MBB Game Notes: Bulldogs To Host Wake In Home Opener

Georgia Basketball Game Notes

Georgia (0-1) vs. Wake Forest (1-0)
Friday, November 10 || Time: 7:00 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, color analyst; Adam Gillespie, producer) | Affiliates
TV: SEC Netrwork (Mike Morgan, play-by-play; Daymeon Fishback, color analyst)
Video Stream: SECN+
Audio Stream: georgiadogs.com
Satellite: SiriusXM 391
History: UGA leads, 4-3 (Full History)
Last Meeting: Wake Forest, 81-71, on 11/11/22

Game Giveaway

The first 750 UGA students will receive a Georgia 1998 Throwback replica jersey.

The Starting 5...

Georgia hosts Wake Forest in the Bulldogs' first of four matchups against ACC competition during non-conference play. The Bulldogs will also face Miami, Georgia Tech and Florida State.
Georgia will play Power conference teams in four of its first five games, taking on Oregon (Pac 12), Wake Forest (ACC), Miami (ACC) and either Kansas State (Big 12) or Providence (Big East).
In Mike White's first season at Georgia, the Bulldogs upped their win total from the 2021-22 campaign by 10 victories. That equaled the second-biggest increase in regular-season wins by any Power 5 men's basketball program.
Georgia's freshman and transfer recruiting classes both were ranked as high as No. 11. The Bulldogs were only one of three teams to have both of those groups ranked top-20 nationally by On3.com.
Georgia's four returning letterwinners include Bulldogs who led the team in the following stats last season – Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe (5.1 rpg), Jabri Abdur-Rahim (1.4 3FGs per game, .387 3-pointer pct. and .818 FT pct) and Frank Anselem-Ibe (0.7 bpg).

The Opening Tip

The Georgia Bulldogs will host Wake Forest's Demon Deacons in their 2023-24 home opener at Stegeman Coliseum on Friday evening.

Georgia christened the 2023-24 campaign with an 82-71 setback to Oregon on Monday in a Naismith Hall of Fame Series matchup at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Jabri Abdur-Rahim, the only Bulldog to play in every game for Georgia since the start of the 2021-22 season, scored a game-high 18 points in the loss.

Wake Forest also began its season on Monday, the first official day of the 2023-24 college basketball season, by rallying from a 21-point first-half deficit to defeat Elon by 23 points, 101-78.

Series History With Wake

Georgia owns a 4-3 advantage in all-time meetings with Wake Forest in a series that dates back well over a century to Feb. 1913.

Tonight's game is the back end of a home-and-home contract. Last season in Winston-Salem, Wake withstood a furious late-game rally by Georgia to secure an 81-71 victory.

The Demon Deacons led by 19 points at halftime and withstood several attempts by the Bulldogs to chip away at that margin. Georgia finally made some headway with an 18-4 surge that cut the gap to eight with 1:21 left; however, Wake connected on 8-of-9 trips to the free-throw line thereafter.

UGA and WFU last met in Athens on Dec. 8, 2007, with the Bulldogs securing a 72-60 win at Stegeman Coliseum. That's the Georgia team that went on an improbable run to win the 2008 SEC Tournament after the Georgia Dome was damaged by a tornado.

Sundiata Gaines and Terrance Woodbury posted game-high tallies of 15 points apiece to lead Georgia. The Bulldogs led 34-31 early in the second stanza before Woodbury scored six straight points to spark a 12-0 surge that gave Georgia control the rest of the way.

Scouting The Demon Deacons

Wake Forest returns three starters and three additional letterwinners from last year's squad, which finished 19-14 overall and 10-10 in ACC action. The Demon Deacons' roster also features seven newcomers – four transfers and three freshman.

Head coach Steve Forbes is 51-40 in his fourth season at Wake Forest. Cameron Hildreth is the Demon Deacons' leading returning scorer after averaging 12.4 ppg last season. Andrew Carr was one of two Deacons to start every game last season when he averaged a team-high at 6.1 rpg.

Wake stormed back from a 55-43 halftime deficit en route to a 101-78 victory over Elon in the Demon Deacons' season opener on Monday. Hildreth led a quartet of double-digit scorers with 33 points, while Carr added 24, Hunter Sallis chipped in 19 and Kevin Miller posted 17.

Last Time Out

Jabri Abdur-Rahim scored a game-high 18 points to lead a trio of Bulldogs in double digits; however, Georgia still dropped an 82-71 decision to Oregon in the season opener. The contest was part of the Naismith Hall of Fame Series at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Junior RJ Melendez and fresman Blue Cain added 12 points apiece, while Russel Tchewa collected a team-high nine rebounds and Justin Hill dished out a team-leading four assists.

Oregon raced to an early 11-1 lead and exanded that margin to 28-11 before the Bulldogs used a 17-4 surge to pull within 32-28 with 3:59 left in the first half. After the Ducks pushed their edge back to 10 points at intermission, Georgia again closed the gap to four points early in the second half but failed to get any closser.

"I thought we've had better cohesiveness and connectivity offensively and defensively leading into this one, but a good program like (Oregon) will expose you," head coach Mike White said. "That's why you play these games, so you can self-evaluate. The ball stuck a little bit. We weren't crisp enough. We're trying to build something, and we've got to do a better job."

Georgia Impressive In Stegeman Openers

Georgia has compiled an 54-6 record in its home openers at Stegeman Coliseum. The Bulldogs are 16-1 in Stegeman openers that were not season openers.

The matchup with Wake Forest represents the first time since the 2017-18 season that Georgia's home opener was not also the initial outing of the season.

Cain, Demary Make Their Marks In Collegiate Debuts

Blue Cain and Silas Demary Jr. made key contributions for Georgia in their collegiate debuts against Oregon in the Naismith Hall of Fame Classic.

Demary became the first true freshman to get a starting nod for the Bulldogs in a season opener since Anthony Edwards in 2019. The Raleigh, N.C., native produced a thorough linescore of eight points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Cain became the first true freshman to notch a double-digit scoring output in the season opener since Edwards and Sahvir Wheeler did so in 2019. Cain posted 12 points off the bench by connecting on 5-of-11 shots from the field and matched Demary for the team high with two steals.

Georgia Signs Top-10 Prospect Asa Newell

Georgia opened the NCAA's early signing period with a bang on Nov. 6 when the Bulldogs signed Asa Newell, the No. 8 overall prospect in the 247Sports.com composite rankings for the Class of 2024.

Newell is the fifth top-100 prospect to sign with Georgia in the last two classes.

The younger brother of current Bulldog Jaden Newell, Asa is a 6-10, 215-pound power forward and a consensus five-star recruit. Asa is the second-highest ESPN.com and third-highest 247Sports.com ranked recruit to sign with Georgia during the internet era. He trails only Anthony Edwards (No. 4 in 2019) on the ESPN.com ledger and only Edwards (No. 2) and Lou Williams (No.6 in 2005) in the 247Sports.com composite. Edwards went on to become the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, while Williams elected to turn pro and has enjoyed a 17-year NBA career that includes three NBA Sixth Man of the Year awards.

Newell was a member of USA National Teams for FIBA World Cup tournaments during the past two summers, helping the USA capture a Gold Medal at the 2022 U17 tourney in Malaga, Spain and finish fourth at the 2023 U19 event in Debrecen, Hungary.

Newell is in his second season at Montverde Academy in Montverde, Fla., which finished 23-3 and finished No. 2 nationally in the SCNext Top 25 high school boys' basketball rankings last season.

Both Packs of New Bulldogs Highly Rated

Georgia was one of three programs with both its freshman and transfer recruiting classes ranked among the nation's top-20 groups by On3.com. The Bulldogs' five transfer were tabbed as at No. 11, while the freshmen were featured at No. 18.

All four of Georgia's freshmen were rated as top-100 prospects in the Class of 2023 by various recruiting services. The highest rankings were: Blue Cain at No. 53 by On3.com, Silas Demary Jr. at No. 56 by Rivals.com, Dylan James at No. 78 in the 247Sports.com and Mari Jordan at No. 87 by ESPN.com.

As a class, the freshman were ranked No. 11 by Rivals.com, No. 15 in the 247Sports.com composite, No. 18 by On3.com and No. 20 by 247Sports.com. Georgia's freshmen were the second-highest ranked class in the SEC 247Sports.com's composite ledger of the average ranking of those recruiting services. Ten of 14 SEC schools were ranked among the nation's top-50 freshman classes in the 247Sports.com composite.

A "March Madness" Pedigree

Seven Georgia players have played in the NCAA Tournament at previous schools.

Third-year Bulldog Jabri Abdur-Rahim was a member of Virginia's roster in 2021 when the Cavaliers won the ACC regular-season title en route to March Madness.

Frank Anselem-Ibe, Justin Hill and Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe, who are in their second seasons in Athens, also reached the Big Dance. Anselem-Ibe helped Syracuse reach the 2021 Sweet 16. Hill led Longwood to the 2022 tournament. Moncrieffe played in the 2021 NCAA Tournament while at Syracuse.

Georgia newcomers Jalen DeLoach, RJ Melendez and RJ Sunahara bring NCAA Tournament experience as well. DeLoach helped VCU earn an NCAA bid last spring. Melendez was on Illinois teams that reached the 2022 and 2023 tourneys. Sunahara played in a trio of Division II tournaments at Nova Southeastern, including the Sharks perfect 36-0 march to the 2023 national title.

In addition, Russel Tchewa's Texas Tech team was on the NCAA bubble in 2020 before the championship was canceled due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sunahara Takes One For the Team...accepts new nickname

It's not uncommon for basketball teams to have multiple players with the same first name, but that usually occurs with a rather common name. When a pair of "RJ's" transferred to Georgia during the offseason, it left the coaching staff scratching their heads.

"We're going to have to figure this out," Mike White quipped to the media when discussing the Bulldogs' summer trip to Italy.

It didn't take long for RJ Sunahara to become "Sunny"...at least while he's on the basketball court. Even though his name is pronounced "soon-ah-hara," the 2023 Division II National Player of the Year is now "Sunny." Actually, the nickname fits quite well with Sunahara's Hawaiian heritage.

Forza Dogs...Georgia's Tour Of Italy

Georgia got a jump on preparations for the 2023-24 season during the summer when the Bulldogs ventured to Italy for a three-game international tour from July 20-29.

On the the hardwood, Georgia defeated different teams from the Italian Club Orange Basket Bassano by 39.3 points per game. Each Bulldog dressed out for two of the three games, with nine different players recording one or more double-figure scoring outputs.

Away from basketball, Georgia spent four days in Rome, one day in Florence and two days in Sorrento. The team toured the traditional sites such as Vatican City, The Colosseum, The Forum, Pompeii, Amalfi and Positano. The Bulldogs also enjoyed a cooking class where they prepared – and then dined on – their own pasta and tiramisu.

All In The Family

We believe that Georgia Basketball's family tree may be the most athletic in the country. Almost every Bulldog has immediate family who competed at the collegiate or professional levels, including:

Jabri Abdur-Rahim – his dad, Shareef, was a 2000 Olympic Gold Medalist, 2002 NBA All-Star and current president of the NBA's G League; and five of his uncles (Amir, Muhammad, Tahir, Bilal and Malik) played college basketball.

Blue Cain – his mom, the former Myriah Lonergan, played basketball at George Washington and is in GWU's Athletic Hall of Fame; his dad, Chris, played golf at Duke; and his sister, Sophie, is a senior setter on Appalachian State's volleyball team.

Jalen DeLoach – his brother, Kalen, is in his third season as a starting linebacker at Florida State; and his sister, Taylor, was a Big Ten champion in the 400-meter relay at Ohio State.

Silas Demary Jr. – his dad, Silas Sr., played at Virginia State and was the 2005 Arena Football League Defensive Player of the Year for the L.A. Avengers.

Justin Hill – his dad, Keith, played basketball at Michigan State and New Mexico State, where he helped the Aggies reach the NCAA Tourney; his mom, the former Donna Holt, played basketball at Virginia, where she was 1988 ACC Player of the Year and was named to the ACC's Silver Anniversary team in 2002;

Dylan James – his brother, Dorian, is a redshirt senior of North Florida's basketball team; and two additional siblings – brother Darius and sister Charla – played basketball at Lynn University.

Markel Jennings – is distant cousins on his dad's side with NFL players Vernon and Vontae Davis, who both were multiple Pro Bowl selections.

Brandon Klatsky – his dad, Brian, played college basketball at DIII Skidmore; and his brother, Alex, is a redshirt senior on Florida's basketball team.

Jaden Newell – his brother, Asa, the No. 8 overall prospect in 247Sports.com Class of 2024 composite rankings, has signed to join him in Athens next season.

RJ Sunahara – his dad, Reed, was a two-time All-American in volleyball at UCLA and is the current women's volleyball coach at West Virginia; his mom, the former Laura Rekstis, played volleyball at Cincinnati; his grandfather, Peter Rekstis, played football at Cincinnati; his uncle, Chet Moeller, played football at Navy and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2010.

Noah Thomasson – his dad, Leon, played football at Texas Southern and for the Atlanta Falcons; and he's distant cousins with Spud Webb on his mom's size.

MBB Game Notes: Bulldogs To Host Wake In Home Opener

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jabri Abdur-Rahim

Frank Anselem-Ibe

Blue Cain

Jalen DeLoach

Silas Demary Jr.

Justin Hill

Dylan James

Markel Jennings

Brandon Klatsky

RJ Melendez

Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe

Jaden Newell

RJ Sunahara

Russel Tchewa

Noah Thomasson

MBB Game Notes: Bulldogs To Host Wake In Home Opener

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jabri Abdur-Rahim

Frank Anselem-Ibe

Blue Cain

Jalen DeLoach

Silas Demary Jr.

Justin Hill

Dylan James

Markel Jennings

Brandon Klatsky

RJ Melendez

Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe

Jaden Newell

RJ Sunahara

Russel Tchewa

Noah Thomasson

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