Georgia Squares Off Against Florida on Saturday

Saturday, March 2

Gainesville, Fla.

8:30

University of Georgia

Florida

March 01, 2019 | Men's Basketball

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Georgia Basketball Game Notes
Georgia (10-18, 1-14 SEC) vs. Florida (17-11, 9-6 in SEC)
Saturday, March 2 at 8:30 p.m. ET
Exactech Arena (10,151) in Gainesville, Fla.
Radio: Georgia Bulldog Sports Network Flagship: WSB AM 750 Atlanta; XM: 383; Internet: 974. (Scott Howard, play-by-play; Chuck Dowdle, analyst; Tony Schiavone, producer)
TV: SEC Network (Dave Neal, play-by-play; Daymeon Fishback, analyst)
Video: SECN+

Complete Game Notes (PDF)

Pos	No.	Name	PPG	RPG

Georgia Bulldogs
Coach: Tom Crean
10-18 in 1st season at UGA
366-249 in 19th season overall
G	0	Turtle Jackson	5.9	1.7
6-4; 185; Sr.; Athens, Ga.
G	2	Jordan Harris	7.1	3.6
6-4; 190; Jr.; Iron City, Ga.
G	11	Christian Harrison	1.1	1.1
6-4; 200; R-Sr.; Atlanta, Ga.
F	33	Nicolas Claxton	12.8	8.8
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

Florida Gators
Coach: Mike White
86-45 in 4th season at UF
187-86 in 8th season overall
G	2	Andrew Nembhard	8.1	2.7
6-5; 191; Fr.; Aurora, Ontario
G	5	Kevaughn Allen	12.8	2.8
6-2; 193; Sr.; Little Rock, Ark.
G	10	Noah Locke	10.5	2.5
6-3; 205; Fr.; Baltimore, Md.
F	11	Keyontae Johnson	7.5	6.0
6-5; 225; Fr.; Norfolk, Va.
F	13	Kevarrius Hayes	7.4	5.8
6-9; 227; Live Oak, Fla.

TEAM COMPARISON

STATISTIC	GEORGIA	FLORIDA
Points Per Game	73.8	68.8
Opp. Point Per Game	75.3	63.2
Scoring Margin	-1.5	+5.6
Field Goal Pct.	.451	.423
Opp. Field Goal Pct.	.429	.418
3-Point Pct.	.335	.340
3-Pointers Per Game	7.0	8.5
Opp. 3-Point Pct.	.338	.315
Free Throw Pct.	.718	.725
Free Throws Per Game	16.1	12.0
Rebounds Per Game	39.1	33.8
Opp. Rebound Per Game	34.4	34.6
Rebound Margin	+4.7	-0.9
Assists Per Game	14.1	12.4
Turnovers Per Game	16.0	11.8
Assist-to-Turnover Ratio	0.88	1.05
Turnover Margin	-4.9	+3.6
Steals Per Game	5.7	7.4
Blocks Per Game	4.9	3.9

The Starting 5...

Georgia broke its all-time total attendance record at Wednesday's game with Auburn. The new mark is 141,520 with one game to play.
Jordan Harris has put up a career-high point total in each of the last four games – 12 points vs. LSU, 13 vs. Mississippi St., 15 at Ole Miss & 18 vs. Auburn.
Turtle Jackson and Tyree Crump are currently No. 15 and No. 16 among UGA's career 3-point leaders, separated by just one trifecta.
Nicolas Claxton leads UGA in points, rebounds, blocks and steals...and is just two behind Turtle Jackson for the team lead in assists.
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 ventures to Gainesville to face Florida on Saturday evening, five weeks after the Gators secured a 72-62 win in Athens.

The Bulldogs are looking to further the improvement they've shown of late.

Georgia has lost its last four outings – all to projected NCAA Tournament teams – by a combined nine points. The outcome of the last three games against Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Auburn wasn't decided until last-second shot attempts. More info on each outing can be found later in these Game Notes.

In the March 1 edition of ESPN's Bracketology, the Bulldogs' last four foes are seeded at No. 4 (LSU), No. 6 (Mississippi State), No. 8 (Auburn) and No. 9 (Ole Miss).

Hammonds Out: Day-to-Day Rayshaun Hammonds, Georgia's second-leading scorer and rebounder, missed Wednesday's game with Auburn. His status is currently "day-to-day."

Hammonds injured his right foot during the Ole Miss game last Saturday but didn't experience any significant discomfort until Monday. He sat out the Auburn game, snapping his streak of 31 straight starts dating back to last season's regular-season finale at Tennessee.

Hammonds is averaging 12.6 ppg and 6.3 rpg, with a team-high 20 double-digit scoring performances this season. He is shooting 80.6 percent from the line, which ranks No. 7 among SEC stat leaders.

Series History With The Gators Florida sports a 114-104 lead in the all-time series between the Gators and the Bulldogs, including a 65-38 edge in Gainesville.

Georgia won both its home and road matchups with Florida last season, supplying the Bulldogs first win in Gainesville since 2002 and their first season sweep of the Gators since the 1996-97 campaign.

Up Next: Senior Night vs. Mizzou Georgia will host Missouri on Wednesday night in the Bulldogs' Senior Night.

Prior to tipoff, Georgia's six seniors – Christian Harrison, Turtle Jackson, Derek Ogbeide, Connor O'Neill and E'Torrion Wilridge – will be honored in ceremonies slated to begin at 6:13 (with 13:00 on the countdown clock).

Bulldogs Set Attendance Mark Georgia broke its all-time home total attendance record with Wednesday night's game against Auburn.

The Bulldogs drew a crowd of 7,837 on Wednesday, upping their total fan count this season to 141,520. That topped the previous mark of 139,570 as outlined below.

UGA Basketball Total Attendance
Rk.	Season	Games	Total
1.	2018-19	16	141,520
2.	2015-16	19	139,570
3.	2003-04	16	137,902
4.	2006-07	18	132,048
5.	2010-11	16	131,998

The Dogs Are Drawing

Georgia has been drawing fans at a record pace throughout the 2018-19 campaign, including seven sellouts.

The Bulldogs are averaging 8,845 fans over 16 home games this season, their highest average since a school-record mark of 9,857 during the 2002-03 campaign. If the current average holds, it 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. Before this season, the Bulldogs never had more than one sellout prior to the season opener.
In December, all tickets for the LSU, South Carolina and Ole Miss games were sold. The six sellouts before the calendar rolled were UGA's most ever.
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 seven sellouts. That represents the 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 "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 8,845 fans in the 10,523-seat venue equates to it being 84.1 percent full over 16 home contests, which ranks No. 5 in the SEC.

The Bulldogs have drawn an average of 9,390 fans for their SEC games, meaning Stegeman has been 89.2 percent full for those eight outings. That mark also ranks No. 5 in the SEC.

Dogs To Face Gators In Gainesville

Georgia will pay a visit to the Florida Gators in Gainesville on Saturday evening, the Bulldogs' fifth straight outing against a projected NCAA Tournament team.

Georgia is now 10-18 overall and 1-14 in the league. The Bulldogs are looking to continue to build on the positive momentum from their last four contests. Georgia dropped that quartet of decisions – all against teams currently included in ESPN's bracketology – by a combined nine points.

Georgia pushed No. 19/21 LSU to the brink on Feb. 16 before falling, 83-79. The Bulldogs led by as many as five points midway through the second half before the Tigers rallied to improve to 11-1 in the SEC.

On Feb. 20, Georgia rallied from a 17-point, second-half deficit to tie Mississippi State before a heart-breaking ending. Tyree Crump's 3-pointer with 9.3 seconds remaining knotted the score at 67-67 before Quinndary Weatherspoon's free throw with .5 of a second left provided State with the victory.

The Bulldogs dropped a second-straight one-point decision at Ole Miss last Saturday. Georgia rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit to force four ties and six lead changes in the second stanza. The outcome wasn't decided until the Bulldogs' potential game-winner was off the mark at the buzzer.

On Wednesday night, Georgia erased a 14-point, first-half Auburn lead. The second half featured two ties and eight lead changes. The Tigers finally pulled out the victory on Chuma Okeke's 3-pointer from NBA range as the shot clock expired on Auburn's final possession of the night.

Multi-dimensional Nicolas Claxton has been a "do-it-all" contributor for the Bulldogs. He currently leads Georgia in scoring, rebounding, blocks and steals. Claxton also is second on the team in assists (trailing Turtle Jackson by two).

Rayshaun Hammonds, the Bulldogs' second-leading scorer and rebounder, missed the Auburn game due to a right foot injury sustained in the Ole Miss game on Feb. 23. His status is "day-to-day."

Derek Ogbeide and Tyree Crump are just shy of double-digit scoring averages with both players contributing 9.9 ppg.

Florida is 17-11 overall and 9-6 in the SEC. The Gators are in the midst of a five-game winning streak.

KeVaughn Allen and Noah Locke pace Florida offensively. Allen is averaging 12.8 ppg, while Locke chips in 10.5. Four more Gators are averaging between 7.4-8.1 ppg.

Series History With The Gators

The Bulldogs and the Gators will meet for the 219th time on Saturday, with Florida owning a 114-104 advantage in the overall series and a 65-38 edge in Gainesville.

Florida is Georgia's most frequent foe on the hardwood. Trailing the Gators on the list of most matchups for Georgia is Georgia Tech with 195 and Auburn with 189.

In the Bulldogs' last trip to Gainesville, Yante Maten ripped out the Gators' hearts last Feb. 14 while leading the Bulldogs to a 72-69 overtime victory in Gainesville.

A pair of Maten 3-pointers in the final 16 seconds helped Georgia rally from a six-point deficit and force the extra period.

Florida led by seven at the halftime intermission and pushed that margin to 50-39 on a KeVaughn Allen jumper with 10:03 remaining.

Georgia chipped away at the margin, but still trailed by six following a pair of Egor Koulechov free throws with 25 seconds left.

Maten canned his first 3-pointer from the right wing with 15.8 seconds on the clock. Following a timeout, Florida was whistled for traveling on an inbounds pass to give the ball back to the Bulldogs. Maten then drained a 25-foot jumper from straightaway to knot the score and force OT.

Georgia jumped out to a 66-60 lead in the extra session and held on to secure the Bulldogs' first victory in Gainesville since 2002.

Georgia and Florida met five weeks ago in Athens, with the Gators withstanding a second-half rally to earn a 72-62 win before a sold-out Stegeman Coliseum.

The Gators built a 33-23 halftime lead before Georgia opened the second half with an 8-0 surge. The Bulldogs eventually tied the game at 40-40 on a Teshaun Hightower 3-pointer at the 15:40 mark.

That momentum continued as Georgia built a 48-43 advantage with just under 10 minutes remaining. The Gators regained control by scoring the next dozen points and did not allow the Bulldogs closer than five points the rest of the way.

Last Time Out...

Jordan Harris notched his fourth-consecutive career-high scoring output, but Georgia still suffered a 78-75 loss to Auburn on Wednesday night in Athens.

Auburn led by as many at 14 points late in the first half before Georgia rallied.

The Bulldogs trimmed that margin to 50-40 at the intermission and used a 13-0 run in the second half to go up 58-57 with 11:07 left.

Following seven more lead changes and a pair of ties, the Tigers went back on top on a long 3-pointer as the shot clock expired with 26 ticks remaining. Tyree Crump's attempt to tie the game as time expired missed the mark.

Harris' Production Is Up

Over his last 10 games, Jordan Harris has more than doubled his production over his first 15 contests. In addition, he has posted career-high point tallies in the last four games.

Entering the Florida contest 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 is contributing 11.5 points, 5.2 boards, 2.3 assists, 1.7 steals and 0.6 blocks.

That stretch actually covers 13 of Georgia's games. Harris had a two-game hiatus due to concussion-like symptoms following a collision with Nicolas Claxton at LSU on Jan. 23.

Harris equaled his career-best output with 12 points against LSU before upping that to 13 versus Mississippi State. He then scored 15 points at Ole Miss and bettered that effort to 18 against Auburn.

Harrison Joins Starting Lineup

Redshirt senior walk-on Christian Harrison has started the Bulldogs' last four games.

Harrison secured the first start of his collegiate career against LSU and also has gotten the nod against Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Auburn.

An Atlanta native, Harrison was a scholarship player for two seasons at Troy before transferring to Georgia as a walk-on.

After sitting out 2016-17, Harrison saw action in two games last season. He began this year on the scout team before beginning to earn meaningful minutes. Harrison was a key defensive contributor at Georgia Tech on Dec. 22 and is now a rotation regular, with action in 16 of the last 19 contests.

Against LSU, Harrison logged a career-high 19 minutes, six more than his previous high as a freshman, and spent a good portion of the second half guarding Tremont Waters.

"I just want to tip my hat off to Christian," Nicolas Claxton said after the LSU game, unprompted. "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 10.4 points and shooting a team-best 54.9 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.

Ogbeide would rank second in the SEC in field goal percentage among stat leaders for league game only; however, he is slightly shy of the minimum (5.0 FGs per game) 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, they entered the Ole Miss and Texas A&M games tied at No. 18.

Crump inched ahead of Jackson at A&M, but last Wednesday vs. Mississippi State, Turtle moved past Crump by one trifecta. He remains one ahead entering the Florida game. Jackson is now No. 15 and Crump is No. 16 among UGA's career leaders. 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.	125	Turtle Jackson	2016-19	374
16.	124	Tyree Crump	2017-19	353
17.	122	Rashad Wright	2001-04	358
18.	121	Sundiata Gaines	2005-08	400
19.	116	Michael Chadwick	1996-99	340
20.	106	Nemanja Djurisic	2012-15	292

An 80 Percent Lefty Lineup

On the previous page, you had 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 nine different starting quintets in the first 28 games of the season, with Claxton being the only Bulldog to begin every outing.

Dogs' Depth Paying Dividends

Georgia's bench has outscored its counterparts 19 times...consistently doing so by a significant amount.

The Bulldogs' reserves have been +10 or more in 13 outings, helping Georgia to a +197 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 twice this season.

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.

Grant Williams is the only other player to lead his team in all five stats in the same contest this season. He did so in Tennessee's win at Ole Miss on Feb. 27.

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, 69.3 percent (124-of-179) of Crump's made shots from the floor have been from behind the arc. In fact, 3-pointers directly account for 64.4 percent (372 of 578) 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 as outlined below 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.	67	Nicolas Claxton	2019	28
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 joined the Bulldogs' top-10 boarders all-time during the Vanderbilt victory, and he has since ascended to No. 8. 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.	772	Derek Ogbeide	2016-19	124
9.	763	Chris Daniels	2000-04	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	242
Rayshaun Hammonds	105
Jordan Harris	98
Turtle Jackson	75
E'Torrion Wilridge	71
Teshaun Hightower	68
Derek Ogbeide	67
Tyree Crump	55
Tye Fagan	42
Christian Harrison	23
Amanze Ngumezi	16
Ignas Sargiunas	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.

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 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.

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.