Bulldogs Battle Bulldogs on Wednesday Night

Wednesday, February 20

Athens, Ga.

6:30

University of Georgia

Mississippi State

Tickets

February 19, 2019 | Men's Basketball

Game Notes Watch Live Listen Live Live Stats

Georgia Basketball Game Notes
Georgia (10-15, 1-11 SEC) vs. Mississippi State (18-7, 6-6 in SEC)
Wednesday, February 20 at 6:30 p.m. ET
Stegeman Coliseum (10,523) in Athens, Ga.
Radio: Georgia Bulldog Sports Network Flagship: WSB AM 750 Atlanta; XM: 381; Internet: 972. (Scott Howard, play-by-play; Chuck Dowdle, analyst; Tony Schiavone, producer)
TV: SEC Network (Roy Philpott, play-by-play; Daymeon Fishback, analyst)
Video: SECN+

Complete Game Notes (PDF)

Pos	No.	Name	PPG	RPG

Georgia Bulldogs
Coach: Tom Crean
10-15 in 1st season at UGA
366-246 in 19th season overall
G	0	Turtle Jackson	5.4	1.4
6-4; 185; Sr.; Athens, Ga.
G	2	Jordan Harris	6.0	3.7
6-4; 190; Jr.; Iron City, Ga.
G	11	Christian Harrison	0.8	0.8
6-4; 200; R-Sr.; Atlanta, Ga.
F	20	Rayshaun Hammonds	12.4	6.2
6-8; 235; So.; Norcross, Ga.
F	33	Nicolas Claxton	12.8	9.0
6-11; 220; So.; Greenville, S.C.

Pos	No.	Name	PPG	RPG

Mississippi State Bulldogs
Coach: Ben Howland
73-52 in 4th season at MSU
474-258 in 23rd season overall
G	2	Laar Peters	12.5	1.8
6-0; 185; Jr.; New Orleans, La.
G	11	Q. Weatherspooon	18.1	5.1
6-4; 205; Sr.; Canton, Miss.
G	23	Tyson Carter	9.3	1.8
6-4; 170; Jr.; Starkville, Miss.
F	1	Regie Perry	9.0	6.7
6-10; 245; Fr.; Thomasville, Ga.
F	24	Abdul Ado	5.2	4.7
6-11; 255; Soph.; Lagos, Nigeria

TEAM COMPARISON

STATISTIC	GEORGIA	MISSISSIPPI STATE
Points Per Game	74.2	78.5
Opp. Point Per Game	75.6	70.8
Scoring Margin	-1.4	+7.8
Field Goal Pct.	.447	.473
Opp. Field Goal Pct.	.426	.441
3-Point Pct.	.331	.372
3-Pointers Per Game	6.9	8.4
Opp. 3-Point Pct.	.330	.349
Free Throw Pct.	.716	.727
Free Throws Per Game	16.6	13.8
Rebounds Per Game	39.8	36.0
Opp. Rebound Per Game	35.0	31.7
Rebound Margin	+4.7	+4.4
Assists Per Game	14.0	14.8
Turnovers Per Game	16.2	13.3
Assist-to-Turnover Ratio	0.86	1.12
Turnover Margin	-5.3	+0.8
Steals Per Game	5.7	8.5
Blocks Per Game	5.1	5.1

The Starting 5...

Georgia is averaging 9,038 fans over its 14 home dates, the highest tally since averaging a school-record 9,857 fans during 2002-03 season.
Nicolas Claxton is one of five Division I MBB players to lead his team in scoring, rebounding, assists, blocks and steals.
With an average 10,021 fans, Stegeman has been 95.2 percent full for UGA's SEC six home dates. That's 3rd best in the league.
Derek Ogbeide is No. 9 among UGA's career rebounding leaders...and is currently nine 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

After five-consecutive midweek road trips, Georgia will host its first non-weekend game outing Stegeman Coliseum on Wednesday when Mississippi State, the SEC West's version of the Bulldogs, travels to Athens.

The contest will be the Georgia's first midweek home game in 36 days, the first since hosting No. 12 Kentucky on Jan. 15.

Finally...Some Available Tickets

The Mississippi State game will likely snap a streak of six-consecutive home sellouts for Georgia. In fact, every game since the Vanderbilt contest on Jan. 9 was sold out before the calendar rolled over to 2019.

Series History With State

Georgia is 58-54 all-time against Mississippi State, including a 29-19 advantage in games played in Athens.

Up Next: Dogs Trek to Hotty Toddy

Georgia will travel to Oxford this weekend to take on Ole Miss at 3:30 p.m. ET.

The Dogs Are Drawing

Last Saturday's LSU game upped Georgia's season attendance numbers.

The Bulldogs are averaging 9,038 fans over 14 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.

Stegeman Nearly Full Regularly

The confines of Stegeman Coliseum have been increasingly crowded this season.

Georgia's overall attendance average of 9,038 fans in the 10,523-seat venue equates to it being 85.8 percent full over 14 home contests, which ranks No. 5 in the SEC.

The Bulldogs have drawn an average of 10,021 fans for their SEC games to date, meaning Stegeman has been 95.2 percent full for those six games. That ranks No. 3 in the league behind only Florida (97.5 percent) and Kentucky (97.4).

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.

On Jan. 27 (when all 14 league teams had played six SEC games), the NET listed UGA's first six opponents 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.

It's Dogs vs. Dogs At Stegeman

The Georgia Bulldogs will host the Mississippi State Bulldogs on Wednesday evening at Stegeman Coliseum. The contest will be Georgia's first weeknight home game in 36 days, since the Bulldogs hosted No. 12 Kentucky on Jan. 15.

Georgia is now 10-15 overall and 1-11 in the league to date. Last Saturday, the Bulldogs pushed No. 19/21 LSU to the brink before falling 83-79. Georgia led by as many as five points midway through the second half before the Tigers rallied to improve to 11-1 in the SEC.

Multi-dimensional Nicolas Claxton has been a "do-it-all" contributor for the Bulldogs. He is one of only five 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 (9.0 rpg) and blocks (2.6 bpg).

Rayshaun Hammonds, Tyree Crump and Derek Ogbeide also are scoring at a double-digit pace for the Bulldogs. Hammonds, who has a team-high 18 double-figure performances, is averaging 12.4 ppg, while Crump and Ogbeide both are chipping in 10.0 ppg.

Mississippi State arrives in Athens at 18-7 overall and 6-6 in SEC play.

Quinndary Weatherspoon paces an extremely balanced offensive attack for State by averaging 18.1 ppg. Lamar Peters and Aric Holman contribute 12.5 ppg and 10.0 ppg, respectively, while three other Bulldogs average between 9.0-9.6 ppg.

Series History With State

Georgia currently leads its all-time series with Mississippi State, 58-54, including a 29-19 advantage in games played in Athens.

In Mississippi State's last visit to Stegeman Coliseum two seasons ago on Valentine's Day in 2017, Yante Maten poured in 24 points to lead Georgia en route to a 79-72 victory.

The outing marked Maten's 10th 20-point game of the season. J.J. Frazier and Juwan Parker added 17 and 16 points, respectively, for Georgia.

The game was notched at 54-54 before the hometown Bulldogs scored eight unanswered points. State responded with a 3-pointer, but Georgia fired back with a Maten layup and an alley-opp from Frazier to Mike Edwards to give Georgia a nine-point lead, 66-57, with a little over three minutes to play.

Last season on Feb. 3 in Starkville, Mississippi State started quickly and never looked back en route to a 72-57 win over Georgia.

State opened the game with a 7-1 run. That margin reached double digits midway through the first half, and State answered every Georgia spurt.

A Tyree Crump 3-pointer at the 5:33 mark pulled the Bulldogs within 63-52; however, State closed out the rest of the contest on a 9-5 spurt.

Crump and Yante Maten led Georgia with 13 points apiece, while Pape Diatta added 12 of the bench on 4-of-4 3-point shooting.

Last Time Out...

Nicolas Claxton led four Bulldogs in double figures, but No. 19/21 LSU stilled downed Georgia 83-79 at a sold-out Stegeman Coliseum last Saturday.

LSU used a 10-0 run to gain the game's first substantial lead at 31-22 with 5:17 remaining in the first half.

The Bulldogs cut that margin to 41-37 at the break and then knotted the score at 45-45 on a Rayshaun Hammonds 3-pointer with 18:12 left on the clock.

Georgia eventually built a 58-53 edge following a 3-pointer from E'Torrion Wilridge at the 13:54 mark.

LSU took the lead for good with 6:41 remaining; however, Georgia pulled within 82-79 with 53 seconds left following a pair of Derek Ogbeide free throws.

Following a stop, the Bulldogs gained possession with 36 seconds remaining but failed to capitalize.

Claxton In Rare Air Statistically

Nicolas Claxton entered this week as one of only five 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 four of the aforementioned categories – everything but scoring – 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 four D-I hoopsters to pace their team in those five stats as of Monday were Matt Rafferty of Furman, Sandy Cohen III of Green Bay, Andrew Kostecka of Loyola (Md.) and Justin James of Wyoming.

Harrison Earns First Career start

Redshirt senior Christian Harrison secured the first start of his collegiate career against LSU. Harrison, an Atlanta native who played at Woodward Academy, was a scholarship player for two seasons at Troy before transferring to Georgia as a walk-on.

After sitting out the 2016-17 campaign, Harrison saw action in two games last season. He began this season on the Bulldogs' scout team before earning meaningful minutes in the Oakland game on Dec. 18. Harrison was then was a key defensive contributor in the second half at Georgia Tech on Dec. 22.

Harrison is now a relative regular in the Bulldogs' rotation, seeing time in 13 of the last 16 contests. He even started the second halves at both Tennessee and Texas A&M.

Against LSU, Harrison logged a career-high 19 minutes, six more than his previous high as a freshman at Troy. His solid linescore included two points on a nifty reverse layup, two rebounds, two steals, an assist and a blocked shot. Harrison spent a good portion of the second half guarding Tremont Waters.

Nicolas Claxton sang Harrison's praises following the LSU game.

"I just want to tip my hat off to Christian," Claxton said, unprompted by the media. "He came here and last year didn't play at all. This year, his minutes have been kind of up and down. But, throughout all of that, he has just stayed persistent. He just kept grinding. He comes in every day, and he doesn't complain. He just comes in and works hard, and you see the results today."

Ogbeide Steps Up In SEC Play

Derek Ogbeide is averaging 10.8 points and shooting a team-best 61.5 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 would rank second in the SEC in field goal percentage among statistical leaders for league game only; however, he is four FGs made shy of the minimum to qualify.

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, the teammates entered the Ole Miss and Texas A&M games tied at No. 18. Crump inched ahead of Jackson in College Station, but Jackson knotted their numbers again during last Saturday's game against LSU and they are now co-No. 17s.

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.	117	Tyree Crump	2017-19	335
17.	117	Turtle Jackson	2016-19	354
18.	116	Michael Chadwick	1996-99	340
19.	106	Nemanja Djurisic	2012-15	292
20.	103	Jarvis Hayes	2002-03	277

Harris' Production Is Up

Over his last seven games played, Jordan Harris has more than doubled his production in every major stat from his numbers over his first 15 games of the season.

Entering the Florida game on Jan. 19, Harris was averaging 4.1 points, 2.5 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 0.6 steals and 0.3 blocks.

Since then, the junior from Iron City has posted six double-figure outings and is contributing 9.9 points, 6.1 boards, 2.0 assists, 1.7 steals and 0.7 blocks.

That stretch actually covers nine of Georgia's games. Harris 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 showed little rust in his return to action against South Carolina and finished with 11 points, six boards, four steals and two assists. His quartet of steals is the most by any Bulldog in a single game this season.

An 80 Percent Lefty Lineup

Above this note, you have the opportunity to read how Georgia's roster (more than likely) features the most left-handed players in Division I hoops this season.

In fact, the Bulldogs started four southpaws – Nicolas Claxton, Rayshaun Hammonds, Jordan Harris and Derek Ogbeide – in consecutive outings against Alabama, Ole Miss and Texas A&M.

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

Bulldogs Are Blocking Shots

Georgia ranks among the nation's top shot-blocking teams. Entering this week, the Bulldogs ranked No. 10 nationally, averaging 5.1 bpg. Nicolas Claxton led the SEC 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 +188 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, 69.6 percent (117-of-168) of Crump's made shots from the floor have been from behind the arc.

In fact, 3-pointers directly account for 63.7 percent (351 of 551) of Crump's career points with the Bulldogs.

Claxton Joins Top-10 Ledger For Single-Season Swatters

Nicolas Claxton moved into the Bulldogs' the top-10 list of single-season blocked shots efforts near the midway point of the season.

Claxton passed a familiar name at No. 9 during the South Carolina game, his father Charles. Nicolas is currently No. 7 on that ledger and still chasing his dad, who also owns Georgia's single-season blocked shots record of 94 in 1995.

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.	64	Nicolas Claxton	2019	25
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.

Ogbeide has since ascended eight spots on the list. He joined the Bulldogs' top-10 boarders all-time during the Vanderbilt victory and is now No. 9.

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.	754	Derek Ogbeide	2016-19	119
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	220
Rayshaun Hammonds	93
Jordan Harris	77
Teshaun Hightower	67
Turtle Jackson	67
E'Torrion Wilridge	63
Derek Ogbeide	56
Tyree Crump	49
Tye Fagan	40
Amanze Ngumezi	16
Ignas Sargiunas	15
Christian Harrison	15
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 the Feb. 9 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 this season.

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.

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. 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.