jr., Cincinnati; Marvin Bailey III, Duke; Wendell Carter Jr., Duke; Nick King, Middle Tennessee, Jordan Murphy, Minnesota; Luke Made, North Carolina; Mike Daum, South Dakota State; 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' makes 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 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).

Throughout the Challenge, fans can keep up with their teams donation in relation to other programs' by tracking that information at www.3pointchallenge.org.

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 (info below left) 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).

UGA's 'D' Among the Nation's Best

Georgia has traditionally been one of the SEC's - if not the nation's - most consistent defensive teams under Mark Fox.

The Bulldogs finished in the SEC's top-3 in field goal percentage defense - both overall and in SEC action - during five of Fox's first eight seasons in Athens. Georgia led the league in FG percentage defense in SEC play during both 2013-14 and 2015-16.

As of Thursday, the Bulldogs were ranked No. 2 in the SEC and No. 15 nationally in field goal percentage defense (.386). Georgia also was No. 3 in the league and No. 46 nationally in scoring defense (66.7 ppg).

A little More On The Dogs' SEC 'D'

Georgia's defensive performances dominate the "opponent low" information in SEC superlatives for conference games.

Alabama's 46 points are the fewest by any SEC team in league action to date.

Georgia has induced three of the four lowest field goal totals in SEC play - 16 by South Carolina (second fewest) and 17 by both Kentucky and Alabama (third fewest).

Georgia also forced the lowest field goal percentage in SEC play - a .271 effort by South Carolina.

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 16 of 23 outings.

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

This year, the Bulldogs are +73, a massive swing of 168 points from a year ago.

SEC Hoops Moving Forward

This season, the Southeastern Conference has certainly continued its upwardly trending national reputation.

That increased respect was front and center at the end of the last season.

The SEC received five bids to the 2017 NCAA Tournament, the fifth-most of any conference, and then proceeded to tie the ACC (which had nine NCAA teams) for the most wins during "March Madness" with 11.

Three SEC schools reached the "Elite Eight," including an All-SEC East Regional final between South Carolina and Florida.

What began last March has continued from November through January. The league is extremely well represented in the NCAA's RPI, with 13 of 14 teams in the top 100.

In Thursday's edition, 11 teams were in the top 75 - No. 9 Auburn, No. 10 Tennessee, No. 17 Kentucky, No. 20 Texas A&M, No. 30 Missouri, No. 36 Arkansas, No. 42 Alabama, No. 48 Florida, No. 54 Mississippi State, No. 63 South Carolina and No. 72 Georgia.

Bulldogs Sport Quality "Ws"

Georgia owns four top-50 NCAA RPI wins. The Bulldogs have victories over No. 26 Saint Mary's, No. 37 Temple, No. 42 Alabama and No. 48 Florida.

Diatta A Bright Spot in Starkville

A significant ankle sprain last summer stymied Pape Diatta's senior season. Diatta practiced and played with a brace through the New Year and has spent that past 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 last Saturday with 12 points off the bench. He did so in efficient faction, connecting on 4-of-4 attempts from 3-point range.

Hightower Shines In First Start

Freshman Teshaun Hightower made the most of his first career start at LSU, producing career highs 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." He is the only D-I player who has earned a master's degree. He 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 Starting Quickly

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

He has done so in 12 of 23 outings during the 2017-18 campaign.

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 9.3 ppg, Jackson continues to do much of his damage from behind the 3-point arc.

This season, 39 of his 71 field goals (54.9 percent) have been 3-pointers. For his career, 75-of-132 (56.8 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.

Maten is one of only four Bulldogs included on both of UGA's career top-10 ledgers for points and rebounds. He has since ascended to No. 6 in points (17 away from No. 5 Walter Daniels and 26 from No. 4 Dominique Wilkins) and No. 7 in boards (42 shy of No. 6).

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. He also was honored on Jan. 2, 2017, after he scored 31 points in the SEC opener at Auburn last season.

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, 24 of his 35 makes (68.6 percent) have been 3-pointers, and 43-of-68 field goals (63.2 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).