MBB Game Notes: Georgia, Gators Square Off In 225th Meeting

Georgia Basketball Game Notes

Georgia (6-22, 1-14 SEC) vs. Florida (17-11, 7-8 SEC)
Saturday, February 26, 2022
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: ESPN+
Audio Stream: georgiadogs.com
Satellite: XM: 380; SXM App: 970
History: UF 119-101 (Full History)
Last Meeting: L 63-72 (2/9/2022)

No.	Name	PPG	RPG

Georgia Bulldogs
Coach: Tom Crean
47-71 in 4th season at UGA
403-302 in 22nd season overall
3	Kario Oquendo	15.1	4.4
(6-4; 215; Soph., Titusville, Fla.)
10	Aaron Cook	10.1	2.6
(6-2; 185; Grad.; St. Louis, Mo.)
11	Jaxon Etter	5.0	2.9
(6-4; 205; Jr.; Woodstock, Ga.)
20	Noah Baumann	8.7	3.8
(6-6; 210; Sr.; Phoenix, Ariz.)
23	Braelen Bridges	12.5	5.5
(6-11; 240; Sr.; Atlanta, Ga.)

No.	Name	PPG	RPG

Florida Gators
Coach: Mike White
140-86 in 7th season at UF
241-126 in 11th season overall
0	Myreon Jones	8.8	2.8
(6-3; 175; Sr.; Birmingham, Ala.)
4	Anthony Duruji	8.8	4.2
(6-7; 209; Sr.; Germantown, Md.)
12	Colin Castleton	16.3	9.0
(6-11; 240; Sr.; DeLand, Fla.)
22	Tyree Appleby	11.0	2.1
(6-1; 163; Sr.; Jacksonville, Ark.)
24	Phlandrous Fleming Jr.	10.1	4.2
(6-5; 205; Grad.; Athens, Ga.)

TEAM COMPARISON

2021-22 STATISTICS	GEORGIA	FLORIDA
Points Per Game	70.5	69.9
Opp. Point Per Game	78.1	64.7
Scoring Margin	-7.6	+5.2
Field Goal Pct.	.445	.422
Opp. Field Goal Pct.	.473	.431
3-Point Pct.	.325	.305
3-Pointers Per Game	6.5	8.0
Opp. 3-Point Pct.	.342	.308
Free Throw Pct.	.752	.733
Free Throws Per Game	15.8	14.7
Rebounds Per Game	33.3	33.8
Opp. Rebound Per Game	34.3	35.0
Rebound Margin	-1.0	-1.2
Assists Per Game	14.3	12.6
Turnovers Per Game	14.9	12.7
Assist-to-Turnover Ratio	0.96	0.99
Turnover Margin	-3.8	+2.1
Steals Per Game	5.2	8.4
Blocks Per Game	2.3	5.4

The Starting 5...

Aaron Cook's 152 assists is No. 5 among UGA's all-time season leaders...and just two from the No. 3 spot.
Braelen Bridges' current field goal percentage of .635 is No. 2 among UGA's all-time season leaders.
With 33 points at Texas A&M, Kario Oquendo upped his scoring averages by 0.7 ppg overall and 1.1 ppg in SEC play.
Jaxon Etter has drawn 28 charges in 27 games played this season...and 36 in his last 38 dating back to last season.
UGA leads the SEC in free throw percentage and nationally ranks No. 6 in FT makes (443) and No. 15 in FT takes (589).

The Opening Tip

Georgia and Florida will face off in a matinee matchup at Stegeman Coliseum on Saturday, the 225th meeting between the interstate rivals.

The Gators are Georgia's most frequent for, by a pretty wide margin. Trailing Florida are two more of UGA's biggest rivals – Georgia Tech with 197 contests and Auburn with 195.

The Bulldogs and Gators have met multiple times during 87 of the previous 91 seasons dating back more than nine decades to the 1930-31 campaign.

In fact, UGA and UF contested double home-and-home series – meeting four times each season – from 1930-31 through 1941-42.

Of the four seasons Georgia and Florida failed to meet twice during that span, two were during World War II (when they didn't play at all in 1942-43 and 1943-44) and the others were in 2013-14 and 2014-15. That was after Missouri and Texas A&M joined the SEC and the league schedule included one permanent home-and-home foe, pairing Georgia with South Carolina and Florida with Kentucky.

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

Aaron Cook is...
• 3 steals from 200 for his career
Among UGA's single-season assist leaders:
• 1 assist from No. 4 Rashad Wright (2002)
• 2 assists from No. 3 Sundiata Gaines (2007)
• 17 assists from No. 2 Pertha Robinson (1995)

Series History With Florida

Despite Georgia's 63-42 advantage in games played in Athens, Florida possesses a 119-105 advantage in the series between the Bulldogs and the Gators.

Georgia and Florida met two and a half weeks ago in Gainesville, with the Gators thwarting a late rally by the Bulldogs to secure a 72-63 victory.

Kario Oquendo's return to his home state was an extremely productive one, with the sophomore from Titusville scoring 22 points to go along with career highs of eight rebounds and four steals.

Florida jumped out to an 18-8 lead midway through the first half and maintained a multiple possession until late in the game.

After trailing 64-51 with 6:04 left, the Bulldogs used a 10-0 surge to pull within 64-61 with 2:56 remaining. Florida responded with a 5-0 surge to regain control.

In the most recent matchup at Stegeman Coliseum last Jan. 23, five Bulldogs scored in double figures, but Georgia still dropped a 92-84 decision to Florida.

Florida led 42-39 at halftime following an opening 20 minutes that saw five ties and nine lead changes. The Gators seized control after the intermission, opening the second stanza with a 16-3 run.

Scouting The Gators

Florida is currently 17-11 overall and 7-8 in the SEC. Last Saturday, the Gators upset No. 1 ranked Auburn, 63-62, an accomplishment Georgia came two painful points shy of doing two weekends earlier.

Colin Castleton paces the Gators in scoring (16.3 ppg), rebounding (9.0 rpg) and blocks (2.6 bpg). The senior from DeLand, Fla., missed six games earlier this season due to a shoulder injury but has upped his production to 18.5 ppg since returning to the court six games ago.

Tyree Appleby is chipping in 11.0 ppg, while Athens native and Cedar Shoals High School graduate and Phlandrous Fleming Jr. is contributing 10.1 ppg.

Last Time Out

Kario Oquendo exploded for 33 points, the Bulldogs' largest offensive output since Anthony Edwards' 37-point highlight reel versus No. 3 Michigan State at the 2019 Maui Jim Maui Invitational; however, Georgia still dropped a 91-77 decision at Texas A&M on Tuesday night.

The Bulldogs produced better shooting percentages than the Aggies from everywhere on the floor (60.0 to 56.1 on field goals, 54.2 to 34.8 on 3-pointers and 90.0 to 76.0 at the free throw) line in the loss.

Cook Passes For Points

With nine assists against Auburn on Feb. 5, "Super senior" Aaron Cook joined Georgia's top-20 single-season leaders for passes to points.

With seven assists at Texas A&M on Feb. 22, Cook ascended all the way from No. 11 to No. 5 on that ledger. He's likely to climb even higher...very soon. Cook enters the Florida contest just 20¢ – as in two dimes – away from the No. 3.

UGA Season Assist Leaders
Rk.	No.	Player	Season	GP
1.	193	Sahvir Wheeler	2021	26
2.	169	Pertha Robinson	1995	27
3.	154	Sundiata Gaines	2007	32
4.	153	Rashad Wright	2002	32
5.	152	Aaron Cook	2022	27
	152	Donald Hartry	1986	30

More History In The Making

Three Bulldogs are in the midst of producing the most efficient shooting percentages overall, from 3-point range and at the line in Georgia history as outlined on the next page.

Braelen Bridges' now has the second-best season field goal percentage ever by a Bulldog at .635. The minimum to be included is 100 made field goals, which Bridges met during 7-of-8 effort at Vanderbilt on Jan. 29. He was in third place on that ledger until a 3-of-4 night at Texas A&M inched him past Bob Lienhard to the second slot.

Christian Wright is currently ranked No. 9 among Georgia's season free throw percentage leaders ledger at .851. He inched past the 50 free throws made minimum to be featured on the leaders' ledger on Feb. 2 against Arkansas.

Noah Baumann connected on his 50th 3-pointer of the year against South Carolina to qualify for Georgia's record book. His current 41.8 percent shooting percentage ranks No. 11 among Georgia's single-season leaders.

UGA Season FG Pct. Leaders
Rk.	No.	Player	Season	FG-FGA
1.	.643	Lavon Mercer	1979	146-227
2.	.635	Braelen Bridges	2022	134-211
3.	.632	Bob Lienhard	1970	215-340
4.	.611	Lavon Mercer	1980	121-198
5.	.591	Jim Youngblood	1967	140-237
	.591	Derek Ogbeide	2018	101-171

UGA Season FT Pct. Leaders
Rk.	No.	Player	Season	FT-FTA
1.	.910	Channing Toney	2005	61-67
5.	.859	Juwan Parker	2018	73-85
6.	.858	Jerry Epling	1969	91-106
7.	.856	Juwan Parker	2017	77-90
8.	.854	John Fraley	1972	105-123
9.	.851	Christian Wright	2022	57-67
10.	.844	Jordan Harris	2019	54-64

UGA Season 3FG Pct. Leaders
Rk.	No.	Player	Season	3FG-3FGA
1.	.449	Bernard Davis	1994	80-178
2.	.442	Jody Patton	1991	69-156
3.	.436	G.G. Smith	1998	81-186
4.	.435	Dustin Ware	2011	57-131
5.	.434	Litterial Green	1992	62-143
6.	.429	Levi Stukes	2007	85-198
7.	.425	Jarvis Hayes	2003	54-127
8.	.418	Noah Baumann	2022	56-136

Kario's Outburst Ups Average

During Tuesday's 33-point outburst at Texas A&M, Kario Oquendo's scoring averages jumped by almost unfathomable amounts 28 games into the season. He upped his overall scoring average by 0.7 ppg (from 14.4 to 15.1) and his SEC average by 1.1 ppg (from 17.3 to 18.4).

Oquendo's output was the most by a Bulldog since perhaps the most memorable outing of Anthony Edwards' season in Athens. With a national television audience and social media hanging on every shot, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft poured in 37 points against No. 3 Michigan State in the 2019 Maui Jim Maui Classic. The outing included 33 second-half points, which also resulted in Edwards accomplishing something previously thought to be impossible – making Bill Walton speechless.

Oquendo's Production Leaps

After averaging 11.5 ppg during the non-conference campaign, Kario Oquendo's scoring has increased to 18.4 ppg in SEC outings. Oquendo enters the weekend ranked No. 4 among SEC scoring leaders in league action.

Oquendo opened SEC play with three straight 20-point performances – 21 vs. Texas A&M, 22 vs. No. 13/16 Kentucky and 28 at Mississippi State. He became the first Bulldog to do so since 2020 when Anthony 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.

Each member of the SEC's top scoring quartet has increased their production in league play over their non-conference efforts; however, Oquendo's – +6.9 ppg – is the more than twice as much as the next closest player – +3.0 ppg by Scotty Pippen Jr. – as outlined below.

Scoring Increases In SEC Play
Rk.	Player	Non-Con	SEC	Diff.
1.	Kario Oquendo, UGA	11.5	18.4	+6.9
2.	Scotty Pippen Jr. VU	18.1	21.1	+3.0
3.	Iverson Molinar, MSU	16.5	19.3	+2.8
4.	JD Notae, ARK	17.8	19.5	+1.7

B.B. Among Top Passing Bigs

Braeden Bridges has the Bulldogs' third-best assist average among active players behind only point guards Aaron Cook and Christian Wright (and he's only 0.1 apg off of Wright's average entering Saturday's game).

Bridges has led Georgia in assists three times this season, at Auburn, at Florida and vs. Ole Miss. In fact, he is among the best passing big men in the SEC. His average of 1.8 apg is third-best among all league players 6-10 or taller. Bridges is one of five "big men" in the league who are currently averaging 1.0 assist per game or more as outlined below.

SEC's Best Passing Bigs
Rk.	Player, School	Ast.	GP	Avg
1.	Jaylin Williams, ARK	77	28	2.8
2.	Jabari Smith, AU	52	28	1.9
3.	Braelen Bridges, UGA	51	28	1.8
4.	Colin Castleton, UF	34	22	1.5
5.	Quentin Milora-Brown, VU	34	27	1.3

Bulldogs Battle Through

Georgia dressed out only nine players for its Feb. 12 game versus South Carolina, the most depleted the Bulldogs' roster has been this season.

Georgia's ledger of available players was cut by from 15 to 14 with a preseason injury to P.J. Horne, one of two Bulldogs who started every game last season.

The Bulldogs have had their "full complement" of the 14 players for six outings and have played seven games – including six SEC contests – with only 10 players in uniform.

Since the season began, Jailyn Ingram suffered a season-ending injury against Jacksonville on Dec. 7, Jonathan Ned has been out with an ankle injury beginning with a Dec. 18 matchup with George Mason and Tyrone Baker broke his right hand on Jan. 18, the day before a road game at Auburn.

We won't count Horne since his injury was before the season, but the 14 other Bulldogs have compiled 61 DNPs. In addition to the injuries outlined above, Bulldogs scratched from the scorebook 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);
• T. McMillan vs. Florida, S. Carolina and LSU (injury);
• J. Ned vs. Virginia and Northwestern (illness);
• K. Oquendo vs. Auburn (injury);
• D. Ridgnal vs. Texas A&M and Kentucky (illness).
• J. Taylor vs. S. Carolina (illness);

Georgia has used eight starting fives, with Braelen Bridges being the only player to do so for every contest. Jabri Abdur-Rahim, Bridges and Christian Wright are the only Bulldogs who have played in every game.

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 outputs in a team-best 21 games...and has notched nine points in four of the other seven outings.

The Atlanta native is shooting a sizzling 63.5 percent from the field, connecting on 134 of his 211 shots.

Bridges' effort almost puts him in elite company nationally. To be ranked among statistical leaders in field goal percentage, a player has to make a minimum of 5.0 shots per game.

With 134 field goals made, Bridges is six buckets shy of that standard...or he would No. 6 nationally entering this weekend in field goal percentage.

Dogs Capitalizing At The Line

Georgia is among the nation's top teams at getting to the line...and then converting.

The Bulldogs enter this weekend ranked No. 6 nationally in free throw makes (443) and No. 15 in free throw takes (589). Overall, Georgia leads the SEC and is ranked No. 55 nationally in free throw percentage at .752.

The Bulldogs also lead the SEC and are even more efficient in league play. Against conference foes, Georgia is shooting a sizzling 79.4 percent (250-of-315) at the charity stripe.

Taking Advantage of Charity

Georgia's performance at the free throw line isn't only the best in the SEC this season, it's on pace to be among the best ever by the Bulldogs.

Georgia has converted on 75.0 percent or better of its trips to the line three times since the 1959-60 season, with two of those coming in the last five campaigns alone as outlined below.

Top Dogs At The Stripe
Rk.	Season	FT-FTA	Pct.
1.	1966-67	454-598	.759
2.	2016-17	588-823	.757
3.	2020-21	443-589	.752

Etter Accepting Charges

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

The junior walk-on took three charges at LSU, the third game this season he's done so...the other outings being versus Ga. Tech and Western Carolina

Etter now has a team-high 28 charges in 27 games played this season. That trend actually began last season when Etter drew eight in the final 11 games, giving him 36 in his last 38 outings.

Experience Has Traveled

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

The slogan "experience has traveled" is more appropriate for Georgia Basketball and it's 2021-22 campaign.

When the campaign began, Georgia's lineup was 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.

Even though Ingram has not contributed to its totals since suffering a season-ending injury against Jacksonville on Dec. 7, that quintet the majority of the Bulldogs' production in virtually every statistic.

D-I transfer contributions
Stat	Team	D-I Ts	Pct.
Minutes	5600	3054	54.5
Scoring	1974	1164	59.0
Rebounds	892	468	52.5
Assists	399	263	65.9
Blocks	64	37	57.8
Steals	146	68	46.6

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, 74.6 percent (56 of 75) of Baumann's made FGs have been 3s, and he is shooting 41.8 percent on 3-pointers.

Career-wise, 72.1 percent (202 of 280) of Baumann's made FGs are 3-pointers, and he is converting on a considerably better clip from outside the arc (.428) than inside (.382).

Etter's production is Better

Walk-on Jaxon Etter's contributions this season have skyrocketed over those during his first two seasons in Athens.

The junior from Woodstock, Ga., began the 2021-22 campaign with averages of 1.6 points, 0.8 rebounds and 6.1 minutes during his freshman and sophomore years.

This season, Etter has more than tripled both his scoring (to 5.0 ppg) and rebounding (to 2.8 rpg) and upped his PT four fold to 25.5 mpg.

Baumann Hits The Boards

With injuries to P.J. Horne and Jailyn Ingram, Noah Baumann shifted to playing the traditional '4' spot for Georgia 10 games into the season.

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

The joke has since continued. After averaging 1.6 rpg in the first nine games, Baumann is contributing 4.7 rpg since.

Cook Joins Elite List

At tipoff at Auburn, Aaron Cook became just the 18th player in NCAA Division-I men's basketball history to participate in 150 career games.

Cook played in 103 games in four seasons at Southern Illinois from 2016-20, including a redshirt campaign with six contests in 2019-20. He saw action in 30 games last season at Gonzaga during the Bulldogs' NCAA runner-up finish. Georgia's Jan. 19 game at Auburn was his 17th game with the Bulldogs.

Cook is now up to 160 games played and entered this weekend No. 4 nationally active players. While his milestone is significant, it is obviously aided by his "super senior" status as a sixth-year player.

Entering this season, Ohio State's David Lighty held the NCAA record with 157 games played and only 13 players had logged PT in 150 contests.

On Jan. 13, Iowa's Jordan Bohannon inched past Lighty's mark. On Jan. 19, Cook became the fifth player in 2021-22 alone to reach the century-and-a-half mark.

Those numbers have only continued to grow. Entering this weekend, Bohannon was at 169 GP and 44 players – more than three times as many as prior to 2021-22 – had reached 150 games played.

Kario Likes The Bright Lights

Kario Oquendo's 25-point outing against No. 1 Auburn continued his trend of producing big games against the best opposition.

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

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

This season, Oquendo is averaging 13.8 points and connecting on 46.1 percent of his shots from the floor.

In outings against No. 19 Memphis, No. 13/16 Kentucky and No. 1 Auburn, Oquendo averaged in 23.7 ppg and shot 55.6 percent (25-of-45).

In seven outings versus ranked foes as a collegiate basketball player, Oquendo is averaging 22.7 points and converting on 60.0 (60-of-100) of his field goals. FYI, Oquendo did not play at No. 2 Auburn on Jan. 19 due to a lower body injury.

Wright Scores Savvily

Christian Wright recorded his second and third double-figure scoring outputs at UGA in back-to-back road outings at No. 2 Auburn and South Carolina.

The freshman from The Skill Factory scored 16 points at Auburn and followed that 10 at South Carolina. His first double-digit performance was a 17-point outing against No. 18 Memphis on Dec. 1.

There has been a common theme in all three contests, Wright's ability to get to the free throw line.

Wright converted on 24-of-28 (.857) trips to the charity stripe against the Tigers, Tigers and Gamecocks. That's 55.8 percent of his 43 total points.

All told, Wright drew 22 fouls in that trio of games, while committing only four fouls himself.

Dogs Look To Regroup...Again

Georgia lost Jailyn Ingram to a knee injury during the Jacksonville game on Dec. 7. Ingram went down in a non-contact situation while trying to save a ball along the baseline with 14:21 left in the contest.

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).

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 an injury to P.J. Horne, one of just two Bulldogs to start every game last season.

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
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.

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."

MBB Game Notes: Georgia, Gators Square Off In 225th Meeting

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Players Mentioned

Jabri Abdur-Rahim

Tyrone Baker

Noah Baumann

Braelen Bridges

Aaron Cook

Jaxon Etter

P.J. Horne

Jailyn Ingram

Jonathan Ned

Kario Oquendo

Dalen Ridgnal

Sahvir Wheeler

Christian Wright

MBB Game Notes: Georgia, Gators Square Off In 225th Meeting

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jabri Abdur-Rahim

Tyrone Baker

Noah Baumann

Braelen Bridges

Aaron Cook

Jaxon Etter

P.J. Horne

Jailyn Ingram

Jonathan Ned

Kario Oquendo

Dalen Ridgnal

Sahvir Wheeler

Christian Wright

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