Dawgs Look to Fend off Rebels on Saturday

Saturday, February 9

Athens, Ga.

1:00

University of Georgia

Ole Miss

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February 08, 2019 | Men's Basketball

Game Notes

Georgia Basketball Game Notes
Georgia (10-12, 1-8 SEC) vs. Ole Miss (15-7, 5-4 SEC)
Saturday, February 9 at 1:00 p.m. ET
Stegeman Coliseum (10,523) in Athens, Ga.
Georgia Bulldog Sports Network Flagship: WSB AM 750 Atlanta; Sirius: 111; XM: 191; Internet: 962. (Scott Howard, play-by-play; Chuck Dowdle, analyst; Tony Schiavone, producer)
TV: SEC Network (Richard Cross, play-by-play; Debbie Antonelli, analyst)
Video: SECN+

Complete Game Notes (PDF)

Pos	No.	Name	PPG	RPG

Georgia Bulldogs
Coach: Tom Crean
10-12 in 1st season at UGA
366-243 in 19th season overall
G	1	Turtle Jackson	5.5	1.3
6-4; 185; Sr.; Athens, Ga.
G	2	Jordan Harris	5.2	2.9
6-4; 190; Jr.; Iron City, Ga.
F	20	Rayshaun Hammonds	12.9	6.6
6-8; 235; So.; Norcross, Ga.
F	33	Nicolas Claxton	12.6	9.3
6-11; 220; So.; Greenville, S.C.
F	34	Derek Ogbeide	10.4	6.0
6-9; 250; Sr.; Lagos, Nigeria

Pos	No.	Name	PPG	RPG

Ole Miss Rebels
Coach: Kermit Davis
15-7 in 4t1st season at OM
484-270 in 11th season overall
G	3	Terence Davis	16.4	6.4
6-4; 205, Sr.; Southaven, Miss.
G	4	Breein Tyree	18.0	3.2
6-2; 195; Jr.; Somerset, N.J.
G	2	Devontae Shuler	9.4	192
6-2; 192; Soph; Irmo, S.C.
F	0	Blake Hinson	8.7	3.0
6-7; 229, Fr.; Deltona, Fla
C	13	Dominick Olejniczak	6.3	3.4
7-0; 260; Jr. Torun, Polamd

TEAM COMPARISON

STATISTIC	GEORGIA	OLE MISS
Points Per Game	75.2	77.8
Opp. Point Per Game	75.2	71.0
Scoring Margin	+0.0	+6.9
Field Goal Pct.	.451	.475
Opp. Field Goal Pct.	.421	.431
3-Point Pct.	.331	.366
3-Pointers Per Game	6.9	8.0
Opp. 3-Point Pct.	.329	.365
Free Throw Pct.	.720	.769
Free Throws Per Game	16.7	15.1
Rebounds Per Game	40.8	35.6
Opp. Rebound Per Game	34.9	32.0
Rebound Margin	+5.9	+3.7
Assists Per Game	14.3	15.0
Turnovers Per Game	16.5	13.4
Assist-to-Turnover Ratio	0.87	1.12
Turnover Margin	-5.2	+1.3
Steals Per Game	5.7	7.6
Blocks Per Game	5.3	3.7

The Starting 5...

Georgia is averaging 8,850 fans over its 12 home dates, the highest tally since averaging a school-record 9,857 fans during 2002-03 season..
Nicolas Claxton's 60 blocks is the No. 8 season tally ever at UGA. Last Saturday, he moved past his dad, Charles, into that slot.
UGA sports a nation-leading 6 left-handed players. In Wednesday's game at Alabama, four of those were in the Bulldogs' starting five.
UGA's bench has outscored it counterparts in 17 games, with 12 of those being by +10 or more. UGA's bench has a +211 scoring margin.
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

Georgia hosts Ole Miss on Saturday afternoon in a contest that will also serve as Bulldog Basketball's "family reunion."

Approximately 100 former coaches, players, managers and support staff will return to Athens for Lettermen's Day and be introduced at halftime. That's the largest turnout ever. Following the game, the event will expand into a reception involving their families, with the head count swelling to nearly 400.

Promo Giveaway: Nique Poster

The first 1,000 fans and the first 1,000 UGA students arriving for Saturday's game against Ole Miss will receive a commemorative Dominique Wilkins poster.

Series History With The Rebels

Georgia currently leads the all-time series with Ole Miss 73-42, including a 41-12 advantage in Athens.

Up Next: Off To A&M

Georgia will travel to College Station next Tuesday to face Texas A&M at 7:00 p.m. ET.

The Dogs Are Drawing

Last Saturday's South Carolina game upped Georgia's season attendance numbers.

The Bulldogs are now averaging 8,850 fans over 12 home games this season, their highest average since a school-record mark of 9,857 during the 2002-03 campaign.

The Ole Miss game is sold out, Georgia's sixth-straight sellout and seventh in the last eight games.

History In The Making

Tom Crean's inaugural season with the Bulldogs' has carried historic ramifications for Georgia Basketball, both on and off the court.

From an attendance standpoint...

Georgia announced sellouts of the Florida and Kentucky game on Oct. 24, the earliest date for a game to sell out in program history.
The Texas game became a sellout two days later on Oct. 26. Before this season, the Bulldogs had 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.
Georgia is averaging 8,850 fans for its 12 home games to date. That's the highest since averaging a school-record 9,857 fans during the 2002-03 season. On the basketball court:
Georgia defeated Savannah State, 110-76 in the season opener, the Bulldogs' most points in the 2000s...since beating Grambling, 113-74, on Nov. 27, 1999, at the Great Alaska Shootout.
Georgia's 66.7 percent FG percentage against Texas equals the No. 4 best mark in school history.
The Bulldogs' 70.6 percent 3-point percentage against Texas is the No. 3 mark in program history.

Welcome To The League, Coach

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

Georgia began league play with six consecutive outings against teams that entered SEC competition 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 were ranked, in succession, 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.

Dogs' Sellout Count Climbs To 7

The Tom Crean regime has established impressive attendance records with seven sellouts already on the books.

Five of those have been played – UMass, Kentucky, Florida, Texas and South Carolina. Georgia's next two home outings – Ole Miss and LSU – also are sold out.

It should be noted that the 2,000 free seats reserved for UGA's student body must be filled for those "sellouts" to have capacity crowds of 10,523.

Bulldogs Host Rebels

Georgia returns to the friendly – and increasingly crowded – confines of Stegeman Coliseum on Saturday to host Ole Miss.

The Bulldogs are 10-12 overall and 1-8 in the league to date.

Georgia sports a quartet of players averaging double-digits in the scoring column.

Rayshaun Hammonds averages a team-high 12.9 ppg. Among league statistical leaders, he is ranked No. 8 in free throw percentage (.822) and No. 12 in rebounds (6.6 rpg).

Nicolas Claxton has been a "do-it-all" contributor for the Bulldogs. He is scoring 12.6 ppg and leads the SEC in both rebounding (9.3 rpg) and blocks (2.7 bpg). Claxton also paces Georgia in assists (47) and steals (28).

Derek Ogbeide and Tyree Crump are contributing 10.4 ppg and 10.2 ppg, respectively. Ogbeide leads the Bulldogs in scoring in SEC action at 12.0 ppg. Among statistical leaders for league games only, Ogbeide is ranked second in field goal percentage (.597).

Ole Miss is 14-7 overall and 5-4 in the SEC.

Guards Breein Tyree and Terence Davis provide the Rebels with one of the SEC's best 1-2 scoring duos, averaging 18.0 ppg and 16.4 ppg, respectively.

Series History Versus Ole Miss

Georgia leads the all-time series with Ole Miss 73-42, including a 41-12 edge in Athens.

In the most recent matchup on Jan. 3 last season, the Bulldogs bested the Rebels, 71-60, in their SEC home opener.

Juwan Parker had his first career double-double, with a career-high 18 points and a career most-tying 11 boards to lead Georgia.

Yante Maten posted his 13th double-digit scoring output in as many games with 15 points, while Derek Ogbeide and Jordan Harris bested their season scoring highs with 14 and 12 points, respectively.

An emphatic dunk from E'Torrion Wilridge that turned into a three-point play put the Bulldogs up for good at 29-26 with 3:29 left in the first half.

Georgia pushed that gap to 39-31 by the intermission and led by double figures for most of the rest of the way.

Defensively, Georgia held the Rebels' to their second-lowest output of the season.

Last Time Out...

Despite five players scoring in double figures, Georgia dropped an 86-80 decision to South Carolina last Saturday.

Derek Ogbeide scored 16 points to pace the Bulldogs, whose balanced attacked also received 14 points from Tyree Crump, 11 apiece from Rayshaun Hammonds and Jordan Harris and 10 from Turtle Jackson.

South Carolina raced to an early 22-8 lead just past the midway point of the first half, but the Bulldogs pulled within 45-40 by halftime.

Georgia opened the second-half scoring with a 3-pointer from Jackson, but the Gamecocks answered and eventually regained a 69-56 advantage with 9:42 remaining.

After trailing 80-70, the Bulldogs embarked on a 10-3 surge to pull within three with 66 seconds left, but South Carolina rebounded its own miss with 40 ticks on the clock and made a pair of free throws to make is 85-80.

Georgia missed a trio of 3-pointers on its next possession, and the Gamecocks closed out the scoring with another free throw.

Welcome Back Bulldogs

Nearly 100 Georgia Basketball letterwinners will return to Stegeman Coliseum on Saturday for the Bulldogs' Lettermen's Day.

Hugh Durham, the winningest coach in school history who guided the Bulldogs from 1979-95, headlines 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 will be represented – from Charlie Burch, who lettered in 1945, to the Class of 2017's Kenny Paul Geno and Brandon Young.

Though the list of attendees if fluid up until game day, at least 11 former All-SEC performers had RSVP'd that they would return to Stegeman – Willie Anderson, Charles Claxton, Rod Cole, Jerry Epling, Anthony Evans, Donald Hartry, Allan Johnson, Lavon Mercer, Jimmy Pitts, Carlos Strong and Reggie Tinch.

Ogbeide Steps Up In SEC Play

Derek Ogbeide is averaging team bests of 12.0 points and 59.7 percent shooting 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.

Among statistical leaders for SEC games only, Ogbeide is ranked second in the league in field goal percentage.

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.

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 men's hoops this season.

At Tuscaloosa on Wednesday, the Bulldogs started four left-handed players – Nicolas Claxton, Rayshaun Hammonds, Jordan Harris and Derek Ogbeide.

That represented the seventh different quintet Georgia has used as a starting lineup this season.

Bulldogs Are Blocking Shots

Georgia ranks among the nation's top shot-blocking teams.

Through midweek SEC action, the Bulldogs ranked No. 9 nationally, averaging 5.3 bpg. Individually, Nicolas Claxton led the league and ranked No. 7 in the nation at 2.7 bpg.

Dogs' Depth Paying Dividends

Georgia's bench has outscored its counterparts 17 times...usually by a significant amount. The Bulldogs' reserves have been +10 or more in 12 outings, helping Georgia to a +211 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 in the same season was LSU's Ben Simmons, who did so three times during the 2015-16 campaign.

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, 69.1 percent (112-of-162) of Crump's made shots from the floor for Georgia have been from behind the arc. In fact, 3-pointers directly account for 63.9 percent (336 of 526) of Crump's points at UGA.

Claxton Joins Top-10 Swatters

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

Claxton then passed a familiar name on the list during last Saturday's game against South Carolina...and is still chasing that same person as outlined in the next column.

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.	61	Yante Maten	2016	34
8.	60	Nicolas Claxton	2019	22
	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 joined UGA's top-10 during the Vandy victory and passed Athens native Carlos Strong last Saturday 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.	746	Derek Ogbeide	2016-19	116
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	187
Rayshaun Hammonds	78
Turtle Jackson	60
Teshaun Hightower	58
E'Torrion Wilridge	57
Jordan Harris	54
Tyree Crump	44
Derek Ogbeide	44
Tye Fagan	36
Ignas Sargiunas	15
Amanze Ngumezi	14
JoJo Toppin	9
Christian Harrison	9
Connor O'Neill	2
Mike Edwards	1

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.

Georgia Men's Basketball Wilkinson Homecoming Feature

Wednesday, February 04

Georgia Men's basketball - Dylan James and Blue Cain Postgame Press Conference vs Texas A&M

Saturday, January 31

Georgia Men's Basketball - Head Coach Mike White Post Game Press Conference vs Texas A&M

Saturday, January 31

Georgia Men's Basketball - Post Game TV Highlights vs Tennessee

Wednesday, January 28

University of Georgia Athletics

Related News

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Nicolas Claxton

Tyree Crump

Mike Edwards

Tye Fagan

Rayshaun Hammonds

Jordan Harris

Christian Harrison

Teshaun Hightower

Yante Maten

Amanze Ngumezi

Connor O'Neill

Derek Ogbeide

Juwan Parker

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