Bulldogs Battle Dayton In Maui Invitational

Monday, November 25

Maui, Hawaii

2:30 PM

University of Georgia

Dayton

November 24, 2019 | Men's Basketball

Georgia Basketball Game Notes
Maui Jim Maui Invitational First Round
Georgia (4-0) vs. Dayton (3-0)
Monday, November 25, 2019 at 2:30 p.m. ET
Lahaina Civic Center in Lahaina, Maui (2,400)
Radio: Georgia Bulldog Sports Network Flagship: WSB AM 750 Atlanta | Affiliates | Scott Howard, play-by-play; Chuck Dowdle, analyst; Tony Schiavone, producer
TV: ESPN2 (Dan Shulman, play-by-play; Jay Bilas, analyst)
Satellite: XM & Internet: 374
Series Record: Dayton leads, 1-0
Last Meeting: Dayton, 63-55, on 12/21/73

No.	Name	PPG	RPG

Georgia Bulldogs
Coach: Tom Crean
15-21 in 2nd season at UGA
371-252 in 20th season overall
0	Donnell Gresham Jr.	8.8	6.0
6-3; 195; R-Sr.-Grad.; St. Paul, Minn.
4	Tyree Crump	12.3	2.5
6-1; 185; Sr.; Bainbridge, Ga.
5	Anthony Edwards	19.3	6.0
6-5; 225; Fr.; Atlanta, Ga.
20	Rayshaun Hammonds	17.3	11.0
6-9; 235; Jr.; Norcross, Ga.
25	Amanze Ngumezi	8.3	3.0
6-9; 235; Soph.; Savannah, Ga.

No.	Name	PPG	RPG

Dayton Fliers
Coach: Anthony Grant
38-29 in 3rd season at Dayton
231-129 in 12th season overall
0	Rodney Chatman	13.0	3.3
6-1; 178; R-Jr.; Lithonia, Ga.
1	Obi Toppin	23.7	9.7
6-9; 220; R-Soph.; Brooklyn, N.Y.
3	Trey Landers	9.3	4.3
6-5; 221; Sr.; Dayton, Ohio
10	Jalen Crutcher	11.0	3.3
6-1; 175; Jr.; Memphis, Tenn.
33	Ryan Mikesell	14.0	4.0
6-7; 217; Grad.; St. Henry, Ohio

TEAM COMPARISON

2019-20 STATISTICS	GEORGIA	DAYTON
Points Per Game	92.0	89.7
Opp. Point Per Game	75.5	70.0
Scoring Margin	+16.5	+19.7
Field Goal Pct.	.487	.557
Opp. Field Goal Pct.	.437	.446
3-Point Pct.	.308	.333
3-Pointers Per Game	7.0	8.7
Opp. 3-Point Pct.	.363	.429
Free Throw Pct.	.661	.685
Free Throws Per Game	19.5	12.3
Rebounds Per Game	42.5	35.0
Opp. Rebound Per Game	38.3	31.3
Rebound Margin	+4.2	+3.7
Assists Per Game	18.5	22.0
Turnovers Per Game	11.8	12.3
Assist-to-Turnover Ratio	1.57	1.78
Turnover Margin	+5.2	+2.7
Steals Per Game	10.8	6.0
Blocks Per Game	3.3	4.0

The Starting 5...

Through games of Nov. 21, UGA had the 2nd, 3rd and 5th most points by any SEC team this season – 100 vs. Delaware St., 95 vs. The Citadel and 91 vs. W. Carolina.
UGA opened the season with three 90-plus point scoring outings, the first time the Dogs scored 90 or more three consecutive games since Dec. of 2006.
Six Bulldogs scored in double-digit against The Citadel. The last time UGA did so was a 92-62 win over Appalachian State on Dec. 22, 2002.
The point tallies of Anthony Edwards (24) and Sahvir Wheeler (19) in the season opener were the second- and third-best ever by a freshman in their UGA debut.
Georgia's celebrated freshman class – ranked among the top-10 groups nationally by every recruiting service – features five of the nation's top-100 prospects.

The Opening Tip

Georgia opens play in the 2019 Maui Jim Maui Invitational on Monday when the Bulldogs face Dayton at 9:30 a.m. HT / 2:30 p.m. ET.

Georgia is off to a 4-0 start. The Bulldogs completed a four-game homestand to begin the campaign with an 82-78 victory over archrival Georgia Tech last Wednesday, UGA's fifth-consecutive win over the Yellow Jackets.

Preseason All-American Anthony Edwards leads the Bulldogs in scoring at 19.3 ppg and steals at 2.8 spg, while Rayshaun Hammonds is contributing at a double-double clip of 17.3 ppg and 11.0 rpg. Tyree Crump, who is the only Bulldog to score in double digits in every game to date, is chipping in 12.3 ppg.

Dayton is one of 13 games Georgia will play against teams included in the final preseason edition of Joe Lunardi's Bracketology. That number could swell in Hawaii with potential matchups against Michigan State and Kansas, two more teams in the Nov. 4 edition of ESPN.com.

The Bulldogs in Hawaii

While Georgia is making its first trip to Maui, the Bulldogs are venturing to the 50th state for the fifth time. UGA previously played on Oahu in 1987, 1996, 2001 and 2007. Georgia won the 1996 Outrigger Hotels Classic, defeating No. 21 Maryland, 73-65, in overtime in the championship.

Head coach Tom Crean is competing in his fifth Maui Invitational, with previous trips as a head coach at Indiana (2008 and 2015) and Marquette (2007) as a Michigan State assistant (1995).

Series History

Dayton won the only previous matchup between the Bulldogs and the Flyers, a 63-55 decision in the first round of the UD Invitational on Dec. 21, 1973.

Georgia bounced back to defeat Drake, 66-60, in the consolation contest, while Dayton bested Cal, 66-62, in the tourney's championship game.

Entering Tonight's Game…Among UGA's Career Leaders

Tyree Crump is...
• 4 3FGs from co-No. 12s Ty Wilson and Ray Harrison
• 10 3FGs from No. 11 K. Caldwell-Pope
• 18 FGAs from No. 11 Ray Harrison
• 30 FGAs from No. 10 K. Caldwell-Pope

Scouting The Flyers

Dayton is off to an impressive 3-0 start, winning that trio of contests by an average of 19.7 points per game.

Opi Toppin paces the Flyers with some eye-catching statistics, primarily 23.7 ppg, 9.7 rpg and 70.0 FG pct.

Dayton sports a quartet of double-figure scorers, with Ryan Mikesell (14.0 ppg), Rodney Chatman (13.0 ppg) and Jalen Crutcher (11.0 ppg) joining Toppin.

Last Time Out...

Rayshaun Hammonds' second-straight 26-point outburst led Georgia in an 82-78 win over Georgia Tech before 10,205 fans at Stegeman Coliseum last Wednesday.

Hammond scored 19 first-half points to help the Bulldogs build a 35-27 advantage at the intermission. He scored five more points in the first 4:10 of the second stanza as Georgia pushed its lead to 49-33.

Foul trouble forced Hammonds to the bench for a good chunk of the rest of the game, but Anthony Edwards picked up the slack by scoring 14 of his 18 points in the final 14:26 of the contest.

Georgia led 77-67 with 1:18 left and 80-72 with 30 ticks on the clock. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Michael Devoe in the final four seconds trimmed the final margin in half.

Dogs Scoring At A Torrid Pace

Georgia opened the season by scoring 91, 95 and 100 points in the Bulldogs' first three outings. Through games of Nov. 21, those represented the second-, third- and fifth-highest outputs in the SEC this season.

That also marked the first time UGA has scored 90 or more points in three consecutive games since December 2006.

That season, the Bulldogs defeated Gardner-Webb, 96-67, on Dec. 2; topped No. 16 Gonzaga, 96-83, on Dec. 16; and bested Jacksonville, 93-77, on Dec. 19.

Fans Flocking To Stegeman

Georgia has drawn 35,152 fans for its first four games at Stegeman Coliseum this season – the second-best tally in school history.

Georgia's best four-game home attendance mark to begin a season was 38,741 in 1981-82, Dominique Wilkins' third and final season at UGA. At that point, the Coliseum's seating capacity was 11,200 (it's 10,523 today) and that quartet of outings included outings against Georgia Tech, Kentucky and Vanderbilt.

Last season, the Bulldogs broke their all-time total attendance record by more than 9,000 fans.

Dogs' Freshmen Among UGA's Best

Georgia's recruiting class was consistently ranked among the nation's top-10 groups – No. 5 by ESPN.com, No. 6 by rivals.com and No. 10 by 247Sports.com.

Headlining the class is Anthony Edwards. The Atlanta native, who tabbed the nation's best prospect by some, announced his commitment on national television on Feb. 11. He is the Bulldogs' highest rated recruit ever.

Dominique Wilkins was the most hyped recruit in Georgia history in 1979. Individual rankings for that class are believed to be unavailable. It also featured future stars such as Ralph Sampson, Isiah Thomas, James Worthy, Clark Kellogg and Sam Bowie.

In the internet age, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is the highest ranked player in the 247Sports.com composite to enroll at UGA at No. 12 in 2011. Louis Williams signed with the Bulldogs as the No. 6 prospect in the 2005 composite but opted to enter the NBA Draft.

The Bulldogs' highest recruiting class ever was a quintet listed at No. 2 in 1992 when UGA inked four of the nation's top-100 prospects – Shandon Anderson, Terrell Bell, Pertha Robinson and McDonald's All-American Carlos Strong – in the fall. Georgia then added Cleveland Jackson, the national Junior College Player of the Year, in the spring.

Additional top classes in Georgia history include those in 1979 and 1980 which featured four McDonald's All-Americans between them. The Bulldogs signed Wilkins and Terry Fair in 1979 and followed that with Vern Fleming and James Banks a year later.

UGA's Freshman Class Ranks Among Largest In The Nation

The Bulldogs' class of nine freshmen ranks as the third-largest in Division I college basketball this season.

Navy, TCU and Utah sport a nation-leading 11 freshmen on their rosters. Air Force has 10 freshmen. In addition to Georgia, Louisville and Memphis also have nine freshmen.

On this list, "freshman" is defined as a player who is a freshman eligibility wise who is competing at that school for the first time this season...so there are some redshirt freshmen mixed in.

A Historic String Of Success

The Bulldogs' five-game winning streak over Georgia Tech marks only the fifth time in 196 meetings that Georgia has captured five-consecutive victories over the Jackets.

The Bulldogs' longest streak in the series is seven consecutive wins twice in spans from 1908-21 and 1980-85. The second-longest is five games three times, covering 1929-31 and 1939-41 and the current 2015-19 stretch.

The first four wins over Tech in the current streak were by double figures. The only other time UGA posted four consecutive, double-figure Ws over GT was more than a century ago between 1908-09 and 1913-14.

The past two seasons have provided signature moments for Georgia's six four-year seniors. Prior to last December, only four four-year letterwinners for the Bulldogs finished their careers with a perfect record against Tech – James Banks, Vern Fleming, Richard Corhen and Gerald Crosby.

That fraternity more than doubled when Mike Edwards, Turtle Jackson, Derek Ogbeide, Connor O'Neill and E'Torrion Wilridge joined the fold at McCamish Pavilion last year and added two more pledges in 2019 in Tyree Crump and Jordan Harris.

It should be noted that UGA and GT played two or more times every season from 1924-82. Since then, they have met once per year, making an undefeated run a little less taxing.

The Collegiate Canine Strikes

All of graduate transfer Donnell Gresham Jr.'s career-high statistics came from his 90 games played during four seasons at Northeastern...until the Georgia Tech game.

Gresham connected on 11-of-13 trips to the free throw line against the Jackets, topping his previous marks.

Gresham scored 13 points versus Tech, his second double-digit output as a Bulldog and his 31st as a collegiate canine.

Gresham notched 29 double-digit scoring performances in his four seasons as a Northeastern Husky. Fifteen of those were last season when Gresham averaged 9.7 ppg and helped Northeastern finish with a 23-11 record and reach the round of 64 of the NCAA Tournament.

Feel Free To Call Him "Ty-3"

Tyree Crump continued a familiar theme during the first four games of the season, with 11 of his 16 made field goals coming from behind the 3-point arc.

More than two-thirds of Crump's made shots from the floor as a Bulldog have come on shots from 3-point range.

Crump has knocked down 138 3-pointers in his three-plus seasons in Athens. That accounts for 68.7 percent of his 201 made field goals at Georgia.

Among Georgia's career leaders, Crump currently ranks No. 13 in 3-point makes and No. 12 in 3-point takes.

Dogs Dish The Ball Against DSU

Georgia recorded 30 assists on the Bulldogs' 40 made baskets in their 100-66 win over Delaware State on Nov. 15.

That was the most assists by Georgia since the Bulldogs had 32 against South Carolina State on Nov. 21, 2006.

Six Double-Digit Bulldogs

A half-dozen Georgia players posted double-figure scoring outputs against The Citadel on Nov. 12 – the first time six Bulldogs scored 10 or more points in just under 17 years. Anthony Edwards had 29 points; Tyree Crump and Donnell Gresham Jr. added 13 apiece; and Rayshaun Hammonds, Amanze Ngumezi and Sahvir Wheeler each chipped in 10.

Prior to that, you had to go back to a 92-62 win over Appalachian State on Dec. 22, 2002 to find a contest with six Bulldogs in double figures. In that game, Steve Thomas scored 18 points, followed by Ezra Williams (13), Chris Daniels (12), Jarvis Hayes (11), Rashad Wright (11) and Jonas Hayes (10).

Earliest. Opener. Ever.

The Bulldogs' Nov. 5 contest against Western Carolina was the earliest opening contest in Georgia's 115 seasons of basketball. The previous mark for an initial outing was against Wofford on Nov. 8, 2013.

Edwards, Wheeler Star In Debut

Anthony Edwards and Sahvir Wheeler poured in 24 and 19 points, respectively, in the opener against Western Carolina. Those tallies represent the second- and third-most points ever by a freshman in their first game as a Bulldog as outlined below.

Edwards came within a bucket of Dominique Wilkins' school record against Troy on Nov. 30, 1979.

Since freshmen became eligible to compete in basketball beginning with the 1972-73 season, 23 Bulldogs have scored in double figures during their first collegiate contest.

Top Tallies In First Game At UGA

Year	Player	Points
1979	Dominique Wilkins	26
2019	Anthony Edwards	24
1979	Terry Fair	19
2019	Sahvir Wheeler	19
1998	D.A. Layne	18
2007	Jeremy Price	18
2004	Sundiata Gaines	17
2017	Rayshaun Hammonds	17
2011	Kentavious Caldwell-Pope	15

More On Edwards' Opener

Anthony Edwards' 24 points versus WCU were the most by a Bulldog in an opener in nearly two decades – since Ezra Williams' 26 points against Furman on Nov. 16, 2001.

Two Games In...

Anthony Edwards' 53 points in the first two games of the season (24 vs. Western Carolina and 29 against The Citadel) were the most ever by a Bulldog.

Dominique Wilkins put up 26 points in his debut versus Troy and followed that with 21 points versus Whittier, tallying 47 points in his first two games.

Dogs Already Off To Record Start

For the first time in program history, Georgia sold out the season ticket allotment for Stegeman Coliseum, Tom Crean announced during Stegmania II on Oct. 11.

"I think it's great," Crean said following Stegmania. "We're going to need them to be here and help us because we have a lot of growth to make with this team. You can't win without them in the sense of having a great home-court atmosphere, and there's no question that's something we're going to need. Having sold out of our season ticket allotment is a very good start to having just that this season and beyond."

The ticket-selling records continued when Georgia put single-game tickets on sale on Oct. 24. That day, the Texas A&M (Feb. 1) and Alabama (Feb. 8) officially outings became sellout contests.

That matched the mark for earliest sellouts in Georgia's history, established last year when the Florida and Kentucky games quickly became ticket-less events.

Prior to last season, Georgia had never sold out more than one game prior to beginning the regular season.

On Nov. 7, the Ole Miss (Jan. 25) and Arkansas (Feb. 29) games also became sellouts.

Bulldogs Who Are Back Scored 1K

Georgia's five returning letterwinners scored exactly 1,000 points last season.

Rayshaun Hammonds led the way with 339 (12.1 ppg), while Tyree Crump added 292 (9.1 ppg), Jordan Harris chipped in 226 (7.8 ppg), Tye Fagan contributed 78 (2.5 ppg) and Amanze Ngumezi put up 65 (2.1 ppg).

Bulldogs' Schedule Is Maddening

Georgia's 31-game regular-season slate includes a minimum of 13 teams featured in the last preseason edition of Joe Lunardi's ESPN.com Bracketology for the 2020 NCAA Tournament released on Nov. 4.

The Bulldogs will host games against seven teams in the predicted field and take on six more away from Stegeman Coliseum.

In Athens, Georgia will entertain Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia Southern, Kentucky, N.C. Central and Tennessee.

The Bulldogs will meet Dayton in the Maui Jim Maui Invitational and will play road games at Auburn, Florida, Kentucky, LSU and Memphis.

Georgia could two more teams tabbed to play in "March Madness" in Maui if the Bulldogs meet Michigan State or Kansas.

Preseason Honors For Edwards

Anthony Edwards garnered an impressive list of accolades before playing his first game for the Bulldogs.

Edwards was tabbed preseason All-America by at least four news entities – Sporting News (second team), CBS Sports (third team), Jon Rothstein (third team) and The Athletic (honorable mention).

The Atlanta native also was included on Watch Lists for Naismith, Wooden and NABC National Player of the Year honors, as well as the list of top candidates for the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award.

Edwards was named first-team preseason All-SEC by coaches and media, the first UGA freshman ever to be tabbed as such.

"B" Is For Basketball Player

You may notice on Georgia's roster that the Bulldogs have gone away from listing traditional positions – guard, forward and center.

All 15 players are now simply listed as "B" for "Basketball Player." Tom Crean is a proponent for "position-less basketball."

"That's what they are," Crean said. "It's not valid to call them centers and forwards and things like that with the way that we're trying to play. They're being trained as basketball players, every day. If you came out there to practice (6-11) Rodney Howard, a lot of times is doing the same things that (5-10) Sahvir Wheeler's doing in the sense of how we train ball handling, driving, shooting...all those type of things. That's what we're recruiting. We're recruiting basketball players."

Georgia Inks Four Standouts

Georgia signed four standouts to letters-of-intent during the NCAA's early signing period, Tom Crean announced on Nov. 18. The class is listed at No. 24 nationally in the 247Sports.com composite rankings.

Two in-state prep prospects – Kadarius "K.D." Johnson and Josh Taylor – and a pair of junior college teammates – Jonathan Ned and Mikal Starks – will play for Georgia.

Taylor (6-8, 200 pounds) is rated as a four-star prospect by 247Sports.com and rivals.com. In national rankings, he has been tabbed as the No. 118 recruit by 247Sports.com, as well as No. 124 by rivals.com and the No. 144 in the 247Sports.com composite.

Ned and Starks are teammates at Eastern Florida State College in Melbourne, Fla. The 247Sports.com composite junior college prospect rankings list Starks as the No. 4 player in the nation and Ned at No. 7.

Ned (6-9, 205) is originally from Brentwood, Calif. As a freshman at Eastern Florida State, he averaged 9.8 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. Ned was a standout at Heritage High, where he finished second on the school's all-time scoring list and was twice named the All-Bay Valley Athletic League's Most Valuable Player.

Starks (6-0, 175 pounds), is from Miami, Fla., and averaged 5.1 points and 2.8 assists as a freshman at Eastern Florida State. He is a product of Palmetto High, where he led the Panthers their first-ever Greater Miami Athletic Conference (GMAC) title in 2018.

Johnson (6-1, 180) played at Southwest DeKalb High for the past three years. He is rated as a four-star recruit by both 247Sports.com and rivals.com and ranked as the nation's No. 78 and No. 90 prospect overall, respectively, by those services. Johnson was named Georgia's 2019 Class 5A Player of the Year and is slated to play at Hargrave Military Academy as a senior.

Crump, Harris & Hammonds Blossom In Crean's First Season

Georgia's three returning letterwinners who are upperclassmen all enjoyed increased production and efficiency last season.

Most notably, junior Rayshaun Hammonds played almost the exact same average of minutes as his freshman year – 24.2 in 2017-18 and 24.3 in 2018-29 – but upped his scoring average by a whopping 80.6 percent – from 6.7 ppg to 12.1 ppg.

Seniors Tyree Crump and Jordan Harris also upped their point productions. Crump went from 6.5 ppg to 9.1 ppg, an increase of exactly 40.0 percent. Harris scored 3.5 ppg as a sophomore and 7.8 ppg as a junior, a 122.9 percent adjustment.

The improvements didn't stop in the scoring column. The combined shooting percentages of those three Bulldogs also made considerable jumps in efficiency: +5.7 percent on field goals (from .389 to .446), +5.1 percent on 3-pointers (from .313 to .364) and +10.1 percent of free throws (from .709 to .810).

In other statistics, the trio provided significant increases of +40.3 percent on rebounds (from 236 to 331), +69.7 percent on 3-pointers made (from 66 to 112), +.36.4 percent on assists (from 99 to 135), +97.1 percent on steals (from 35 to 69) and +145.4 percent on blocked shots (from 11 to 27).

It's Games Time!

The Bulldogs will play seven games before Thanksgiving Day.

Georgia began the season with a four-game home stand and will play three games in as many days at the Maui Jim Maui Invitational from Nov. 25-27.