Georgia Tangles With LSU On Saturday

Saturday, February 16

Athens, Ga.

6:00

University of Georgia

LSU

Buy Tickets

February 15, 2019 | Men's Basketball

Game Notes

Georgia Basketball Game Notes
Georgia (10-14, 1-10 SEC) vs. No. 19/21 LSU (20-4, 10-1 SEC)
Saturday, February 16 at 6:00 p.m. ET
Stegeman Coliseum (10,523) in Athens, Ga.
Radio: Georgia Bulldog Sports Network Flagship: WSB AM 750 Atlanta; Sirius: 94; XM: 190; Internet: 961. (Scott Howard, play-by-play; Chuck Dowdle, analyst; Tony Schiavone, producer)
TV: SEC Network (Mike Morgan, play-by-play; Pat Bradley, analyst)
Video: SECN+

Complete Game Notes (PDF)

Pos	No.	Name	PPG	RPG

Georgia Bulldogs
Coach: Tom Crean
10-14 in 1st season at UGA
366-245 in 19th season overall
G	1	Teshaun Hightower	8.0	2.3
6-6; 180; Soph; Lithonia, Ga.
G	2	Jordan Harris	5.7	3.5
6-4; 190; Jr.; Iron City, Ga.
F	20	Rayshaun Hammonds	12.4	9.2
6-8; 235; So.; Norcross, Ga.
F	33	Nicolas Claxton	12.7	9.2
6-11; 220; So.; Greenville, S.C.
F	34	Derek Ogbeide	9.9	5.6
6-9; 250; Sr.; Lagos, Nigeria

Pos	No.	Name	PPG	RPG

LSU Tigers
Coach: Will Wade
33-18 in 2nd season at LSU
124-63 in 6th season overall
G	3	Tremont Waters	15.7	3.1
5-11 175 So.; New Haven, Conn.
G	4	Skylar Mays	13.3	3.0
6-4; 200; Jr.; Baton Rouge, La.
G	14	Marlon Taylor	7.0	3.6
6-5; 210; Jr.; Mount Vernon, N.Y.
F	0	Naz Reid	13.8	6.3
6-10; 250; Fr.; Asbury Park, N.J.
F	11	Kavell Bigby-Williams	7.7	5.9
6-11; 250; Sr.; London, England

TEAM COMPARISON

STATISTIC	GEORGIA	LSU
Points Per Game	74.0	82.9
Opp. Point Per Game	75.3	73.3
Scoring Margin	-1.3	+9.6
Field Goal Pct.	.446	.469
Opp. Field Goal Pct.	.422	.440
3-Point Pct.	.327	.325
3-Pointers Per Game	6.9	7.0
Opp. 3-Point Pct.	.329	.342
Free Throw Pct.	.716	.765
Free Throws Per Game	16.5	18.5
Rebounds Per Game	40.2	38.2
Opp. Rebound Per Game	35.2	33.1
Rebound Margin	+4.9	+5.0
Assists Per Game	14.2	13.8
Turnovers Per Game	16.4	14.1
Assist-to-Turnover Ratio	0.86	0.98
Turnover Margin	-5.4	+2.0
Steals Per Game	5.7	9.7
Blocks Per Game	5.2	4.6

The Starting 5...

Georgia is averaging 8,941 fans over its 13 home dates, the highest tally since averaging a school-record 9,857 fans during 2002-03 season.
Nicolas Claxton's 63 blocks is the No. 7 season tally in UGA history. He is 31 swats shy of the school record held by his dad, Charles.
UGA's roster sports a nation-leading 6 left-handed players. In the Bulldogs' last three games, four of those southpaws started.
Derek Ogbeide is No. 9 among UGA's career rebounding leaders...and is currently 14 boards from the No. 8 spot.
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

The Georgia Bulldogs host No. 19/21 LSU on Saturday evening in a sold-out Stegeman Coliseum. The contest will be Georgia's sixth-consecutive sellout at home, and the seventh in an eight-game span.

Promo Giveaway: Yante Bobblehead

The first 1,500 fans in attendance at Saturday's game against LSU will receive a free Yante Maten bobblehead.

Maten was named the 2018 AP SEC Player of the Year after leading the league in scoring, both overall (19.3 ppg) and in SEC games (19.2 ppg). Among Georgia's career statistical leaders, he completed his career at No. 2 in scoring (1,886 points), No. 3 in blocks (198 rejections) and No. 4 in rebounds (889 boards).

Series History With The Tigers

LSU sports a 65-47 lead in the all-time series between the Bulldogs and Tigers; however, Georgia owns a 28-22 edge in games played in Athens. In fact, the Bulldogs have won the last five matchups at Stegeman Coliseum.

Up Next: The "Other" Bullldogs

After four midweek road trips, Georgia will remain in Athens and host Mississippi State on Wednesday evening.

The Dogs Are Drawing

Last Saturday's Ole Miss game upped Georgia's season attendance numbers.

The Bulldogs are averaging 8,941 fans over 13 home games this season, their highest average since a school-record mark of 9,857 during the 2002-03 campaign. If it holds, that would be the third-highest average in school history.

Tom Crean's inaugural season with the Bulldogs' has carried historic ramifications for Georgia Basketball from an attendance standpoint, including:

Georgia announced sellouts of the Florida and Kentucky games on Oct. 24, the earliest date for a game to sell out in program history.
The Texas game became a third sellout two days later on Oct. 26. Before this season, the Bulldogs never had more than one sellout prior to beginning the regular season.
In December, all available tickets for the LSU, South Carolina and Ole Miss games were sold. The six sellouts before the calendar rolled over represented the most in program history.
Georgia drew 9,018 fans for the season opener against Savannah State, UGA's biggest crowd for a home opener in 37 seasons...since Dominique Wilkins' sophomore year in Athens in 1981-82.
The UMass game on Dec. 30 also sold out, giving Georgia a minimum of seven sellouts this season. That represents the Bulldogs' most sellouts since having a school-record nine in 2002-03.
It should be noted that 2,000 free seats for UGA students must be filled for those "sellouts" to have capacity crowds of 10,523.

Welcome To The League, Coach

Tom Crean's initiation into the SEC would probably be considered hazing by some.

Georgia began league play with back-to-back Saturday trips to the defending league co-champs and six straight outings against teams ranked in the top-50 of the new NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings.

In the Jan. 5 edition of the NET, the Bulldogs' first half-dozen SEC foes, in succession, were ranked as No. 7 Tennessee, No. 45 Vanderbilt, No. 18 Auburn, No. 10 Kentucky, No. 33 Florida and No. 27 LSU.

Most of those NET rankings held relatively true through the first few weeks of SEC play.

Following the first third of SEC competition, the NET listed them as No. 6 Tennessee, No. 93 Vanderbilt, No. 27 Auburn, No. 7 Kentucky, No. 37 Florida and No. 16 LSU.

The Bulldogs' opponents over their first six SEC contests averaged a NET ranking of 31.0, far and away the most difficult in the league. The next closest was 42.0 for Alabama.

Bulldogs To Host Tigers On Saturday Night In Stegeman

Georgia returns to the increasingly crowded confines of Stegeman Coliseum on Saturday to host LSU. The game will be the Bulldogs' seventh sellout in 14 home dates.

The Bulldogs are 10-14 overall and 1-10 in the league to date.

Multi-dimensional Nicolas Claxton has been a "do-it-all" contributor for the Bulldogs. He is one of only four Division I players leading his team in all five major statistical categories – scoring, rebounding, assists, blocks and steals. Claxton not only tops Georgia, he also paces the SEC in both rebounding (9.2 rpg) and blocks (2.6 bpg).

Rayshaun Hammonds and Tyree Crump also are scoring at a double-digit pace for the Bulldogs. Hammonds, who has a team-high 17 double-figure performances, in averaging 12.4 ppg, while Crump is chipping in 10.0 ppg off the bench.

LSU is 20-4 overall and 10-1 in the SEC.

Tremont Waters leads the Tigers' offensively at 15.7 ppg. Starters Naz Reid and Skylar Mays ad 13.8 ppg and 13.3 ppg, respectively, while sixth man Javontae Smart contributes 10.1 ppg.

Series History With the Tigers

While LSU owns a 65-47 lead all-time in matchups between the Bulldogs and the Tigers, Georgia has a 28-22 advantage in games played in Athens.

In the most recent contest at Stegeman Coliseum last Feb. 24, Georgia produced a season-high offensive output in defeating LSU, 93-82.

Yante Maten and Derek Ogbeide notched double-doubles, and Rayshaun Hammonds added a career-high 21 points to lead Georgia.

The Bulldogs not only put up their biggest point total of the season but also produced their highest first- and second-half tallies with 45 and 48 in each respective period.

Georgia methodically expanded an early lead to a 45-34 advantage at halftime, finishing the period on a spectacular buzzer-beating tap-in by Ogbeide.

The Bulldogs pushed the margin to 56-34 less than three minutes into the second half and maintained a double-digit edge for all but one second the rest of the way.

Maten's afternoon carried historic implications among UGA's career scoring leaders.

With 27 points, Maten upped his career scoring total to 1,797 points and ascended from No. 4 to No. 2 among the most productive Bulldogs in school history. Maten passed Vern Fleming, who scored 1,777 points, and Alec Kessler, who put up 1,788.

In the most recent meeting between the Bulldogs and Tigers last month in Baton Rouge, LSU grabbed a 48-36 halftime lead and then withstood several Georgia rallies en route to a 92-82 victory.

The Tigers outscored Georgia 18-9 over the final 5:54 of the opening period to secure a double-digit lead at the intermission.

The Bulldogs quickly cut that margin in half to 50-44 in the first 1:45 of the second half. LSU answered with a 12-2 surge of its own. Georgia pulled within seven points twice thereafter, but the Tigers answered each time and allowed the Bulldogs to get no closer.

For the game, Georgia shot a better percentage than LSU in all three phases – 53.6 to 50.0 on shots from the floor, 47.1 to 25.0 on 3-point attempts and 77.8 to 72.4 at the free throw line.

Last Time Out...

Nicolas Claxton's double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds led Georgia in a 73-56 loss at Texas A&M on Tuesday.

A back-and-forth opening to the contest featured three ties and six lead changes before the Aggies gained control midway through the first half.

A&M led 34-21 at the intermission and never allowed the Bulldogs within single digits in the second stanza.

Claxton In Rare Air Statistically

Nicolas Claxton enters this weekend as one of only four Division-I players who is leading his team in all five major stats – points, rebounds, assists, blocks and steals.

Claxton has led the Bulldogs in all of the aforementioned categories but points for virtually the entire season. Rayshaun Hammonds has been Georgia's leading scorer for the most part; however, Claxton inched by him with his 18-point performance at Texas A&M on Tuesday.

The other three D-I hoopsters to pace their team in those five stats are Furman's Matt Rafferty, Green Bay's Sandy Cohen III and Wyoming's Justin James.

Ogbeide Steps Up In SEC Play

Derek Ogbeide is averaging 10.7 points and shooting a team-best 60.0 percent from the field in SEC games. That's a significant jump from his efforts of 9.2 ppg and 49.0 percent in non-conference action.

Ogbeide's upswing actually started on Dec. 30 against UMass, which began the most productive offensive three-game stretch of his career against UMass. Ogbeide put up 12 points against the Minutemen and followed that with a season-high 17 at Tennessee and 15 versus Vanderbilt...an average of 14.7 ppg on shooting 62.4 percent from the floor.

Ogbeide matched his season-high scoring output with 17 points at Alabama last week.

An 80 Percent Lefty Lineup

On the next page of these Game Notes, you'll have the opportunity to read how Georgia's roster (more than likely) features the most left-handed players in Division I hoops.

In the last three outings, the Bulldogs have started four southpaws – Nicolas Claxton, Rayshaun Hammonds, Jordan Harris and Derek Ogbeide.

All told, Georgia has used seven different starting quintets in the first 24 games of the season, with Claxton and Hammonds being the only Bulldogs to begin every outing.

Turtle, Tyree And the "3"

Although the above headline sounds like the title to a children's book, it's actually in reference to the standing of Turtle Jackson and Tyree Crump among Georgia's career leaders in 3-point field goals.

Jackson and Crump both joined the Bulldogs' top-20 all-time for successful shots from behind this arc. As a matter of fact, they entered the Ole Miss and Texas A&M games tied for No. 18 on that ledger. Crump inched ahead of Jackson against the Aggies as outlined below.

UGA Career 3-Point FG Leaders
Rk.	No.	Player	Season	GP
1.	261	Levi Stukes	2004-07	683
10.	172	Jody Patton	1988-91	387
14.	132	Terrance Woodbury	2006-09	386
15.	122	Rashad Wright	2001-04	358
16.	121	Sundiata Gaines	2005-08	400
17.	116	Tyree Crump	2017-19	332
17.	116	Michael Chadwick	1996-99	340
18.	114	Turtle Jackson	2016-19	350
19.	106	Nemanja Djurisic	2012-15	292
20.	103	Jarvis Hayes	2002-03	277

Bulldogs Are Blocking Shots

Georgia ranks among the nation's top shot-blocking teams. Following midweek SEC action, the Bulldogs ranked No. 9 nationally, averaging 5.2 bpg. Individually, Nicolas Claxton led the league and also ranked No. 10 in the nation at 2.6 bpg.

Dogs' Depth Paying Dividends

Georgia's bench has outscored its counterparts 18 times...usually by a significant amount. The Bulldogs' reserves have been +10 or more in 12 outings, helping Georgia to a +189 scoring margin on bench points.

Claxton Doing It All For Dogs

Nicolas Claxton is the only player in the SEC this season to – in the same game – lead his team in points, rebounds, assists, blocks and steals...and he's done so twice.

Claxton did so Nov. 27 against Kennesaw State with 16 points, 15 boards, four assists, two blocks and two steals. The sophomore from Greenville, S.C., repeated the feat Dec. 18 versus Oakland with 17 points, 13 boards, three assists, three blocks and a steal.

The last SEC player to lead his team in all five stats in multiple games was LSU's Ben Simmons, who did so three times in 2015-16.

Feel Free To Call Him "Ty-3" Crump

More than two-thirds of Tyree Crump's successful FGs for Georgia have been from at least 20-feet, 9-inches away from the basket.

All told, 69.9 percent (116-of-166) of Crump's made shots from the floor have been from behind the arc. In fact, 3-pointers directly account for 64.2 percent (348 of 542) of Crump's career points with the Bulldogs.

Claxton Joins Top-10 Swatters

Nicolas Claxton joined the Bulldogs' the top-10 single-season efforts near the midway point of the season.

Claxton passed a familiar name during the South Carolina game...and is still chasing the same person atop that list as outlined below.

UGA Season Blocks Leaders
Rk.	No.	Player	Seasons	GP
1.	94	Charles Claxton	1995	28
2.	91	Richard Corhen	1984	30
3.	88	Lavon Mercer	1977	27
4.	83	Terrell Bell	1996	31
5.	82	Lavon Mercer	1977	27
6.	76	Lavon Mercer	1980	27
7.	63	Nicolas Claxton	2019	24
8.	61	Yante Maten	2016	34
	60	Antonio Harvey	1991	29
10.	58	Charles Claxton	1994	30

Ogbeide Among Best Boarders

Derek Ogbeide began the season ranked No. 17 among UGA's career rebounding leaders with 614 boards and has since ascended to the No. 9 position as outlined below.

UGA Career Rebounds Leaders
Rk.	No.	Player	Seasons	GP
1.	1116	Bob Lienhard	1968-70	75
2.	923	Terry Fair	1980-83	123
3.	893	Alec Kessler	1987-90	123
4.	889	Yante Maten	2015-18	128
5.	867	Jerry Waller	1964-66	75
6.	840	Charles Claxton	1992-95	116
7.	838	Lavon Mercer	1977-80	106
8.	763	Chris Daniels	2000-04	119
9.	749	Derek Ogbeide	2016-19	118
10.	739	Carlos Strong	1993-96	118

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	208
Rayshaun Hammonds	91
Jordan Harris	75
Teshaun Hightower	67
Turtle Jackson	63
E'Torrion Wilridge	62
Derek Ogbeide	52
Tyree Crump	47
Tye Fagan	38
Ignas Sargiunas	15
Amanze Ngumezi	14
Christian Harrison	10
JoJo Toppin	9
Connor O'Neill	2
Mike Edwards	2

A Really Big Family Reunion

Nearly 100 Georgia Basketball letterwinners returned to Stegeman Coliseum for last Saturday's Ole Miss game to take part in the Bulldogs' Lettermen's Day. That represented the largest turnout in the event's history. Hugh Durham, the winningest coach in school history who guided the Bulldogs from 1979-95, headlined the list. Durham's teams produced a series of notable firsts in school history – the first postseason appearance with the 1981 NIT; the first SEC Tournament title, first NCAA Tournament bid and first Final Four all in 1983; and the first SEC regular-season Championship in 1990.

Player-wise, Bulldogs spanning the last 74 seasons were represented – from Charlie Burch, UGA's oldest living letterwinner from the 1944-45 team, to 2017 seniors J.J. Frazier, Kenny Paul Geno and Brandon Young.

Hammonds Bounces Back

Rayshaun Hammonds rebounded quite well from his only two scoreless outings during the 2018-19 campaign.

After not putting up points at No. 3 Tennessee in the SEC opener, Hammonds scored a game-high 19 against Vanderbilt.

Hammonds did not score versus Florida, but then had a team-high 18 points at LSU.

It took Hammonds a while to get going against Vandy, though. He was held scoreless in the first half. Tom Crean then asked for more from the sophomore at halftime.

"It was quick," Crean said. "It wasn't bad. It wasn't in my top-100 challenges. I've had a few. It's like, 'We need more. This isn't good enough.' He comes out in the second half and bangs that first shot, looks good doing it. It's important. He has another gear in him. It's our job to keep pulling it out of him."

Hammonds hit a 3-pointer 14 seconds in to the second half against the Dores and eventually scored a dozen points in the first 7:24.

Harris Back...And So Is His Scoring

Jordan Harris showed little rust in his returned to action against South Carolina. He had a two-game hiatus due to concussion-like symptoms following a collision with Nicolas Claxton late in the LSU game on Jan. 23.

Harris finished with 11 points against the Gamecocks, resulting in his first string of three-straight double-figure scoring outputs as a Bulldog. He also scored 10 points versus Florida and LSU before that absence.

Harris' contributions against South Carolina weren't just in the scoring column. He also had six rebounds, four steals and a pair of assists. His quartet of steals are the most by any Bulldog this season.

Dogs Shooting Blistering Percentages Against Longhorns

As outlined below, Georgia's overall and 3-point field goal percentages against Texas both rank among the top-5 in school history.

For good measure, the Bulldogs connected on 78.6 percent of their trips to the free throw line versus the Longhorns.

"I'm not sure I've ever coached a team in my 19 years that's ever shot that well from all three spots on the floor," Tom Crean said.

UGA Single-Game FG Percentages
Rk.	Pct.	Site-Opponent	FG-FGA	Date
1.	.762	H-Chattanooga	32-42	12/19/80
2.	.702	H-Miss. State	40-57	2/28/01
3.	.692	H-Vanderbilt	45-65	2/12/86
4.	.667	H-Texas	32-48	1/26/19
	.667	H-Winthrop	40-60	12/21/93
	.667	H-Tennessee	32-48	3/12/83

UGA Single-Game 3FG Percentages
Rk.	Pct.	Site-Opponent	3FG-3FGA	Date
1.	.727	H-Alabama	8-11	2/6/88
	.727	A-Vanderbilt	8-11	2/14/90
3.	.706	H-Texas	12-17	1/26/19
4.	.700	A-Miss. State.	7-10	1/19/89
	.700	H-S. Carolina	7-10	1/22/00

Claxton Named SEC POTW

Nicolas Claxton was tabbed the SEC Player of the Week on Dec. 31, a day after his game-high tallies of 20 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks against UMass.

Claxton recorded his sixth double-double of the season while connecting on 8-of-13 shots from the field and converting on 3-of-3 trips to the line versus the Minutemen. He grabbed 10 defensive rebounds, one less than the UMass entire roster grabbed as a whole on that end of the floor.

Maten Earns G League Honor

Yante Maten, the 2018 AP SEC Player of the Year for Georgia, enjoyed a very productive month of December.

Maten, a two-way player with the Miami Heat and the Sioux Falls Skyforce, was named NBA G League Player of the Month. In nine games, he averaged 29.2 points, 11.4 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.4 blocks per game while shooting 59.0 percent from the field, 47.4 percent from 3-point range and 80.3 percent from the line. Maten's month was highlighted by a 42-point, 14-rebound performance against Stockton, one of his seven December double-doubles.

"I'm definitely enjoying my time in Sioux Falls," Maten said. "I'm being used a lot. I'm trying to make the best out of every opportunity and every game. I'm just exited to come out and prove a point every night."

Perfect Against "The Enemy"

With its 70-59 win over Georgia Tech on Dec. 22 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 Bulldogs finished their careers undefeated against the Yellow Jackets – the tandems of James Banks and Vern Fleming (1980-84) and Richard Corhen and Gerald Crosby (1981-85).

That number more than doubled with this year's victory as Mike Edwards, Turtle Jackson, Connor O'Neill, Derek Ogbeide and E'Torrion Wilridge joined that quartet. Christian Harrison also went undefeated against Tech, but only played two seasons in Athens after transferring from Troy. Those Bulldogs not only won each game, the did so by double figures. The last time Georgia posted four-consecutive double-digit wins over the Jackets was a stretch covering the 1908-09 through 1913-14 seasons

To adhere to "truth in advertising" principles...it should be noted that UGA and GT played at least twice each season from the beginning of the series through 1981-82.

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 is the only 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	Points	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 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.

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...providing a span of exactly 1000 days between those losses.

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.