Georgia Welcomes In-State Foe Georgia Southern to Stegeman

Georgia Basketball Game Notes
Georgia (7-3) vs. Georgia Southern (8-4)
Monday, December 23 at 7:00 p.m. ET
Stegeman Coliseum in Athens, Ga. (10,523)
Radio: Georgia Bulldog Sports Network Flagship: WSB AM 750 Atlanta. (Scott Howard, play-by-play; Chuck Dowdle, analyst; Tony Schiavone, producer) | Affiliates
TV: SEC Network (Tom Hart, play-by-play; Andy Kennedy analyst)
Video: SECN+
Satellite: XM & Internet: 374
Series Record: Georgia leads 11-4
Last Meeting: UGA 94-73, on 11/21/01

No.	Name	PPG	RPG

Georgia Bulldogs
Coach: Tom Crean
18-24 in 2nd season at UGA
374-255 in 20th season overall
0	Donnell Gresham Jr.	6-9	5.4
6-3; 195; R-Sr.-Grad.; St. Paul, Minn.
4	Tyree Crump	9.9	2.7
6-1; 185; Sr.; Bainbridge, Ga.
5	Anthony Edwards	19.4	5.2
6-5; 225; Fr.; Atlanta, Ga.
10	Toumani Camara	4.5	3.6
6-8; 220; Fr.; Brussels, Belgium
20	Rayshaun Hammonds	14.3	9.0
6-9; 235; Jr.; Norcross, Ga.

No.	Name	PPG	RPG

Georgia Southern Eagles
Coach: Mark Byington
119-88 in 7th season at GSU
126-92 in 7th season overall
2	Elijah McCadden	14.3	4.7
6-4; 192; Soph.; Rocky Mount, N.C.
3	Ike Smith	15.3	6.2
6-4; 210; r-Sr.; Gainesville, Fla.
10	Calvin Wishart	10.4	1.8
6-2; 180; Soph.; Delano, Minn
13	Quan Jackson	10.8	4.7
6-4; 180; R.-Jr..; Tallanassee, Fla.
23	Simeon Carter	8.0	5.7
6-8; 215; Sr.; Charlotte, N.C.

TEAM COMPARISON

2019-20 STATISTICS	GEORGIA	GEORGIA SOUTHERN
Points Per Game	83.5	79.4
Opp. Point Per Game	77.5	73.2
Scoring Margin	+6.0	+6.2
Field Goal Pct.	.464	.432
Opp. Field Goal Pct.	.447	.443
3-Point Pct.	.304	.341
3-Pointers Per Game	7.2	8.8
Opp. 3-Point Pct.	.343	.374
Free Throw Pct.	.674	697
Free Throws Per Game	15.1	15.2
Rebounds Per Game	42.0	35.8
Opp. Rebound Per Game	36.9	38.7
Rebound Margin	+5.1	-2.9
Assists Per Game	15.2	12.4
Turnovers Per Game	15.6	12.3
Assist-to-Turnover Ratio	0.97	1.01
Turnover Margin	+0.3	+6.7
Steals Per Game	9.1	9.9
Blocks Per Game	3.9	4.3

The Starting 5...

Anthony Edwards leads all freshman in Division-I to date this season in scoring (19.4 ppg is No. 44 nationally) and fourth-best in steals (2.1 spg).
UGA had eight 90-point outputs in Tom Crean's first 40 games in Georgia. The Bulldogs had eight 90-point outings in the 249 games prior to Crean's arrival.
Six of nine SEC games at Stegeman Coliseum – Kentucky, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Alabama, Arkansas and Florida – are now sellouts.
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 returns to action for the second time in four days when the Bulldogs host Georgia Southern in an intrastate showdown on Monday at Stegeman Coliseum. Following the outings with the Eagles, the Bulldogs will break from competition for a week over the Christmas holidays.

Georgia improved to 7-3 on the season, including a 6-0 mark at Stegeman, with its thrilling 87-85 double-OT victory over SMU last Friday. Freshman Sahvir Wheeler converted on a layup at the end of the first extra period to tie the game and extend the contest and then scored on another layup with 1.9 seconds left in the second OT session to give the Bulldogs the win.

The Bulldogs are averaging 83.5 points per game, which led the SEC and ranked No. 10 nationally through games of Saturday (Dec. 21).

Anthony Edwards, a preseason All-American and leading candidate for National Freshman of the Year accolades, paces Georgia in scoring (19.4 ppg) and steals (2.1 spg), averages that ranked No. 44 and No. 42 nationally, respectively. Edwards is the nation's top-scoring freshman and also ranks No. 4 among all freshmen in steals.

Keeping An Eye On…Entering Tonight's Game Among UGA's career Leaders

Tyree Crump is...
• 21 3FGs from No. 10 Jody Patton
• 4 3FGAs from No. 9 Bernard Davis
• 51 3FGAs from No. 9 G.G. Smith

Series History

Georgia sports and 11-4 advantage in its all-time series with Georgia Southern on the hardwood. After the Eagles won four of the first seven matchups between 1935-61, the Bulldogs have secured victories in the last eight dates.

Georgia and Georgia Southern last met on Nov. 21, 2001 in Savannah. Ezra Williams' 25 points led a quintet of Bulldogs in double figures as Georgia raced to a 63-34 halftime lead and cruised to a 94-73 win.

Jarvis Hayes added 19, Chris Daniels chipped in 15, Jonas Hayes contributed 14 and Rashad Wright finished with 11.

Daniels' layup early in the second half gave the Bulldogs their largest lead of the day at 68-34. Southern nearly halved that deficit to pull within 75-57 with 9:23 left but could pull no closer.

Scouting The Eagles

Southern is 8-4 overall and 2-0 in Sun Belt play. The Eagles are playing their third game in a five-game span after defeating Texas State and UT-Arlington last Thursday and Saturday, respectively.

The Eagles' balanced offense is putting up 79.4 points per game and features a quintet of players with double-digit scoring averages. Ike Smith leads Georgia Southern in both scoring (15.3 ppg) and rebounding (6.2 rpg).

Through Saturday's games (of Dec. 21), the Eagles ranked third in the country in turnover margin (+6.7), 11th in turnovers forced (19.0 TOpg) and 13th in steals (9.9 spg).

Last Time Out...

Freshman Sahvir Wheeler came up big in both overtime periods last Friday, scoring late layups to propel Georgia to an 87-85 double-OT win over SMU before 10,351 fans at Stegeman Coliseum.

Wheeler tied the game with four seconds left in the first overtime period and split to defenders en route to the game-winner with 1.9 seconds remaining in the second OT.

The contest featured no less than 10 ties and a dozen lead changes. The Bulldogs led 65-60 with 3:26 in regulation before the Mustangs closed out the half on an 8-3 run.

SMU gained a five-point edge in the first overtime, leading 77-72 with 25 second left. A Tyree Crump 3-pointer preceded Wheeler's drive to knot the score.

The Bulldogs never trailed in the second extra period and gained possession with the score at 85-85 and 20 ticks on the clock. Wheeler dribbled out much of that time before bolting past a screen on the left elbow en route to the layup to seal the win.

Bulldogs Reversing Fortunes

Georgia improved to 3-0 in games decided by four points or less this season with last Friday's double-OT victory over SMU.

That's a dramatic difference from a year ago when the Bulldogs were 0-6 in outings decided by four points or less. All six of those contests were to NCAA Tournament teams.

Georgia's non-conference effort in 2018-19 featured four- and two-point setbacks to Temple and Arizona State, respectively.

In SEC play, the Bulldogs dropped four consecutive extremely excruciating losses to LSU (83-79), Mississippi State (68-67), Ole Miss (72-71) and Auburn (78-75) between Feb 16-27. Some quick math would show you that those four league losses were by a combined nine points.

Bulldogs Scoring At Torrid Pace

Georgia is averaging 83.5 points per game, which led the SEC ranked No. 10 nationally as of Sunday (through games of Dec. 21).

Some additional nuggets contained within the Bulldogs' offensive production over the first nine outings of the season include:

UGA had eight 90-point performances in Tom Crean's first 40 games in Athens (four in 2018-19 and four in 2019-20). The Bulldogs reached the 90-point plateau just eight times in 249 games prior to Crean's arrival.

UGA has three of the top-10 scoring outputs in the SEC this season – No. 4 (100 points vs. Delaware St.) and co-No. 7 (95 points vs. The Citadel and N.C. Central).

UGA has four 90-point outputs in 10 games, 40.0 percent of its outings. The rest of the SEC had 15 90-point performances in 140 games (10.7 percent).

Georgia already has four 90-point games...as many as the Bulldogs had in 32 games last season. FYI, the last time UGA had five 90-point outputs was the aforementioned 2005-06 campaign (when the Bulldogs had six), and the school record for 90-plus outings is eight during Georgia's run to the 1990 SEC Championship.

UGA scored 91, 95 and 100 points in the first three games this season – the first time the Bulldogs scored 90 or more points in three consecutive games since December 2006. That season, the Bulldogs defeated Gardner-Webb, 96-67, on Dec. 2; No. 16 Gonzaga, 96-83, on Dec. 16; and Jacksonville, 93-77, on Dec. 19.

Some Individual Scoring Info

In addition to Georgia's point production as a team, Bulldogs have posted some significant individual scoring efforts to date.

Anthony Edwards' 37 points against No. 3 Michigan State – the most by a UGA freshman in 45 seasons – included a 33-point second-half explosion against the Spartans.

Six UGA players posted double-figure scoring outputs against The Citadel on Nov. 12 – the first time a half-dozen Bulldogs scored 10 or more points since a Dec. 22, 2002, matchup against Appalachian State. 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.

Edwards' 24 points and Wheeler's 19 points in the season opener against Western Carolina represented the second- and third-best tallies ever by a UGA freshman in their collegiate debut and most by a Bulldog freshman since 1979.

Crump Joins, Approaches UGA Top 10s For 3-Point Takes, Makes

Tyree Crump ascended into Georgia's top-10 career leaders in 3-point field goal attempts at Arizona State. Crump inched past Kentavious Caldwell-Pope into the No. 10 slot.

The senior from Bainbridge is closing on the Bulldogs' top 10 for successful shots behind the arc as well. Crump has 151 3-pointers, 21 away from No. 10 Jody Patton as outlined below. UGA Career 3FGA Leaders

UGA Career 3FGA Leaders
Rk.	No.	Player	Seasons	3FGAs
1.	683	Levi Stukes	2004-07	261
5.	569	Kenny Gaines	2013-16	213
6.	544	Litterial Green	1989-92	215
7.	536	Dustin Ware	2009-12	194
8.	500	G.G. Smith	1996-99	193
9.	453	Bernard Davis	1991-94	184
10.	440	Tyree Crump	2016-19	151
UGA Career 3FG Leaders
Rk.	No.	Player	Seasons	3FGs
1.	261	Levi Stukes	2003-07	683
4.	213	Ezra Williams	2000-03	582
	213	Kenny Gaines	2012-16	569
6.	204	J.J. Frazier	2013-17	576
7.	194	Dustin Ware	2008-12	536
8.	193	G.G. Smith	1995-99	500
9.	184	Bernard Davis	1990-94	453
10.	172	Jody Patton	1987-91	387
11.	147	Tyree Crump	2016-19	449

Edwards, Wheeler Included Among NCAA's Freshman Leaders

Through games of Dec. 21, Georgia's Anthony Edwards was one of two freshmen ranked among the nation's top-50 scoring leaders and one of just six featured in the top 100 as outlined below.

Top Freshman Scoring Averages
Rk.	Player, school	GP	Avg.
26.	Anthony Edwards, Georgia	10	19.4
51.	Cole Anthony, N. Carolina	9	19.1
60.	Landers Nolley, Va. Tech	10	18.6
63.	Vernon Carey, Duke	10	18.5
96.	Onyeka Okongwu, USC	10	17.4
97.	Jordan Dingle, Penn	8	17.4

Edwards also was fourth among freshmen in steals. His 2.10 average ranked No. 42 nationally, trailing only Louisiana's Mylik Wilson (2.33), Charlotte's Jahmir Young (2.30), Md.-Eastern Shore's De'Shawn Phillip (2.15).

Sahvir Wheeler's average of 4.9 assists per game was seventh-best among the nation's freshmen...and No. 74 overall. His assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.96 was the fifth-best among all SEC players and the 15th-best effort nationally by a freshman.

Edwards Earns Honors

Anthony Edwards was tabbed National Freshman of the Week by CBSSports.com and SEC's Freshman of the Week on Dec. 1 following the Maui Jim Maui Invitational.

Most notably, Edwards poured in 37 points against No. 3 Michigan State on Nov. 26, including a 33-point explosion in the second half. Edwards' effort equaled the No. 11 single-game scoring tally in Georgia's history and represented the most points by a Bulldog freshman since Jacky Dorsey scored 41 versus LSU on Jan. 20, 1975.

Wheeler Logging PT Off Bench

Freshman Sahvir Wheeler is averaging 26.1 minutes per game, the second-highest average of any Bulldog despite coming off the bench in every game to date.

Wheeler has logged 20-plus minutes in every game but a blowout win over Delaware State, when he played 18 minutes. His season highs are 35 MP in the double-OT outing against SMU...and 30 against Chaminade for a regulation contest.

Bulldogs Up to Six SEC Sellouts

Six of Georgia's nine SEC home dates at Stegeman Coliseum are now sold out.

Outings against Texas A&M and Alabama officially became sellouts on Oct. 24, the first day single-game tickets went on sale.

Since then, the Kentucky, Ole Miss, Arkansas and Florida games also have sold out.

Now, the only matchups on the 2020 calendar with tickets remaining are mid-week contests against Tennessee, South Carolina and Auburn.

The Collegiate Canine Strikes

All of graduate transfer Donnell Gresham Jr.'s career-high statistical performances came from his 90 games played during four seasons at Northeastern...until the Georgia Tech game on Nov. 20.

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.

The Saint Paul, Minn., native notched 29 double-digit scoring performances in his four seasons as a different breed of dog – a Northeastern Husky.

Feel Free To Call Him "Ty-3"

Tyree Crump continued a familiar theme to his scoring this season, with 24 of his 34 made field goals (70.6 percent) coming from behind the 3-point arc.

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

Crump has knocked down 151 3-pointers in his three-plus seasons in Athens. That accounts for 68.9 percent of his 219 made field goals at Georgia.

Fagan Posts Career highs

Tye Fagan has notched career-high scoring outputs twice this season.

The sophomore from Logtown paced Georgia with a career-most 15 minutes at Arizona State. Fagan did most of his damage in the second half. After posting four points in nine first-half minutes, he put up 11 points in 10 minutes of action following the intermission.

Fagan recorded his first double-digit scoring output as a Bulldog with 11 points against Dayton in the opening round of the Maui Jim Maui Invitational. He did so in an extremely efficient fashion, connecting on 5-of-5 shots from the field against the Flyers, including his only 3-point attempt on the day.

Before that, Fagan's top offensive performances as a Bulldog were early last season. He notched eight points in three of the first four games of his freshman year – against Temple, Sam Houston State and Illinois State.

Fans Flocking To Stegeman

A combined 42,890 members of the Bulldog Nation have attended Georgia's first five home dates of the 2019-20 campaign.

That is the third-largest tally for the initial quintet of outings at Stegeman Coliseum during the program history.

The Bulldogs' best first five-game home attendance mark to begin a season was 49,941 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 – no disrespect to this year's foes but – that quintet of outings included matchups against the likes of Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Vanderbilt and LSU.

In 2002-03, Georgia welcomed a total of 43,962 spectators for the first five home dates that season.

The Stegeman Coliseum turnstiles have been quite busy since Tom Crean's arrival. Last season, the Bulldogs broke their total attendance record by more than 9,000 fans and Georgia notched its fourth-best average attendance mark ever (8,747).

Hammonds Hot Early, Often Against Hornets & Jackets

Junior Rayshaun Hammonds poured in 26 points in back-to-back outings against Delaware State on Nov. 15 and Georgia Tech on Nov. 20.

Hammonds was hot from the get-go in both outings. He scored 17 first-half points versus the Hornets and followed that with 19 before intermission against the Jackets. Hammonds was a combined 15-of-20 (75.0 percent) from the field on those first halves.

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 signing period.

Additional top classes at Georgia 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 Also Among the nation's Largest

The Bulldogs' class of nine freshmen ranks as the third-largest in Division-I hoops for the 2019-20 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 redshirts.

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 season opener against Western Carolina on Nov. 5. Those tallies represent the second- and third-most points ever by a freshman in their first game in a Bulldog uniform as outlined below.

Edwards came within a bucket of Dominique Wilkins' school record against Troy on Nov. 30, 1979. Since NCAA rules change to allow freshmen to compete in basketball beginning with the 1972-73 season, 23 Bulldogs have scored in double figures during their first collegiate contest at UGA.

Top Tally Debuts By UGA Freshmen
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

Georgia Welcomes In-State Foe Georgia Southern to Stegeman

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Toumani Camara

Tyree Crump

Anthony Edwards

Tye Fagan

Donnell Gresham Jr.

Rayshaun Hammonds

Rodney Howard

Amanze Ngumezi

Sahvir Wheeler

University of Georgia Athletics

Georgia Welcomes In-State Foe Georgia Southern to Stegeman

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Toumani Camara

Tyree Crump

Anthony Edwards

Tye Fagan

Donnell Gresham Jr.

Rayshaun Hammonds

Rodney Howard

Amanze Ngumezi

Sahvir Wheeler

Related Videos