MBB Game Notes: Undefeated Bulldogs Host MSU In SEC Opener

Wednesday, December 30

Athens, Ga.

7:00 PM

University of Georgia

Mississippi State

MBB Game Notes: Undefeated Bulldogs Host MSU In SEC Opener

December 29, 2020 | Men's Basketball

Game Notes

Georgia Basketball Game Notes
Georgia (7-0) vs. Mississippi State (5-3)
Wednesday, December 30, at 7:00 p.m. ET
Stegeman Coliseum (1,638) in Athens, Ga.
Radio: Georgia Bulldog Sports Network Flagship: WSB AM 750 Atlanta. (Scott Howard, play-by-play; Chuck Dowdle, analyst; Tony Schiavone, producer) | Affiliates
TV: SEC Network (Mike Morgan, play-by-play; Debbie Antonelli, analyst)
Video Stream: SECN+
Satellite: XM: 382; Internet: 972
History: UGA leads, 58-56 (Full History)
Last Meeting: MSU, 91-59, on Jan. 18, 2020

No.	Name	PPG	RPG

Georgia Bulldogs
Coach: Tom Crean
34-37 in 3rd season at UGA
390-268 in 21st season overall
2	Sahvir Wheeler	13.7	3.9
5-10; 180; Soph.; Houston, Texas
5	Justin Kier	12.0	4.8
6-6; 215; Soph.; Hopkins, S.C.
10	Toumani Camara	14.8	8.3
6-8; 220; Soph.; Brussels, Belgium
14	Tye Fagan	11.0	5.7
6-3; 195; Jr.; Logtown, Ga.
24	P.J. Horne	9.0	4.3
6-6; 230; Gr.; Tifton, Ga.

No.	Name	PPG	RPG

Mississippi State
Coach: Ben Howland
103-70 in 6th season at MSU
504-276 in 25th season overall
0	Jalen Johnson	7.0	2.5
6-6; 210; R-Sr.; Baton Rouge, La.
1	Iverson Molinar	17.6	4.2
6-3; 190; Soph,; Panama City, Panama
3	D.J. Stewart	18.3	3.3
6-6; 205; R-Fr.; Grace, Miss.
24	Abdul Ado	5.4	6.1
6-11; 255; R-Jr.; Lagos, Nigeria
35	Tolu Smith	13.9	8.9
6-10; 245; R-Soph.; Bay St. Louis, Miss.

TEAM COMPARISON

2020-21 STATISTICS	GEORGIA	MISSISSIPPI STATE
Points Per Game	81.1	73.0
Opp. Point Per Game	64.7	63.5
Scoring Margin	+16.4	+9.5
Field Goal Pct.	.477	.465
Opp. Field Goal Pct.	.402	.394
3-Point Pct.	.290	.370
3-Pointers Per Game	5.4	6.3
Opp. 3-Point Pct.	.276	.341
Free Throw Pct.	.707	.580
Free Throws Per Game	15.1	12.8
Rebounds Per Game	43.9	40.8
Opp. Rebound Per Game	32.1	28.9
Rebound Margin	+11.7	+11.9
Assists Per Game	16.1	13.0
Turnovers Per Game	17.6	13.6
Assist-to-Turnover Ratio	0.92	0.95
Turnover Margin	+1.9	-1.3
Steals Per Game	9.7	5.4
Blocks Per Game	2.7	4.1

PREGAME VIDEOS

Coach Crean

The Starting 5...

At 7-0, UGA is off to its best start since the Bulldogs opened the 1982-83 season – which culminated with a trip to the Final Four – with a 9-0 record.
UGA's eight-game winning streak, which dates back to last season, equals the sixth-best string of success in school history and is the longest since 2011-12.
UGA has won the opening tip in each game this season and is 16-2 when doing so since the beginning of last season. UGA was 7-14 when losing the tip in 2019-20.
Sahvir Wheeler's three double-digit assist outings in the first three games of the season were as many as any SEC player posted in all of 2019-20.
UGA's roster features eight newcomers with representative in every class – two freshmen, a sophomore, two juniors and a trio of graduate transfers.

The Opening Tip

Georgia opens SEC action on Wednesday night by hosting Mississippi State at Stegeman Coliseum. The Bulldogs are 7-0 on the season, one of 25 remaining undefeated Division I teams in the nation as of Monday and one of only 10 with seven or more wins.

Georgia is off to its best beginning since the Bulldogs opened their 1982-83 Final Four campaign with a 9-0 mark.

Adding in Georgia's victory over Ole Miss in last season's SEC Tournament gives the Bulldogs an active eight-game winning streak. That's Georgia's longest stretch of success game wise since securing nine consecutive Ws during the 2010-11 campaign. Calendar-wise, the Bulldogs' winning streak spans 294 days and is the second-longest in Georgia's 116 seasons.

The program's best streak both for number of victories and calendar span are the same – a 16-game stretch covering 399 days over the 1912-13 and 1913-14 seasons.

Keeping An Eye On . . . Entering Tonight's Game:

Sahvir Wheeler is...
• 9 assists from 200 for his career

Andrew Garcia is...
• 142 points from 1,000 for his career
• 60 rebounds for 500 for his career

Series History With State

Georgia currently leads its all-time series with Mississippi State, 58-56, including a 29-20 advantage in Athens.

In the most recent matchup last Jan. 18 in Starkville, Mississippi State shot 61.7 percent from the field – the best effort of last season against Georgia – en route to a 91-59 win over the Bulldogs.

Toumani Camara scored eight of his 10 points in the opening 7:08 of the contest to help Georgia grab a 15-14 advantage. State then went up for good on a Reggie Perry jumper at the 10:27 mark of the first half.

In the last meeting at Stegeman Coliseum on Feb. 20, 2019, Georgia rallied from a 17-point, second-half deficit to tie the game with less than 10 seconds remaining before dropping a 68-67 decision with a pretty bizarre ending.

After a Tyree Crump 3-pointer with 9.3 seconds remaining tied the game, Quinndary Weatherspoon was fouled with .5 of a second left. After missing his first free throw, Georgia was assessed a technical foul when a fan threw an object onto the floor. Weatherspoon made his next attempt and intentionally missed the third.

Scouting State

Mississippi State arrives at league play with a 5-3 record. The Bulldogs dropped their first two outings of the season to Clemson and Liberty in the Space Coast Challenge in Melbourne, Fla., before rallying to win five of their next six. State's other setback was a double-overtime decision to Dayton.

Sophomores D.J. Stewart and Iverson Molinar provide the Bulldogs' with one of the SEC's best 1-2 scoring combinations. Stewart is averaging 18.3 ppg, while Molinar contributes 17.6 ppg. Tolu Smith also is scoring at a double-digit pace for State, averaging 13.9 ppg and a team-high 8.9 rpg.

Last Time Out

Georgia rallied from a 13-point halftime deficit to outscore Northeastern 44-13 following the intermission en route to a 76-58 win over the Huskies on Dec. 22 and improve to 7-0 on the season.

Andrew Garcia led a quartet of Bulldogs in double digits with 15 points, while Justin Kier added a very thorough linescore of seven points, seven boards, six assists and five steals for Georgia.

Northeastern scored nine points off of Bulldog turnovers to grab a 14-3 lead just over five minutes into the game. That margin bulged to 41-26 with 2:23 left in the half.

After the Huskies scored the first bucket of the second stanza to regain a 15-point edge, Georgia used a 25-3 run over the next 11:21 to go up 57-50. A 10-0 surge moments later put the Bulldogs up by 15 with 4:02 remaining.

Georgia Basketball Unbeaten

With their day-night doubleheader sweep on Dec. 22, the Georgia basketball programs both remained undefeated this season.

The Lady Bulldogs dispatched Appalachian State, 107-44, in the afternoon, their highest scoring output since a 107-75 win over Georgia State on Dec. 28, 2000.

Later that evening, the Bulldogs outscored Northeastern 44-13 – yes 13 – en route to a 76-58 victory.

Of 325 D-I schools with both men's and women's basketball programs, Georgia is one of two with both still undefeated. Michigan, with a 7-0 men's team and a 5-0 women's record, is the other.

Camara Named SEC POTW

Toumani Camara was tabbed the SEC's Player of the Week by the league office in Birmingham on Dec. 21 after his 19-point, 10-rebound performance against Cincinnati two days earlier.

Camara equaled his career-best scoring output (19 points) for the third time this season en route to his second double-double.

The sophomore from Brussels, Belgium, had 14 points and eight rebounds in the first half and keyed a 15-0 run that broke the game wide open and extended an eight-point lead to a 23-point cushion. Camara scored eight points and collected four boards in that surge.

Camara is the 29th different Bulldog to be named SEC Player of the Week a combined 39 times since the award's inception in 1985. That list includes teammate Tye Fagan, who was the league's first POTW this season after his double-double of 21 points (on 9-of-10 shooting from the floor) and 10 rebounds in the season opener versus Florida A&M.

New Faces In New Places

There are no less than 17 first-year Bulldogs in the matchup between UGA and MSU. Georgia's roster includes eight newcomers, State's features nine. Of note, neither roster includes a true senior.

Georgia's octet newcomers features a representative of every class – freshmen K.D. Johnson and Josh Taylor, sophomore Tyron McMillan, juniors Jonathan Ned and Mikal Starks; and graduate transfer seniors Andrew Garcia, P.J. Horne and Justin Kier.

Mississippi State's nonet includes six freshmen and three transfers – two who are redshirt sophomores and one redshirt senior.

Bulldogs Doing Work On Boards

Mississippi State and Georgia entered this week ranked No. 3 and No. 4 in the SEC in rebounding margin.

State sported a +11.88 edge on the glass in non-conference play, slightly better than Georgia's +11.71. Those efforts ranked No. 14 and No. 15 nationally as of Monday.

From a team perspective, Georgia also ranked among the nation's top-25 teams in steals per game (No. 15 at 9.7) and offensive rebounds per game (No. 23 at 14.3)

Individually, Sahvir Wheeler and Justin Kier led the SEC in assists and steals, respectively. Nationally, Wheeler ranked No. 8 (7.4 apg) and Kier was at No. 18 (2.5 spg).

Wheeler Off To Historic Start

Sahvir Wheeler opened the season with a streak three consecutive point-assist double-doubles.

Wheeler has 12 points and 12 assists against Florida A&M, equaling the fourth-best single-game assist tally in 116 seasons of Georgia Basketball. It also was the most assists by a Bulldog in more than two decades...since G.G. Smith also had a dozen against Vanderbilt on Jan. 3, 1999.

The sophomore from Houston followed the FAMU contests with 17 points and 10 assists versus North Georgia and 21 points and 10 assists against Jacksonville.

Wheeler became the first player to record three-straight point-assist double-doubles since at least the 2000-01 season. In fact, only two league players – Florida's Chris Chiozza and Kentucky's Tyler Ulis – have recorded back-to-back point-assist double-doubles in the last five seasons. The last instance of three-straight point-assist double-doubles found was a stretch by Mississippi State's Chuck Evans during the 1992-93 season.

Wheeler is believed to be the first Georgia player with back-to-back double-figure assist tallies ever. Box scores dating back through 1969-70 did not find anyone who had done so. There were a couple of close calls, most notably Gino Gianfrancesco – who owns three of the top-four single-game assist efforts in school history – in a three-game span covering the 1971-72 and 1972-73 seasons.

Camara's Production Increases

Toumani Camara's efforts in the scoring and rebounding columns have increased dramatically from last season.

The sophomore from Brussels' scoring average is up 124 percent from a year ago – from 6.6 to 14.8 ppg – while his rebounding count is up 95 percent – from 4.3 to 8.3 rpg.

Camara's increased offensive production can be traced to the second half of last season. After scoring in double figures once in the Bulldogs' first 16 games, he did so seven times in the final 16 outings. With five more double-digit tallies this season, Camara has now scored 10 or more points in 12 of his last 22 outings at Georgia.

A Balanced Offensive Attack

Seven different Bulldogs have combined to notch 29 double-digit scoring performances during Georgia's first seven games.

Georgia currently has five players averaging double figures. Interesting P.J. Horne, who is second on the team with five double-digit scoring performances, isn't one of those. The Bulldogs actually entered the Cincinnati as one of only three teams in the nation with six players averaging double figures in the scoring column.

Dogs Getting To Line & Converting

Georgia is shooting a solid 70.7 percent from the line, including a season-best 84.0 percent (21-of-25) against Cincinnati.

In what is usually a good indicator of things going well, the Bulldogs have made more free throws (106) than their opponents have attempted (98) this season.

Crean Familiar With Bearcats

Tom Crean improved to 7-7 all-time against Cincinnati with Saturday's win. All of the previous matchups coming during his tenure at Marquette from 1999-08.

"This game brings back tremendous intensity for me," Crean said prior to the game. "When I was growing up as a coach, every day it started with 'What's going on at Cincinnati?' and 'What's going on at Louisville?' My coaching career began with those two programs as a measuring stick. Every day was about how do we compete with Cincinnati."

Marquette and Cincinnati were conference rivals throughout Crean's time in Milwaukee, competing in Conference USA from 1999-05 before both moved to the Big East. They also were relatively regular NCAA participants, combining for 11 bids to "March Madness."

Of Big Plays and "+/-" Numbers

Georgia's Dec. 12 win over Samford wasn't decided until the game's final seconds.

The Bulldogs took their first lead of the evening when Jaxon Etter scored with 1:17 remaining. Georgia was up 76-73 with 13 ticks on the clock when P.J. Horne's putback of a missed free throw pushed the margin to five points and two possessions.

While those plays drew attention, examining the box score revealed that Etter and Horne also were two of Georgia's most efficient players on the evening.

Etter played just shy of four minutes but the Bulldogs were "+8" with him on the floor. The sophomore from Woodstock helped Georgia thwart Samford's first-half momentum. In just 2:30 of action, Etter recorded a +/- of "+6", the best effort of any Bulldog in the period

Horne's 34 minutes of PT – his most of the season to date – provided the Bulldogs with a "+13" margin with him in the court.

A Busy Bunch Of Bulldogs

Georgia opened the 2020-21 season by playing five games in 14 days. That came following a 263-day gap between March 11 – when Georgia played its final game of the 2019-20 season at the SEC Tournament – and Nov. 29 – when the Bulldogs opened their 2020-21 campaign versus Florida A&M.

Bulldogs Supplying The Digits

Georgia is averaging 81.1 points per game this season and enters this week ranked No. 3 in the SEC in scoring offense.

That continues the Bulldogs' trend of increased point production under Tom Crean.

Georgia scored 98 points against Jacksonville – the 12th time UGA reached the 90-point plateau in Crean's 67 games at UGA. By comparison, Georgia scored 90 or more points just 12 times in the 393 games before Crean's arrival, a span of 11-plus seasons.

Last year, the Bulldogs averaged 75.9 ppg, their highest effort in more than 15 years. The last time Georgia produced a higher points per game clip than that mark was in 2002-03 when the Bulldogs averaged 79.2.

Camara, Brown Dunks On Dolphins Catch ESPN's Eye

Toumani Camara and Christian Brown delivered two ESPN attention-getting dunks against Jacksonville on Dec. 4.

During the first half, Justin Kier dove for a deflected ball near midcourt and pitched it ahead to Camara who, with space, put down a windmill effort that immediately drew the attention of the network. @SportsCenter tweeted "We score that a 10 for Toumani Camara!" followed by a "head blown" emoji.

In the second half, Brown prevented a deflected ball from going out of bounds and passed to Tyron McMillan, who quickly moved the ball to Sahvir Wheeler. Wheeler drove toward the basket before floating a pass that Brown handled with his left hand and slammed through the basket. @ESPN tweeted "The save ... and the finish!" and added a "hammer" emoji for good measure.

Camara's effort ended up at No. 4 on SportsCenter's top-10 plays for Friday.

Fagan Named SEC's First POTW

Tye Fagan was named the SEC Player of the Week on Nov. 30 by the league office in Birmingham, Ala., a day after the best outing of his collegiate career against Florida A&M.

Fagan posted career-high tallies of 21 points and 10 rebounds en route to his first career double-double. He connected on 9-of-10 shots from the field against the Rattlers and played a major role in creating distance on the scoreboard. Fagan scored eight points in a span of 76 seconds as Georgia expanded a two-point lead (49-47) to 10 (59-49).

"I don't take credit for that," Fagan said after the game. "A lot of that has to do with Sahvir (Wheeler). He is a great ball-handler, and he finds guys. I'm pretty sure he had 12 assists, so that is what I mean how he found guys. I give a lot of credit to my teammates and coaches to put me in the right places."

The Nomination Wasn't Automatic

The decision to nominate Fagan for SEC Player of the Week required some thought.

Graduate transfer Andrew Garcia also had an outstanding – and efficient – game against the Rattlers. The Bergenfield, N.J., native scored a game-high 22 points in just 23 minutes of action in his Bulldog debut.

Garcia connected on 6-of-8 shots from the field and converted on 10-of-11 trips to the free-throw line in his first outing for UGA.

Hoops Scheduling 2020 Style

It took four opponents for Georgia to play its first two games of the season.

As of Monday, Nov. 23, UGA was scheduled to play Gardner-Webb on Nov. 29. The decision was made to cancel that contest that day after consultation with UGA Athletic Association medical personnel due to COVID-19 issues within the GWU roster.

About 24 hours later, Georgia announced it would play Florida A&M on the 29th. On Tuesday, Tom Crean said: "Well in a nut shell, this came up yesterday morning and we already had some ideas of potential replacements for the first couple of weeks so we really started with that. That becomes the most important thing...some were available, most weren't available to be honest with you, but Florida A&M was the one that had the most opportunity to say yes and the best opportunity to say yes, in the shortest amount of time, and the shortest distance involved."

Less than 24 hours after that, Crean's comments seemed prophetic when Wednesday's season opener against Columbus State was canceled just hours before tip off. That outing was scrapped when COVID-19 tests returned positive within the Cougars' traveling party.

On Nov. 30 – about 54-and-a-half hours before tipoff – the Columbus State game was replaced by the Dec. 2 North Georgia contest. The addition of that contest lined up games against Nighthawks, Dolphins and Grizzlies in a span of just less than a week.

"It's not optimal, but for this year, it's very probable," Tom Crean said following the North Georgia contest. "I told the guys, we may get to a situation where we don't have three games in three weeks, let alone three games in one week. Who knows what way this season is going to go. Anything you do is getting you ready for what's coming. It just so happens that this is the way it's going to be."

Bulldogs In Season Openers

Georgia has compiled an 83-33 record in opening contests, including a 3-0 mark under Tom Crean. That includes an even more impressive 37-6 mark at Stegeman Coliseum.

Georgia's most significant win in an opener at the Coliseum also was its first. In the initial opener in the current arena on Dec. 3 1964, UGA bested No. 13 North Carolina, 64-61.

Latest Opener In A While

Last season, the Bulldogs christened their season on Nov. 5, the earliest opening contest ever in Georgia's 115 seasons. The previous date for an initial outing was when UGA began the 2013-14 campaign on Nov. 8.

With the 2020-21 campaign delayed due to COVID-19, the Bulldogs' Nov. 29 date against Florida A&M was their latest opener in nearly three decades.

Georgia began the 1992-93 season on Dec. 1, with a 76-65 loss to No. 3 Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse. That contest was the first of a "home-and-home." The quote marks are to emphasize that Kansas' return was not to Athens. The Bulldogs ventured to Lawrence, but the Jayhawks return game in Atlanta for the first-ever basketball event at Georgia Dome, the 1993 Kuppenheimer Classic.

Bulldogs Better In Tight Games

Georgia was 5-3 in contests decided by four points or less last season, with tight wins over Georgia Tech (72-68), Chaminade (80-77), SMU (87-85), No. 9 Memphis (65-62) and Vanderbilt (80-78) and close setbacks against Missouri (72-69), Alabama (105-102) and South Carolina (94-90 in OT).

That was a huge difference from Tom Crean's first season in Athens when UGA was 0-6 in such outings, with all six setbacks to NCAA Tournament teams.

Top-Ranked JUCOs Join Dogs

Each of Georgia's junior college recruits was ranked among the top-15 prospects nationally by 247Sports.com. Mikal Starks was listed at No. 9, Tyron McMillan was No. 11 and Jonathan Ned was No. 15.

Ned and Starks come from dramatically different hometowns but the same junior college – Eastern Florida State. Ned is from Northern California, while Starks hails from South Florida. They helped EFSC's Titans win 55 games over two seasons and reach the "Elite Eight" round of the 2019 NJCAA Tournament.

McMillan, who played AAU basketball with Sahvir Wheeler, earned All-Region honors in his one season at Kilgore College in Texas.

Edwards Drafted No. 1 Overall

Anthony Edwards was chosen by the Minnesota Timberwolves with the No. 1 overall pick of the 2020 NBA Draft on Nov. 18. Edwards became the Bulldogs' highest draft pick ever, topping Dominique Wilkins, who was selected No. 3 overall in 1982.

"This is an incredibly special night for an incredibly special young man," Tom Crean said. "I know the time and the effort he's put into getting to this point. He's earned it. He works extremely hard. He's dedicated to getting better."

Edwards is the Bulldogs' 39th NBA Draft pick and the eighth first-rounder. He was the first lottery pick since Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (No. 8 overall) in 2013.

"This is a big-time moment for this program," Crean said. "When you're trying to build on what others have done here before, you've got to have moments that help establish what you want your program to be. I think this is something that everyone who has ever been a part of Georgia Basketball can be proud of. It also shows that you can come to Georgia, and in Anthony's case come to Georgia and stay close to home, and you can achieve all of your dreams. That's really, really important for us."

Edwards was the nation's top-scoring freshman last season, averaging 19.1 ppg. He scored 610 points, the 10th-most ever by an SEC freshman in a single season.

Edwards was named SEC Freshman of the Year by both league coaches and the Associated Press and was tabbed SEC Freshman of the Week a school-record four times.

Edwards became the SEC's sixth all-time overall No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft – and the fifth since 2010. The league's other top picks include Shaquille O'Neal to Orlando in 1992, John Wall to Washington in 2010, Anthony Davis to New Orleans in 2012, Karl Anthony-Towns to Minnesota in 2015 and Ben Simmons to Philadelphia in 2016.

A Good Year for Drafted Dogs

Anthony Edwards' selection in the NBA Draft continued a strong year for Georgia Bulldogs in professional drafts.

Offensive tackle Andrew Thomas was the No. 4 overall pick in the NFL Draft by the New York Giants. Pitcher Emerson Hancock was the No. 6 selection in the first round of the MLB Draft by the Seattle Mariners.

With that, Georgia became just the fifth school ever to have top-10 picks in the three major sports drafts in the same year.

And While We're Talking Pros...

The 2020 year hasn't had very many highlights overall, but three former Georgia Bulldogs certainly have.

Mecole Hardman capped a Pro Bowl rookie season by helping the Kansas City Chiefs win Super Bowl LIV (that's 54 for the commoners).

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had an outstanding run to help Los Angeles capture the NBA Championship. KCP started all 21 games of the Lakers' run through the Playoffs. He averaged 10.7 points per game in the postseason, largely due to connecting on 45 3-pointers. That tally is the second-most ever by a Laker during the Playoffs, trailing only Kobe Bryant's 49 in 2009-10.

Pitcher Alex Wood pitched two perfect innings with three strikeouts for the Dodgers in their decisive win over Tampa Bay in game 6 of the World Series. With that, Georgia became the only school in the nation with former players who won NFL, NBA and MLB championship rings during 2020.

A Summer Unlike Any Other

COVID-19 forced the Bulldogs' season to end prematurely on March 12 and began a period where Tom Crean was away from on-court coaching for more than four months.

Georgia returned to workouts on July 20 with and eight newcomers.

"The only guy will a full year of college basketball with us in the program is Tye Fagan," Crean said. "That's really tough because the sophomores didn't get the full spring. And when the three grad transfers and Tyron McMillan got to campus, that was the first time we'd personally met them and talked to them not on phone, FaceTime or zoom. There was nothing normal about this summer. There was nothing even remotely close to normal as to how you would build your team."

Crean Impressed With Teamwork

Tom Crean was impressed his current roster's ability to form a bond. Eight Bulldogs are newcomers – two freshmen, three junior college transfers and three graduate transfers.

"I like their camaraderie," Crean said this summer. "I like their spirit. We've worked very hard. There's guys who are in the gym at different times, whether it's later at night or early in the morning. There are guys who are very, very hungry.

"In addition to all that, they've done a good job in the weight room. They've done a good job when we worked out outside. They've pushed each other. They've competed. There is a spirit about them, and they're improving."

Bulldogs Speak Out On Issues

In addition to the pandemic, social issues dominated the landscape for much of the summer. Several Georgia basketball players, led by Tye Fagan and Sahvir Wheeler, chose to utilize their platform and voice to speak toward needed changes to create a better and more respectful society in general.

Fagan took part in a march in Thomaston, Ga., where he led Upson-Lee High School to back-to-back state titles in 2017 and 2018.

"It's bigger than basketball, it's bigger than me," Fagan said. "A lot of people have lost their lives, a lot of people are upset. A lot of my people are upset and they feel a lot of different ways. I can't blame them because I feel the same way, seeing guys suffer from police brutality or racism or bigotry or whatever you want to call it. Black people have been suffering a lot over the past few months. It's been going on forever but especially over the past few months."

In an interview with DawgNation.com Wheeler stated: "One of the most important things is this is a time when the country has to pivot, and it has put a magnifying glass on our actions, our deeds and our approach with others in relationships in general," Wheeler said. "It has come to question ourselves: What are we willing to tolerate? What is the catalyst of change? How are we looking upon other people from different walks of life, and how we can take a step forward in progression so everyone can be equal?"

Ronnie Hogue To Be Honored

Ronnie Hogue, the first Black men's basketball scholarship student-athlete at the University of Georgia, will be honored with a commemorative sticker on the Stegeman Coliseum basket supports during the 2020-21 season. Hogue passed away in Setpember at the age of 69.

A native of Washington, D.C., Hogue arrived in Athens in the fall of 1969 and became one of the best players of his time, or any other era of Bulldog basketball.

Two years before freshmen became eligible under NCAA rules, Hogue averaged 19.1 points per game on UGA's freshman squad. He burst upon the scene the following year when, playing largely out of position as a forward, he averaged 16.2 points per game and was named to the SEC's All-Sophomore team.

The following year, 1972, was a breakout season for Hogue as he upped his scoring average to 20.5 points per game. In the season's fifth game, on December 20, 1971, he exploded for a career-high 46 points against LSU, the most ever by a Bulldog in Stegeman Coliseum and second-highest single-game tally in school history. Perhaps more impressive than the scoring total was the fact that Hogue connected on 20-of-23 shots from the floor en route to that output. Hogue was named first-team All-SEC by league coaches that season while also garnering second-team honors from the AP and UPI. As a senior, Hogue averaged 16.5 points per game.

Hogue finished his Georgia career with 1,367 points in just three seasons. At the time, that ranked second among UGA's all-time scoring leaders.

Hogue was drafted by the Washington Bullets in the seventh round of the 1973 NBA Draft.