Georgia Returns To Stegeman To Host Vanderbilt

Georgia Basketball Game Notes

Georgia (5-11, 0-3 SEC) vs. Vanderbilt (9-6, 1-2 SEC)
Saturday, January 15, 2021 | 6:00 p.m. ET
Stegeman Coliseum (10,523) in Athens, Ga.
Radio: Georgia Bulldog Sports Network (Flagship: WSB AM 750); (Scott Howard, play-by-play; Chuck Dowdle, analyst; Adam Gillespie, producer) | Affiliates
TV: ESPN2 (Tom Hart, pbp; Carolyn Peck, analyst)
Video Stream: SECN+
Audio Stream: georgiadogs.com
Satellite: XM: 380; SXM App: 970
History: VU 91-54 (Full History)
Last Meeting: W 73-70 (2/6/2021)

No.	Name	PPG	RPG

Georgia Bulldogs
Coach: Tom Crean
46-60
402-291 in 22nd season overall
3	Kario Oquendo	13.8	4.2
(6-4; 215; Soph.; Titusville, Fla.)
10	Aaron Cook	10.3	2.8
(6-2; 185; Grad.; St. Louis, Mo.)
11	Jaxon Etter	5.1	3.1
(6-4; 205; Jr.; Woodstock, Ga.)
20	Noah Baumann	8.7	3.4
(6-6; 210; Sr.; Phoenix, Ariz.)
23	Braelen Bridges	12.0	6.0
(6-11; 240; Sr.; Atlanta, Ga.)

No.	Name	PPG	RPG

Vanderbilt
Coach: Jerry Stackhouse
29-34 in 3rd season at VU
29-34 in 3rd season overall
2	Scotty Pippen Jr.	19.2	3.5
(6-3; 185; Jr.; Los Angeles, Calif.)
4	Jordan Wright	11.9	5.6
(6-6; 215; Jr.; Baton Rouge, La.)
5	Shane DeZonie	3.4	2.4
(6-5; 215; Fr.; Tobyhanna, Pa.
10	Myles Stute	8.5	3.5
(6-7; 210; Soph.; Washington, D.C.)
42	Quentin Millora-Brown	5.1	5.9
(6-10; 235; Sr.; Lorton, Va.)

TEAM COMPARISON

2020-21 STATISTICS	GEORGIA	VANDERBILT
Points Per Game	71.1	70.0
Opp. Point Per Game	75.2	63.5
Scoring Margin	-4.1	+6.5
Field Goal Pct.	.443	.409
Opp. Field Goal Pct.	.461	.416
3-Point Pct.	.319	.314
3-Pointers Per Game	6.7	8.2
Opp. 3-Point Pct.	.340	.311
Free Throw Pct.	.732	.722
Free Throws Per Game	15.4	14.9
Rebounds Per Game	34.9	35.4
Opp. Rebound Per Game	34.1	34.5
Rebound Margin	+0.8	+0.9
Assists Per Game	13.9	10.9
Turnovers Per Game	13.8	12.7
Assist-to-Turnover Ratio	1.00	0.86
Turnover Margin	-3.1	+3.7
Steals Per Game	5.2	7.8
Blocks Per Game	2.8	3.1

The Starting 5...

UGA has won four straight meetings with Vanderbilt...and seven of the last 10 matchups with the Commodores.
Kario Oquen-do and Scotty Pippen Jr. are the SEC's top scorers in league play, both averaging 23.7 ppg.
Noah Baumann is tied for the SEC lead in 3-pointers per game in league play, averaging 3.7.
Through games of 1/12, Aaron Cook ranked No. 9 nationally in both assist average (6.5) and total assists (97).
UGA's seven first-year transfers combined to score 4,782 points at their previous schools.

The Opening Tip

Georgia returns to Stegeman Coliseum to host Vanderbilt on Saturday evening following a two-game road swing to No. 13/16 Kentucky and Mississippi State.

Despite some positive signs – the Bulldogs were ahead or were tied for 12:19 of the first half at Rupp Arena and led at the intermission in Starkville – Georgia lost both contests to fall to 5-11 overall and 0-3 in SEC play.

Saturday's game features the SEC's co-leading scorers in league play.

Georgia's Kario Oquendo and Vanderbilt's Scotty Pippen Jr. enter the weekend tied as the SEC best point producers in conference games at 23.7 ppg.

Oquendo has been a very efficient shooter in his three SEC outings, ranking No. 4 in field goal percentage (.581) and No. 8 in free throw percentage (.818). He is riding a three-game streak of 20-point performances, the first Bulldog to top the 20-point plateau in a trio of consecutive games since Anthony Edwards did so in 2020.

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

Aaron Cook is...
• 2 outings from 150 games played in his career
• 14 steals from 200 for his career

Series History With Vandy

Though Georgia has a four-game winning streak over Vanderbilt and has won seven of the last 10 matchups, the Commodores own a 91-56 lead in all-time meetings between UGA and VU.

Last season in Athens, Georgia earned a 73-70 win over Vandy.

Following eight ties and four lead changes in the first 15 minutes, Georgia used a 14-4 run over the final 3:31 of the first half to grab a 44-37 lead at the break.

The Commodores tied the game five times in the second half, but the Bulldogs answered on each occasion.

Scotty Pippen Jr.'s layup with 44 seconds remaining tied the score at 70-70, but a free throw at the 15-second mark but Georgia back on top. Pippen's layup attempt with five ticks on the clock was blocked and gave possession back to the Bulldogs

Justin Kier was fouled with 2.1 second left and converted on both free throws. Georgia then tipped away Vanderbilt's attempted court-length inbounds pass, which caused time to expire before the Commodores could do anything other than wildly heave the ball toward their basket.

Scouting The Dores

Vanderbilt is currently 9-6 overall and 1-2 in SEC play to date.

A pair of wins at the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic headlined the Commodores' non-conference slate. Vandy topped Hawai'i and BYU to reach the tourney's championship game; however, that contest with Stanford was canceled due to COVID issues within the Cardinal roster.

Vanderbilt opened SEC play with a 75-74 upset at Arkansas before dropping its last two outings at home to South Carolina and No. 17/18 Kentucky.

Scotty Pippen Jr., the media's pick as SEC Player of the Year, leads the Commodores in scoring (19.2 ppg), assists (2.9 apg) and steals (1.7 spg). Jordan Wright also is scoring at a double-figure pace of 11.9 ppg, while Quentin Millora-Brown is collecting a team-high 5.9 rpg.

Last Time Out

Kario Oquendo led Georgia with a career-high 28 points at Mississippi State on Wednesday; however, the Bulldogs still dropped an 88-72 decision in Starkville.

Noah Baumann and Jabri Abdur-Rahim chipped in 15 and 13 points, respectively, for Georgia, while Braelen Bridges secured a game-high seven rebounds.

The Bulldogs led 36-35 at halftime, largely due to Oquendo's 15 first-half points. State took the lead for good on a layup with 17:06 left that made it 42-40.

Bulldogs Atop SEC Stats

Three different Bulldogs lead the Southeastern Conference in individual statistics for conference games only.

Most notably, Kario Oquendo is tied with Vanderbilt's Scotty Pippen Jr. in scoring at 23.7 points per game.

Aaron Cook's 8-of-8 effort at the line is best in the league. Cook is one of three Bulldogs in the top-10 in FT percentage along with Jabri Abdur-Rahim (No. 6 at .824) and Kario Oquendo (No. 8 at .818).

Those efforts have helped make UGA the SEC's top free-throw shooting team in conference play at .855 (53-of-62).

Noah Baumann is knotted with Matthew Murrell of Ole Miss for successful shots behind the 3-point arc, with both connecting on 3.7 per game.

Kario On A Tear

Kario Oquendo has produced 20-point performances in Georgia's last three games – 21 vs. Texas A&M, 22 vs. No. 13/16 Kentucky and 28 at Mississippi State.

The sophomore from Titusville, Fla., is the first Bulldog to do so since Anthony Edwards two seasons ago. Edwards put up 23 points at Missouri on Jan. 28, 29 against Texas A&M on Feb. 1 and 32 at Florida on Feb. 5.

Their Mann is Our Mann's Bro

Vanderbilt sophomore Jamaine Mann is the younger brother of former Georgia standout Charles Mann.

Charles moved into the Bulldogs' starting five late in his freshman season in 2013 and got the nod for 98 of 100 games over his final three seasons. All told, he played in 132 games, second-most ever at UGA.

An All-SEC performer, Mann is No. 15 among Georgia's career scoring leaders with 1,411 points. He scored 43.8 percent of those at the free throw line. Mann is the Bulldogs' career record holder in FT attempts (896) and makes (618) and is No. 2 in SEC history in trips to the charity stripe behind on "Pistol" Pete Maravich. Charles also is No. 6 in career assists by a Bulldog with 400.

Bulldogs Back In Athens

Following a two-game road swing, Georgia will return to Stegeman Coliseum for its 12th home game of the 2021-22 season.

Prior to their Jan. 8 outing in Lexington, the Bulldogs went 46 days between games away from Athens. Georgia's non-Stegeman contest before that was on Nov. 23 – the Tuesday before Thanksgiving – in the Roman Legends Classic at the Prudential Center in Newark. After that, the Bulldogs hosted an eight-game homestand.

Bulldogs Battle Through

Georgia dressed only 10 players for its first two SEC outings and has done so three times this season.

The Bulldogs' 15-player roster was cut by two due to season-ending injuries to P.J. Horne in the preseason and Jailyn Ingram against Jacksonville on Dec. 7.

All told, seven of 13 "currently active" Bulldogs have a combined 18 DNPs, and Georgia has had its full complement of players for six of 16 outings.

From there, additional DNPs include:
• T. Baker vs. Virginia and Northwestern (illness);
• N. Baumann vs. Northwestern (illness);
• A. Cook vs. Memphis (illness);
• J. Etter vs. Gardner-Webb (injury);
• C. McDowell vs. Texas A&M and Kentucky (illness);
• J. Ned vs. Virginia, Northwestern (illness) and George Mason, Western Carolina, ETSU, Gardner-Webb, Texas A&M, Kentucky and Mississippi State (injury);
• D. Ridgnal vs. Texas A&M and Kentucky (illness).

Bulldogs Switch Lineups

Georgia has mixed and matched eight player to create six different starting lineups this season.

The Bulldogs have used the starting five of Noah Baumann, Braelen Bridges, Aaron Cook, Jaxon Etter and Kario Oquendo in their last five contests. That's the most any quintet has been utilized by UGA.

Only Bridges and Oquendo have gotten the nod for every contest, although Cook and Jailyn Ingram have started every game they've played. Cook missed the Memphis game due to an illness, and Ingram suffered a season-ending injury in the ninth contest versus Jacksonville.

Kario Likes The Bright Lights

Kario Oquendo has a history of producing big games against the best opposition.

Last season, he averaged 13.5 points while shooting 55.4 percent from the field for the Florida SouthWestern College.

In Buccaneers' four contests against ranked opponents, those stats jumped to 22.0 points and 63.6 percent.

The trend of big nights continued this season. Against No. 19 Memphis and No. 13/16 Kentucky, Oquendo averaged in 23.0 ppg and shooting 59.3 percent (16-of-27) from the floor.

In six outings versus ranked foes as a collegiate basketball player, Oquendo is currently averaging 22.3 points and connecting on 62.2 (51-of-82) of his field goal attempts.

B.B. Is Consistent, Efficient

Braelen Bridges is the Bulldogs' most consistent point producer and among the nation's most efficient.

Bridges has posted double-digit scoring outputs in a team-best 11 of Georgia's 16 games, and he has notched nine points in two of the other five outings.

The graduate transfer senior Atlanta native is shooting a sizzling 62.4 percent from the field, connecting on 73 of his 117 field goal attempts.

Bridges' effort almost puts him in elite company in the SEC and nationally. To be ranked among statistical leaders in FG percentage, a player has to make a minimum of five shots per game.

With 73 field goals made, Bridges falls seven shy of that standard...or he would rank No. 2 in the SEC and No. 12 nationally through games of Jan. 12.

Cook Among Assist Leaders

Through games played on Jan. 12, Aaron Cook ranked No. 9 nationally in both assist average (6.5 apg) and total assists (97).

Cook's assist average is on pace to be the second-best ever by a Bulldog. The current No. 2 mark in Georgia history is 6.3 apg by Pertha Robinson in 1994-95.

Noah Continues Scoring Trend

In five seasons of college basketball, Noah Baumann has established a trend of scoring most of his points from behind the 3-point arc...and doing so efficiently.

This season, 74.4 percent (32 of 43) of Baumann's made field goals have been 3-pointers. Career-wise, 71.8 percent (178 of 248) of Baumann's made FGs are 3-pointers, and he is converting on a considerably better clip from outside the arc (.437) than inside that stripe (.378).

Etter Accepting Charges

Defensively, Jaxon Etter is like Visa...as in "everywhere you want (him) to be."

UGA's second-favorite walk-on student-athlete took three charges against Western Carolina, the second game this season he's done so...the other outing being versus Ga. Tech.

Etter now has a team-high 14 charges. The trend began last season when he drew eight in the final 11 games, giving him 22 in UGA's last 27 contests.

Baumann Hits the Boards

With injuries to P.J. Horne and Jailyn Ingram, Noah Baumann has shifted to playing the traditional '4' spot for Georgia.

In his first outing doing so, Baumann grabbed 11 rebounds against Western Carolina. That was more than double his previous career-most of five in seven different outings including this year's season opener against FIU.

Joked Tom Crean: "I don't know if he's done that since grade school. Somewhere out West, he might have had 11 boards in a CYO game in the eighth grade."

Dogs Look To Regroup...Again

Georgia lost Jailyn Ingram to a knee injury during the Jacksonville game on Dec. 7. The "super senior" from Madison, Ga., and Morgan County High School was the Bulldogs' leading rebounder (6.0 rpg) and third-leading scorer (10.7 ppg). Ingram went down in a non-contact situation while trying to save a ball along the baseline with 14:21 left in the contest.

Following an MRI on Dec. 8, Tom Crean confirmed the prognosis on Dec. 9 with a Tweet stating: "Unfortunately, Jailyn Ingram will have to have surgery to repair his ACL in his right knee. It's heartbreaking because Jailyn has been emerging in so many areas and has been a model of consistency day in and day out. He's an incredible young man... Jailyn has brought a spirit and seriousness to us. He is a guy that is in the gym most mornings before we would lift weights at 8:45 and was stabilizing for a young team. We plan to appeal for the waiver to get another year since he's under the 30% games played. Pray for him."

Ingram's injury was UGA's second season-ending setback. On Oct. 20, Crean announced P.J. Horne, one of just two Bulldogs to start every game last season, would miss the campaign.

Tweeted Crean: "It's with genuine sadness that I let you know that P.J. Horne will miss this season after undergoing surgery on his right knee this past weekend. In practice, he bumped knees in a scrimmage, lost footing and went down awkwardly. This is such a major blow to us because P.J. was playing so well and showing great leadership as our leading returning player, but more so because he is such a great person and one of the finest people I've ever coached."

Jabri's Contributions Soar

It's probably glossed over too much that this fall is the first time Jabri Abdur-Rahim has played extended minutes in nearly two years. He suffered a foot injury during his senior season at Blair Academy and only played in two games and only appeared in eight games last season at Virginia.

Jabri, who was ranked as one of the nation's top-40 prospects in the Class of 2020, showed signs of returning to form in three early-December outings.

Abdur-Rahim exploded for a career-high 20 points against Wofford and followed that with a 15 and 10-point showings versus No. 18 Memphis and Jacksonville, respectively. Equally impressive as the totals was the efficiency in which he scored.

In those three games, Abdur-Rahim scored more points, connected on more shots and upped his shooting percentages by massive amounts over his 14 previous career outings.

Abdur-Rahim's Increases
Stat	1st 14	Next 3	Diff.
Total Points	32	45	+13
Scoring Average	2.3	15.0	12.7
FGs Made	9	13	+4
FG Percentage	.214	.650	+.436
3FGs Made	3	9	+6
3FG Percentage	.125	.600	+.475

Crean Captures Win No. 400

Tom Crean secured his 400th career victory with Georgia's upset of No. 18 Memphis on December 1.

Prior to arriving in Athens, Crean compiled 366 W's in his first 18 campaigns as a collegiate head coach. He earned the first 190 in nine seasons at Marquette from 1998-2008 and added 166 more at Indiana between 2008-17 before arriving in Athens and securing the final 44 of his 400.

Tom Crean's Milestone Wins
No. 1 – Nov. 20, 1999 – Marquette defeats Chicago State, 62-43, in Tom Crean's first game as a collegiate head coach.
No. 100 – March 6, 2004 – A three-point play with .8 of a second left lifts Marquette over No. 25 Louisville, 81-80.
No. 200 – Dec. 8, 2009 – Indiana knocks off Pittsburgh, 74-64, in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.
No. 250 – Nov. 20, 2012 – A day after beating Georgia, 66-53, in the first round, IU tops Georgetown, 82-72, to win the Progressive Legends Classic.
No. 300 – Dec. 20, 2014 – Indiana tops No. 23 Butler, 82-73, as Yogi Ferrell became IU's 48th 1,000-point scorer.
No. 400 – Dec. 1, 2021 – Kario Oquendo's 24-point outburst paces UGA in an 82-79 upset of No. 18 Memphis.

Wright Stellar In Upset

Freshman Christian Wright started at point guard against No. 18 Memphis for Aaron Cook, who was out of action due to an illness. That task was taller considering the Tigers entered the game forcing an average of 18.0 turnovers per game.

While Wright's career-high totals of 17 points, six boards and 38 minutes tallies drew significant attention, his turnover tally – a meager one TO – was the most significant digit in his linescore. And he did so logging the most PT of any Bulldog in any game this season to date.

Also of note, Wright drew seven fouls, including two on the offensive end, and converted on 6-of-7 free throw attempts.

The SportsCenter "Top-Quen"

Kario Oquendo has emphatically made his way in the top-10 plays on ESPN's SportsCenter twice this season.

On Nov. 16, Oquendo came in at No. 3 on SportsCenter's top-10 plays after his third highlight reel effort against S.C. State. He stole the ball at midcourt and windmilled home an uncontested dunk.

A posterized effort on Nov. 23 was tabbed No. 6. Oquendo, who's 6-4, gathered a steal in Northwestern's lane and drove the length of the floor before a thunderous dunk over a 6-9 Wildcat.

If you want to rate Oquendo's SportsCenter dunks, you can find the S.C. State slam at gado.gs/kariosctop1116 and the Northwestern effort at gado.gs/kariosc1123.

Cook Tops Millennium Mark

Aaron Cook blew past the 1,000-point career scoring mark on Nov. 16 against South Carolina State.

The "super senior" was eight points shy of entering the game and inched past the milestone with 2:21 left in the first half. He finished with 22 points, three off his career high versus Indiana State on Jan. 24, 2018.

Cook scored 845 points at Southern Illinois from 2016-20 and added 127 points during Gonzaga's en route to their NCAA runner-up finish last season.

Cook was presented the game ball from the S.C. State game in a ceremony prior to the George Mason game that featured his mother, Regina, and brother, Anthony.

Dalen, Kario Draw Attention

Kario Oquendo and Dalen Ridgnal are among the top JUCO transfers expected to make the biggest marks this season.

On August 25, bustingbrackets.com ranked the top-25 junior college players moving to the "high-major" level. Ridgnal was tabbed No. 2 on that ledger, while Oquendo was ranked No. 23.

On Nov. 1, college basketball guru Jon Rothstein tabbed his top-10 "JUCOs to watch," an unranked list that also included Ridgnal.

Cook Among Most Experienced

Aaron Cook arrived in Athens having already participated in 133 games. Cook logged action in 103 contests in four seasons at Southern Illinois and played in 30 contests last season at Gonzaga.

As a point of reference for Georgia's record for career games played is 133 contests by Marcus Thornton from 2011-15. Thornton's tally covers five seasons, including a redshirt season when he logged nine GPs.

Cook's was the third-most experienced player game wise in D-I entering this season.

D-I's career GPs Leaders
Rk.	Player, School	Games
1.	Jordan Bohannon, Iowa	142
2.	Chevez Goodwin, USC	138
3.	Aaron Cook, Georgia	133
	Garrison Brooks, Miss. St.	133
	Jalen Coleman-Lands, Kansas	133
	Justin Kier, Arizona	133

Experience Has Traveled

The phrase "defense travels" is a well-known in the sports world.

The slogan "experience has traveled" may become a more appropriate for the 2021-22 Georgia Bulldogs.

Georgia's lineup is anchored by five D-I transfers, sixth-year "super seniors" Aaron Cook and Jailyn Ingram, graduate transfer seniors Noah Baumann and Braelen Bridges and sophomore Jabri Abdur-Rahim.

That quintet has accounted more than 60 percent of Georgia's points and assists and the majority of its production in every stat.

D-I transfer contributions
Stat	Team	D-I Ts	Pct.
Minutes	3200	1782	55.7
Scoring	1137	686	60.3
Rebounds	504	293	58.1
Assists	222	151	68.0
Blocks	44	26	59.1
Steals	83	41	49.4

Welcoming A Slew Of Scoring

Of the 10 newcomers on the Bulldogs' roster seven are transfers – five D-I players (Jabri Abdur-Rahim, Noah Baumann, Braelen Bridges, Aaron Cook and Jailyn Ingram) and a pair from the junior college ranks (Kario Oquendo and Dalen Ridgnal).

Those players arrived in Athens having already scored 4,782 points at their previous schools, the largest addition of scoring by any D-I program this season as outlined below.

In their previous stops, the D-I quintet of the group also logged 8813 minutes in 404 games played, while grabbing 1283 rebounds, dishing 643 assists, swatting 116 blocks and collecting 304 steals.

Top Scoring Influx's In D-I hoops
Rk.	School	Players	Points
1.	Georgia	7	4782
2.	Duquesne	5	4695
3.	Florida	5	4144
4.	Arkansas	6	4125
5.	Penn State	7	5183
6.	Washington St.	4	3785
7.	SMU	4	3733
8.	Kentucky	4	3538
9.	Utah	6	3175
10.	Arizona St.	3	3132

On The Flip Side...

While Georgia welcomed a huge influx of college scoring from its newcomers, the Bulldogs returned a minuscule portion of their scoring from last season.

Minus P.J. Horne, the four returning Bulldogs accounted for only 1110 of Georgia's 2014 points a year ago, or 5.5 percent. Walk-on Jaxon Etter is the top returning point producer with 47 points.

"B" Is For Basketball Player

You may notice on Georgia's roster that the Bulldogs have gone away from listing traditional positions – guard, forward and center. All 15 players are now simply listed as "B" for "Basketball Player."

Tom Crean is a proponent for "position-less basketball."

"That's what they are," Crean said. "It's not valid to call them centers and power forwards and things like that as much with the way that we're trying to play. They're being trained as basketball players, every day... in the sense of how we train with the ball handling, the driving, the shooting – all those type of things. That's big to me."

Putting Up Points Under Crean

Georgia has certainly been keeping scoreboard operators busy since Tom Crean arrived in Athens in 2018.

The Bulldogs reached the 90-point plateau 15 times in 90 games during Crean's first three seasons. That's a relatively healthy 16.7 percent of the team's total contests.

By comparison, Georgia scored 90 or more points just 15 times in 387 games before Crean's arrival, or .038 percent of the outings in a span that dates back a dozen seasons to the 2006-07 campaign.

The big numbers by the Bulldogs aren't just a single-game thing.

In three seasons under Crean, the Bulldogs have averaged two of their top-5 scoring outputs of the 2000s.

Top Scoring Averages In 2000s
Rk.	Season	Points	Games	Avg.
1.	2002-03	2138	27	79.2
2.	2020-21	1944	25	77.8
3.	2001-02	2444	32	76.4
4.	2019-20	2428	32	75.9
5.	2006-07	2477	33	75.1

University of Georgia Athletics

Players Mentioned

Jabri Abdur-Rahim

Noah Baumann

Braelen Bridges

Aaron Cook

Jaxon Etter

P.J. Horne

Jailyn Ingram

Justin Kier

Kario Oquendo

Dalen Ridgnal

Christian Wright

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