Bulldogs and Tigers Game Moved To Noon

Saturday, January 11

Auburn, Ala.

12:00 PM

University of Georgia

Auburn

January 10, 2020 | Men's Basketball

Game Notes

Georgia Basketball Game Notes
Georgia (10-4, 0-1 SEC) vs. No. 5/5 Auburn (14-0, 2-0 SEC)
Saturday, January 11 at 12:00 p.m. ET *Updated*
Auburn Arena (9,121) in Auburn, Ala.
Radio: Georgia Bulldog Sports Network Flagship: WSB AM 750 Atlanta. (Scott Howard, play-by-play; Chuck Dowdle, analyst; Tony Schiavone, producer) | Affiliates
TV: ESPN News (Karl Ravech, play-by-play; Jimmy Dykes, analyst)
Video Stream: SECN+
Satellite: XM: 380; Internet: 970.
Series Record: AU leads, 95-94
Last Meeting: AU, 78-75, on 2/27/19

No.	Name	PPG	RPG

Georgia Bulldogs
Coach: Tom Crean
21-25 in 2nd season at UGA
377-256 in 20th season overall
0	Donnell Gresham Jr.	6.7	5.2
6-3; 195; R-Sr.-Grad.; St. Paul, Minn.
4	Tyree Crump	8.4	2.6
6-1; 185; Sr.; Bainbridge, Ga.
5	Anthony Edwards	18.7	4.9
6-5; 225; Fr.; Atlanta, Ga.
10	Toumani Camara	5.9	4.5
6-8; 220; Fr.; Brussels, Belgium
20	Rayshaun Hammonds	13.7	8.7
6-9; 235; Jr.; Norcross, Ga.

No.	Name	PPG	RPG

Auburn Tigers
Coach: Bruce Pearl
114-72 in 6th season at AU
576-217 in 25th season overall
3	Danjel Purifoy	9.8	5.1
6-7; 230; Sr.; Centreville, Ala.
5	J'Von McCormick	11.8	4.1
6-0; 185; Sr.; New Orleans, La.
10	Samir Doughty	15.6	3.9
6-4; 195; Sr.; Philadelphia, Pa.
23	Isaac Okoro	13.6	4.9
6-6; 225; Fr.; Powder Springs, Ga.
50	Austin Wiley	10.9	9.4
6-11; 260; Sr.; Hoover, Ala.

TEAM COMPARISON

2019-20 STATISTICS	GEORGIA	AUBURN
Points Per Game	80.0	82.1
Opp. Point Per Game	73.4	66.7
Scoring Margin	+6.6	+15.4
Field Goal Pct.	.466	.461
Opp. Field Goal Pct.	.429	.403
3-Point Pct.	.305	.318
3-Pointers Per Game	7.1	8.2
Opp. 3-Point Pct.	.330	.305
Free Throw Pct.	.665	.665
Free Throws Per Game	13.2	17.6
Rebounds Per Game	41.6	42.0
Opp. Rebound Per Game	37.1	35.0
Rebound Margin	+4.4	+7.0
Assists Per Game	15.6	14.3
Turnovers Per Game	15.5	12.9
Assist-to-Turnover Ratio	1.01	1.10
Turnover Margin	-0.4	+1.6
Steals Per Game	8.2	6.9
Blocks Per Game	3.9	6.2

The Starting 5...

Nationally, Anthony Edwards is No. 55 in scoring at 18.7 ppg (No. 2 among freshmen) and Sahvir Wheeler is No. 54 in assists at 5.1 apg (No. 4 among freshmen).
UGA is 4-0 in games decided by four points or less...after going 0-6 in such games last season. All six of the '18-19 setbacks were to NCAA Tourney teams.
UGA's win at No. 9 Memphis was just the second victory in a road non-conference game in program history...and the first since Dec. 28, 1977 at Louisville.
Six of nine SEC games at Stegeman Coliseum are now sellouts – Kentucky, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Alabama, Arkansas and Florida.
Georgia's celebrated freshman class – ranked among the top-10 groups nationally by every recruiting service – features five of the nation's top-100 prospects.

The Opening Tip

The Georgia Bulldogs will make the roughly three-hour trek down I-85 from Athens through Atlanta to Auburn for a date with the No. 5-ranked Auburn Tigers on Saturday.

The contest is Georgia's third straight against a ranked foe, following last Saturday's victory at No. 9 Memphis and Tuesday's setback to No. 14 Kentucky in Athens.

Saturday's matchup also is part of the Bulldogs' gruesome stretch to open SEC play against six straight 2019 NCAA Tournament teams.

Georgia arrives on The Plains with a 10-4 overall record and an 0-1 SEC mark. On Tuesday, the Bulldogs led Kentucky by nine points late in the first half and for nearly 23 minutes of the contest before Georgia suffered its first home setback of the season.

Anthony Edwards, a preseason All-American and leading National Freshman of the Year candidate, paces Georgia and is ranked No. 3 in the SEC in scoring at 18.7 ppg. Rayshaun Hammonds is the league's third-leading rebounder (9.1 rpg) and also ranks No. 17 in scoring (13.7 ppg).

Series History

You would probably be hard pressed to find a rivalry in all of college athletics in any sport more closely contested than the basketball series between Georgia and Auburn.

The Tigers own a 95-94 edge in all-time meetings between UGA and AU on the hardwood.

The proximity of records doesn't stop there, however. While Auburn leads in matchups on The Plains, 65-25, the Bulldogs are an almost identical 65-27 in Athens. UGA's 8-7 edge in neutral site contests rounds out the 189 meetings.

In the most recent matchup last Feb. 27 at Stegeman Coliseum, Chuma Okeke's long 3-pointer with 26 seconds left was the deciding factor in Auburn's 78-75 win over the Bulldogs.

The Tigers 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 Okeke's 3-pointer from the right wing as the shot clock expired. Tyree Crump's attempt to tie the game as time expired missed the mark.

Jordan Harris led a quartet of Bulldogs in double figures with 18 points.

In the last matchup at Auburn Arena last Jan. 12, Turtle Jackson scored a season-high 16 points to lead four Bulldogs scoring in double figures; however, Georgia dropped a 93-78 decision at No. 11/10 Auburn.

Nicolas Claxton and Tyree Crump added 15 and 14, respectively, and Rayshaun Hammonds hauled in a game-high 10 rebounds for Georgia.

The Bulldogs led 28-24 before Auburn used an 11-2 run to gain control.

Keeping An Eye On . . . Entering Today's Game Among UGA's career Leaders

Tyree Crump is...
• 17 3FGs from No. 10 Jody Patton
• 24 3FGs from No. 9 Bernard Davis
• 33 3FGAs from No. 8 G.G. Smith

Scouting The Tigers

Auburn is 14-0 overall – one of two remaining undefeated D-I teams in the nation – and 2-0 in the SEC – one of four league teams still unbeaten just a week into conference action.

Samir Doughty leads a balanced offensive attack for the Tigers at 15.6 ppg. Isaac Okoro, J'Von McCormick and Austin Wiley also offer double-digit contributions on the scoring front, while Danjel Purifoy is just three points shy of being a fifth.

Last Time Out...

Anthony Edwards game-high 23 points was not enough to overcome No. 14 Kentucky in a 78-69 setback on Tuesday at a sold-out Stegeman Coliseum.

The Bulldogs led for 22:49 of the game, nearly 10 minutes more than the Wildcats. Georgia used an 8-0 surge to gain its largest lead at 39-31 late in the half before Ashton Hagans' 3-pointer at the buzzer trimmed that margin to six at the intermission.

A 13-2 run by Kentucky turned a 55-50 lead into a 63-57 deficit for Georgia and put the Wildcats on top for good.

Significance of the Memphis Win

While most of the rest of the SEC opened league play last Saturday, the Bulldogs were earning a historic road win at No. 9 Memphis.

That was: 1) just the second road victory over a ranked non-conference foe in 115 seasons of Georgia Basketball; and 2) just the second road win over a ranked foe by an SEC team this season...South Carolina's upset of No. 9 Virginia on Dec. 22 being the other.

The victory also represented UGA's first:

• win over a top-10 foe since defeating No. 10 Kentucky, 77-70, on Jan. 8, 2011.

• road win over a top-10 opponent since beating No. 5 Kentucky, 65-57, at Rupp Arena on Jan. 17, 2004.

• road win over a ranked, non-conference foe since topping No. 7 Louisville, 73-70 in overtime, on Dec. 29, 1977.

Bulldogs Reversing Fortunes

With its 65-62 win at No. 9 Memphis, Georgia improved to 4-0 in games decided by four points or less this season.

That's a dramatic difference from a year ago when the Bulldogs were 0-6 in outings decided by four points or less. All six of those contests were to NCAA Tournament teams.

Georgia's non-conference effort in 2018-19 featured four- and two-point setbacks to Temple and Arizona State, respectively.

In SEC play, the Bulldogs dropped four consecutive extremely excruciating losses to LSU (83-79), Mississippi State (68-67), Ole Miss (72-71) and Auburn (78-75) between Feb 16-27. Quick math will reveal those four league losses were by a combined nine points.

Edwards, Wheeler Included Among NCAA's Freshman Leaders

Through games of Jan. 8, Georgia's Anthony Edwards and Sahvir Wheeler were ranked among the nation's top freshmen in scoring and assists, respectively, as outlined below.

Edwards owned the second-high scoring average among D-I freshmen and was one of five ranked among the nation's top-100 scoring leaders. Wheeler was fourth-best of all first-year players in average assists.

Top Freshman Scoring Averages
Rk.	Player, school	GP	Avg.
36.	Isaiah Stewart, Washington	15	19.5
55.	Anthony Edwards, Georgia	14	18.7
70.	Vernon Carey, Duke	15	18.1
78.	Onyeka Okongwu, USC	14	18.8
99.	Landers Nolley, Va. Tech	15	17.1
Top Freshman Assist Averages
Rk.	Player, school	GP	Avg.
17.	Nico Mannion, Arizona	14	6.3
25.	Ellis Magnuson, E. Wash.	14	5.9
36.	Yuri Collins, Saint Louis	16	5.6
54.	Sahvir Wheeler, Georgia	14	5.1
56.	Sean East, UMass	15	5.1

Camara Perfect Against Eagles

Toumani Camara was 8-of-8 from the field against Georgia Southern on Dec. 23, making him the first Bulldog to be perfect on that many shots since Jonas Hayes was 8-of-8 versus Florida A&M on Dec. 5, 2003.

Camara also became just the fourth player from a Power 5 conference this season to shoot 100 percent while attempting eight or more shots as outlined in the next column.

Power-5 Perfection On FGs
FGs	Player, School	Opp. (Date)
9-9	Olivier Sarr, Wake Forest	UNC Asheville (11/13)
8-8	Zeke Nnaji, Arizona	San Jose St. (11/14)
8-8	Kofi Cockburn, Illinois	Miami (12/2)
8-8	Toumani Camara, Georgia	Ga. Southern (12/23)

The Collegiate Canine Strikes

Donnell Gresham Jr. – the first graduate transfer in Georgia Basketball history – posted double-digit scoring tallies against Austin Peay and No. 9 Memphis. He has now reached double figures 33 times as a collegiate canine – 29 as a Northeastern Husky and four as a Georgia Bulldog.

Gresham's scoring against the Governors and Tigers was aided by hitting three 3-point baskets in each outing. That was a stark change to Georgia's first 11 games, when the St. Paul, Minn., native made a total of three shots from behind the arc.

Gresham's improved effort from 3-point range against the Governors and the Tigers falls closer in line with his performance in his four seasons at Northeastern. He made 143 3-pointers in 90 outings with the Huskies, an average of 1.6 per game.

Bulldogs Scoring at Rapid Pace

Georgia is currently averaging 80.0 points per game, which was tied for No. 24 nationally through games of Wednesday, Jan. 8.

Some additional nuggets contained within the Bulldogs' offensive production over the first 13 outings of the season include:

• UGA had eight 90-point performances in Tom Crean's first 40 games in Athens. The Bulldogs reached the 90-point plateau just eight times in 249 games prior to Crean's arrival.

• UGA has three of SEC's top-10 scoring outputs in non-conference action – the No. 5 mark of 100 points vs. Delaware St. and the co-No. 10 standard of 95 points vs. both The Citadel and N.C. Central.

• UGA scored 91, 95 and 100 points in its first three games – the first time the Bulldogs scored 90 or more three times in a row since 2006. That season, the Bulldogs defeated Gardner-Webb, 96-67, on Dec. 2; No. 16 Gonzaga, 96-83, on Dec. 16; and Jacksonville, 93-77, on Dec. 19.

Edwards, Wheeler Named SEC FOTW

Anthony Edwards and Sahvir Wheeler were named SEC Freshman of the Week on Dec. 1 and Dec. 23, respectively.

Edwards was selected by the league – and also was tabbed National Freshman of the Week by CBSsports.com – following the Maui Jim Maui Invitational. Most notably, he poured in 37 points against No. 3 Michigan State on Nov. 26, including a 33-point explosion in the second half.

Edwards' effort equaled the No. 11 single-game scoring tally in Georgia's history and represented the most points by a Bulldog freshman since Jacky Dorsey scored 41 versus LSU on Jan. 20, 1975.

Wheeler was honored after he scored layups in the final five seconds of both overtime periods of UGA's 87-85 double-OT win over SMU. He scored with four seconds remaining in the first overtime period to tie the score and extend the contest. In the second extra session, Wheeler's layup with 1.9 seconds left supplied Georgia with the victory.

Wheeler flirted with a double-double against the Mustangs, finishing the contest with nine points and eight assists. He equaled his career-high marks for assists (eight) and steals (two) in a career-most 35 minutes of PT.

Crump Joins, Approaches UGA Top 10s For 3-Point Takes, Makes

Tyree Crump ascended into Georgia's all-time top-10 career leaders in 3-point field goal attempts at Arizona State on Dec. 14 and is closing in on the Bulldogs' top 10 for successful shots from behind the arc as outlined below.

Crump has 155 3-pointers, 17 away from the current No. 10 tally of Jody Patton.

UGA Career 3FGA Leaders
Rk.	No.	Player	Seasons	3FGAs
1.	683	Levi Stukes	2004-07	261
5.	569	Kenny Gaines	2013-16	213
8.	500	G.G. Smith	1996-99	193
9.	467	Tyree Crump	2016-19	155
UGA Career 3FG Leaders
Rk.	No.	Player	Seasons	3FGs
1.	261	Levi Stukes	2003-07	683
4.	213	Ezra Williams	2000-03	582
	213	Kenny Gaines	2012-16	569
7.	194	Dustin Ware	2008-12	536
8.	193	G.G. Smith	1995-99	500
9.	184	Bernard Davis	1990-94	453
10.	172	Jody Patton	1987-91	387
11.	155	Tyree Crump	2016-19	467

Wheeler Logging PT Off Bench

Freshman Sahvir Wheeler is averaging 25.9 minutes per game, the second-highest average of any Bulldog despite coming off the bench in every game to date.

Wheeler has logged 20-plus minutes in every game but a blowout win over Delaware State, when he played 18. His season high is 35 MP in double-OT against SMU...and 32 versus Georgia Southern for a regulation contest.

Camara's Contributions Climbing

Freshman Toumani Camara has made a dramatic up-tick in his PT and stats over the last seven outings as outlined below.

Those contests also career highs efforts of 16 points vs. Georgia Southern, nine boards vs. Austin Peay and 34 minutes vs. SMU.

Camara's Increased Efforts
Stat	First 6	Last 8
Points per game	4.0	7.3
Rebounds per game	2.5	6.0
Minutes per game	13.2	26.9

Feel Free To Call Him "Ty-3"

Tyree Crump continued a familiar theme to his scoring this season, with 28 of his 40 made field goals (70.0 percent) coming from behind the 3-point arc.

More than two-thirds of Crump's made shots from the floor at UGA have come on 3-pointers. Crump has 155 3s as a Bulldog, 68.9 percent of his 225 made field goals.

Fagan Posts Career Highs

Tye Fagan has notched career-high scoring outputs twice this season.

Fagan recorded his first double-digit scoring output as a Bulldog with 11 points against Dayton in the opening round of the Maui Jim Maui Invitational. He did so in an efficient fashion, connecting on 5-of-5 shots from the field, including his only 3-point attempt.

The sophomore from Logtown paced Georgia with a career-most 15 minutes at Arizona State. Fagan did most of his damage in the second half. After posting four points in nine first-half minutes, he put up 11 points in 10 minutes of action following the intermission.

Before that, Fagan's top offensive performances as a Bulldog were early last season. He notched eight points in three of the first four games of his freshman year – against Temple, Sam Houston State and Illinois State.

Hammonds Hot Early, Often Against Hornets & Jackets

Rayshaun Hammonds poured in 26 points in back-to-back games against Delaware State on Nov. 15 and Georgia Tech on Nov. 20.

Hammonds was hot from the get-go in both of those outings. He scored 17 first-half points versus the Hornets and followed that with 19 before intermission against the Jackets. All told, Hammonds was a combined 15-of-20 (75.0 percent) from the field in the first halves of those games.

Dogs' Freshmen Among UGA's Best

Georgia's freshman class features five of the top-100 prospects from 2019 and was consistently ranked among the nation's top recruiting classes – No. 5 by ESPN.com, No. 6 by rivals.com and No. 10 by 247Sports.com.

Headlining the quintet is Anthony Edwards. The Atlanta native, who tabbed the nation's best prospect by some, announced his commitment on national television on Feb. 11. He is the Bulldogs' highest rated recruit ever.

Dominique Wilkins was the most hyped recruit in Georgia history in 1979. Individual rankings for that class are believed to be unavailable, but it also featured future stars such as Ralph Sampson, Isiah Thomas, James Worthy, Clark Kellogg and Sam Bowie.

In the internet age, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is the highest ranked player in the 247Sports.com composite to enroll at UGA at No. 12 in 2011. Louis Williams signed with the Bulldogs as the No. 6 prospect in the 2005 composite but opted to enter the NBA Draft.

The Bulldogs' highest recruiting class ever was No. 2 in 1992 when UGA inked four top-100 prospects – Shandon Anderson, Terrell Bell, Pertha Robinson and McDonald's All-American Carlos Strong – in the fall and added National Junior College Player of the Year Cleveland Jackson in the spring.

Additional top classes at Georgia include those in 1979 and 1980 which featured four McDonald's All-Americans between them – Wilkins and Terry Fair in 1979 and Vern Fleming and James Banks a year later.

UGA's Freshman Class Also Among The Nation's Largest

The Bulldogs' class of nine freshmen ranks as the third-largest in Division-I hoops for the 2019-20 season.

Navy, TCU and Utah sport a nation-leading 11 freshmen on their rosters. Air Force has 10 freshmen. In addition to Georgia, Louisville also has nine freshmen.

On this list, "freshman" is defined as a player who is a freshman eligibility wise who is competing at that school for the first time this season...so there are some redshirts.

Fans Flocking To Stegeman

The Stegeman Coliseum turnstiles have been quite busy since Tom Crean's arrival.

Last season, the Bulldogs drew 148,700 fans to break their total attendance record by more than 9,000 fans, and Georgia notched its fourth-best average attendance mark ever.

This season, a combined 83,976 members of the Bulldog Nation have attended Georgia's first nine home dates, the second-largest tally for that many initial outings in program history.

The Bulldogs' best first nine-game home attendance mark to begin a season was in 2002-03 when Georgia welcomed a total of 86,054 spectators to Stegeman. The No. 3 mark is 80,326 in 1981-82, Dominique Wilkins' third and final season at UGA.

Season and single-game tickets have moved at a record pace this season.

For the first time ever, Georgia sold out the season ticket allotment for Stegeman, Crean announced during Stegmania II on Oct. 11.

Six of Georgia's nine SEC home dates are now sold out.

Outings against Texas A&M and Alabama officially became sellouts on Oct. 24, the first day single-game tickets went on sale. Since then, the Kentucky, Ole Miss, Arkansas and Florida games also have sold out. The only matchups on the 2020 calendar with tickets remaining are mid-week contests against Tennessee, South Carolina and Auburn.

A Historic String Of Success

The Bulldogs' five-game winning streak over Georgia Tech marks only the fifth time in 196 meetings that Georgia has captured five consecutive victories over the Yellow Jackets on the hardwood.

In the first 113 seasons of Georgia Basketball history, only four four-year letterwinners for the Bulldogs finished their careers with a perfect record against Georgia Tech.

That fraternity more than doubled when Mike Edwards, Turtle Jackson, Derek Ogbeide, Connor O'Neill and E'Torrion Wilridge joined the fold last year and added two more in 2019 in Tyree Crump and Jordan Harris.

It should be noted that UGA and GT played two or more times every season from 1924-82. Since then, they have met once per year, making an undefeated run a little less taxing.

Dogs Dish Against Delaware State

Georgia recorded 30 assists on the Bulldogs' 40 made baskets in their 100-66 win over Delaware State on Nov. 15. That was UGA's most assists since the Bulldogs had 32 against S.C. State on Nov. 21, 2006.

Edwards, Wheeler Star In Debut

Anthony Edwards and Sahvir Wheeler poured in 24 and 19 points, respectively, in the season opener against Western Carolina on Nov. 5. Those tallies represent the second- and third-most points ever by a freshman in their first game in a Bulldog uniform as outlined below.

Edwards came within a bucket of Dominique Wilkins' school record against Troy on Nov. 30, 1979.

Since NCAA rules change to allow freshmen to compete in basketball beginning with the 1972-73 season, 23 Bulldogs have scored in double figures during their first collegiate contest at UGA.

Top Tally Debuts By UGA Freshmen
Year	Player	Points
1979	Dominique Wilkins	26
2019	Anthony Edwards	24
1979	Terry Fair	19
2019	Sahvir Wheeler	19
1998	D.A. Layne	18
2007	Jeremy Price	18
2004	Sundiata Gaines	17
2017	Rayshaun Hammonds	17
2011	Kentavious Caldwell-Pope	15