Bulldogs Wrap Up Regular Season Against S. Carolina

Saturday, March 9

Columbia, S.C.

1:00

University of Georgia

South Carolina

Bulldogs Wrap Up Regular Season Against S. Carolina

March 08, 2019 | Men's Basketball

Game Notes

Georgia Basketball Game Notes
Georgia (11-19, 2-15 SEC) vs. South Carolina (15-15, 10-7 in SEC)
Saturday, March 9, at 1:0 p.m. ET
Colonial Life Arena (18,000) in Columbia, S.C.
Radio: Georgia Bulldog Sports Network Flagship: WSB AM 750 Atlanta; XM: 384; Internet: 975. (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
11-19 in 1st season at UGA
367-250 in 19th season overall
G	0	Turtle Jackson	5.8	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	1.3
6-4; 200; R-Sr.; Atlanta, Ga.
F	33	Nicolas Claxton	13.0	8.6
6-11; 220; So.; Greenville, S.C.
F	34	Derek Ogbeide	9.5	5.5
6-9; 250; Sr.; Lagos, Nigeria

Pos	No.	Name	PPG	RPG

South Carolina Gamecocks
Coach: Frank Martin
128-105 in 7th season at USC
245-159 in 12th season overall
G	2	Hassani Gravett	11.6	3.7
6-2; 188; Sr.; Villa Rica, Ga.
G	4	Tre Campbell	6.8	1.7
6-0; 183; Fr; Washington, D.C.
F	24	Keyshawn Bryant	8.9	3.8
6-6; 190; Fr.; Winter Haven, Fla.
F	13	Felipe Hasse	6.4	3.6
6-9; 253; Soph.; Osorno, Chile
F	30	Chris Silva	14.5	7.4
6-9; 234; Sr.; Libreville, Gabon

TEAM COMPARISON

STATISTIC	GEORGIA	SOUTH CAROLINA
Points Per Game	72.2	73.2
Opp. Point Per Game	74.2	73.2
Scoring Margin	-2.0	+0.0
Field Goal Pct.	.447	.425
Opp. Field Goal Pct.	.429	.426
3-Point Pct.	.330	.366
3-Pointers Per Game	6.7	7.6
Opp. 3-Point Pct.	.333	.343
Free Throw Pct.	.716	.680
Free Throws Per Game	15.7	14.6
Rebounds Per Game	38.1	36.2
Opp. Rebound Per Game	34.7	36.7
Rebound Margin	+3.4	-0.5
Assists Per Game	13.7	13.1
Turnovers Per Game	15.8	13.5
Assist-to-Turnover Ratio	0.87	0.97
Turnover Margin	-4.8	+1.3
Steals Per Game	5.8	6.2
Blocks Per Game	4.8	4.5

The Starting 5...

UGA broke its all-time total attendance record for home games this season by drawing 148,700 fans for the Bulldogs' 17 home outings.
Derek Ogbeide is one start shy of 100 for his career. He would become just the 7th Bulldog in the 2000s to reach that plateau.
Turtle Jackson and Tyree Crump are No. 15 and No. 16, respectively, on UGA's career 3-pointers made list, separated by a single 3FGs.
Of the Bulldogs' six seniors, three are slated to graduate in May and three are scheduled to earn diplomas after the summer semester.
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 wraps up its 2018-19 regular-season slate on Saturday afternoon with a matchup against South Carolina at Colonial Life Arena.

Five weeks ago in Athens, the Gamecocks defeated the Bulldogs, 86-80. South Carolina built an early lead and withstood a rally that pulled Georgia within three points with 66 seconds remaining.

Series History With The Gamecocks

Georgia sports a 58-55 lead in the all-time series with South Carolina; however, the Gamecocks own a 34-19 edge in Columbia.

Up Next: SEC Tourney In Nashville

Georgia will be the No. 13 seed in next week's SEC Tournament at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. The Bulldogs will play in the tourney's first game on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m., facing either Missouri or Texas A&M based on results of Saturday's games.

Hammonds Has Surgery

Rayshaun Hammonds underwent surgery on Thursday to address a fracture in his right foot. The procedure took place at Piedmont Athens Regional Medical Center.

Hammonds, Georgia's second-leading scorer and rebounder, injured his foot during the Ole Miss game on Feb. 23 but didn't experience any significant discomfort until two days later. He missed Auburn game on Feb. 27 but returned to play five minutes at Florida last Saturday.

Hammonds' DNP versus Auburn snapped a streak of 31 straight starts dating back to last season's regular-season finale at Tennessee. He was averaging 12.6 ppg and 6.3 rpg, with a team-high 20 double-digit scoring performances, following the Ole Miss game. His abbreviated outing at Florida dropped those to 12.1 ppg and 6.1 rpg.

Bulldogs Set Attendance Mark...

Georgia shattered its total attendance record at Stegeman Coliseum this season, surpassing the old mark by 9,130 fans.

Georgia drew 148,700 for its 17 home dates at Stegeman Coliseum, easily outdistancing the previous record as outlined below.

UGA Basketball Total Attendance
Rk.	Season	Games	Total
1.	2018-19	17	148,700
2.	2015-16	19	139,570
3.	2003-04	16	137,902
4.	2006-07	18	132,048
5.	2010-11	16	131,998

...and Have Fourth-Best Average

The Bulldogs averaged 8,747 fans during the 2018-19 campaign, which ranks as the fourth-highest tally in school history as outlined below.

Of Georgia's 17 home dates, seven were sellouts. That included a stretch of six-straight from Jan. 15-Feb. 16.

UGA Average Attendance
Rk.	Season	Games	Average
1.	2002-03	13	9,857
2.	2001-02	13	9,064
3.	1990-91	12	8,822
4.	2018-19	16	8,747
5.	1981-82	14	8,670

Dogs Solid In Challenging Stretch

Georgia completed a recent five-game stretch against potential NCAA Tournament teams – LSU, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Auburn and Florida – with a 1-4 record...but with a scoring margin of just -3.

After losing the first four games by a combined nine points, the Bulldogs defeated Florida, 61-55, in Gainesville behind a career-high 25 points from Nicolas Claxton.

Prior to that, Georgia suffered last-minute losses in succession to LSU (four points), Mississippi State (one point), Ole Miss (one point) and Auburn (three points). The outcomes the last three of those contests weren't decided until last-second shot attempts.

The March 8 edition of ESPN's Bracketology included LSU as a No. 3 seed, Mississippi State as a No. 6, Auburn as a No. 6, Ole Miss as a No. 10 and Florida as an No. 11.

Georgia Wraps Up Regular Season Road Matchup against Gamecocks

Georgia will conclude its 2018-19 regular-season slate on Saturday with a matinée versus South Carolina at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia.

The Bulldogs are 11-19 overall and 2-15 in SEC play.

Prior to a Wednesday setback to Missouri, the Bulldogs had played significantly better lately than their record would indicate...and did so against a quintet of likely NCAA Tournament participants.

That stretch began when 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.

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, but 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 on Feb. 23. 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 Feb. 27, Georgia erased a 14-point, first-half Auburn lead. The second half featured two ties and eight lead changes before the Tigers pulled out the victory on an NBA range 3-pointer as the shot clock expired on their final possession of the night.

The Bulldogs finally broke through to defeat the Gators last Saturday at Exactech Arena. Georgia outscored Florida 10-5 over the final 2:54 to secure the victory.

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 baskets to be).

Georgia will be without Rayshaun Hammonds, the Bulldogs' second-leading scorer and rebounder. He suffered a foot injury in the Ole Miss game on Feb. 23 that required surgery on Thursday (March 7).

South Carolina is 15-15 overall but sports 10-7 mark in league action.

Chris Silva paces the Gamecocks with averages of 14.5 points and 7.4 rebounds.

Like Georgia, South Carolin's second-leading scorer – A.J. Lawson and his 13.9 ppg scoring average – has been out of action of late due to injury. Hassani Gravett provides another double-digit scoring average for the Gamecocks at 11.6 ppg.

Series History With s. Carolina

Georgia sports a 58-55 lead in the all-time series with South Carolina; however, the Gamecocks own a 34-19 edge in Columbia.

Last month in Athens, Georgia dropped an 86-80 decision to South Carolina at a sold-out Stegeman Coliseum despite five Bulldogs scoring in double figures.

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. 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.

In the most recent contest in Columbia, South Carolina defeated Georgia, 66-57, last season on Feb. 21.

The Gamecocks outscored the Bulldogs 13-3 over the final 3:00 of the first half to gain a 42-27 edge and then withstood several rally attempts following the intermission.

The Bulldogs opened the second period with a 15-6 surge to close the gap to five with 12:46 remaining, but South Carolina answered with a 5-0 run and never let UGA closer than six thereafter.

Turtle Jackson's 14 points paced Georgia on the offensive end, while Yante Maten added a double-double of 13 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

Last Time Out...

Georgia dropped a 64-39 decision to Missouri on Wednesday night in Athens on the Bulldogs' Senior Night.

After a tight first 10 minutes, the Tigers used a 15-5 run to build an 11-point lead at the intermission. Missouri maintained that margin for the second stanza.

Ogbedie Closes In On 100th Nod

Derek Ogbeide arrives in Columbia with 99 starts during his career as a Bulldog.

Ogbeide could become just the seventh Bulldog in the 2000s to secure 100 career starts, joining former teammate Charles Mann (106 starts) as well as Sundiata Gaines (123), Dave Bliss (112), Levi Stukes (111), Rashad Wright (110) and Dustin Ware (102).

Ogbeide was close to earning a spot in Georgia's starting five during preseason of his freshman year before being sidelined with a shoulder injury. After missing the first five contests, he returned to play in the final 29 games. Ogbeide started 15 outings, including each of the last 12.

Ogbeide stretched that starting streak to 41 games before coming off the bench against Auburn on Senior Night as a sophomore.

Ogbeide started 28 games last season and 23 more as a senior.

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. They have gone back and forth over the last eight games while climbing that ledger.

Jackson and Crump enter the regular-season finale at No. 15 and No. 16, respectively. Turtle now has 126 trifectas made, and Tyree has 125 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.	126	Turtle Jackson	2016-19	381
16.	125	Tyree Crump	2017-19	361
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

Harris Returns To Action Vs. S.C.

In last month's meeting between the Bulldogs and Gamecocks in Athens, Jordan Harris showed little rust in his return to action following a two-game hiatus. He had DNPs versus Texas and Arkansas due to concussion-like symptoms following a collision with Nicolas Claxton 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 had scored 10 points versus both Florida and LSU before that absence.

Harris also had six boards, four steals and a pair of assists against South Carolina. His quartet of steals represented the most by any Bulldog during the 2018-19 season.

Harris' Production Is Up

Over his last 12 games played, Jordan Harris has upped his production over his first 15 contests by significant jumps.

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 10.1 points, 4.7 boards, 2.1 assists, 1.5 steals and 0.5 blocks.

That stretch actually covers 14 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.

In addition, Harris has posted four career-high scoring tallies during that span. He equaled his career-best output with 12 points against LSU before upping that to 13 versus Mississippi State, 15 at Ole Miss and 18 against Auburn.

Claxton Joins Season Swatters; Approaching Dogs' Career Top-10

Nicolas Claxton moved into the Bulldogs' the top-10 list of single-season blocked shots efforts near the midway point of the season...and he's now closing in on joining Georgia's top-10 career leaders as well.

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.

Claxton enters the South Carolina game with 113 blocks in 63 games played for the Bulldogs. That leaves him just six swats shy of joining Georgia's top-10 career leaders.

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.	71	Nicolas Claxton	2019	30
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.

He joined the Bulldogs' top-10 all-time boarders during the Vandy victory and 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.	779	Derek Ogbeide	2016-19	126
9.	763	Chris Daniels	2000-04	119
10.	739	Carlos Strong	1993-96	118

Harrison Joins Starting Lineup

Redshirt senior walk-on Christian Harrison has started the last six games.

Harrison got the nod for the first time in his collegiate career against LSU on Feb. 16. During the starting stretch, he has produced career highs for points, rebounds, assists, blocks and minutes played.

An Atlanta native and graduate of Woodward Academy, 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 started 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 18 of the last 21 contests.

Against LSU, Harrison's linescore featured two points, two boards, two steals, an assist and a block... and he 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 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 9.8 points and shooting a team-best 56.1 percent from the field in SEC games.

That's a significant jump from his efforts of 9.2 ppg and 49.0 percent during non-conference play. An 80 Percent Lefty Lineup

Later in these notes, you can 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 30 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 +170 margin on bench points.

Claxton Doing It All For Dogs

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

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, 68.3 percent (125-of-183) of Crump's made shots from the floor have been from behind the arc.

In fact, 3-pointers directly account for 63.9 percent (375 of 587) of Crump's career points with the Bulldogs.

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	263
Rayshaun Hammonds	110
Jordan Harris	110
Turtle Jackson	88
E'Torrion Wilridge	77
Derek Ogbeide	74
Teshaun Hightower	68
Tyree Crump	63
Tye Fagan	45
Christian Harrison	27
Amanze Ngumezi	16
Ignas Sargiunas	15
JoJo Toppin	10
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.