Bulldogs Visits Rival Yellow Jackets Friday Night

Georgia Basketball Game Notes

2024 Peach State Classic
Georgia (3-0) vs. Georgia Tech (2-1)
Date: Friday, November 15, 2024
Time: 8:00 p.m. ET
Location: Atlanta, Ga.
Venue: McCamish Pavilion (8,600)
Tickets: www.georgiadogs.com/mbbtix
TV: ACC NETWORK EXTRA (Wiley Ballard, play-by-play, Jon Babul, analyst)
Streaming: ACCNX
Radio: Georgia Bulldog Network (Scott Howard, play-by-play; Chuck Dowdle, analyst; Adam Gillespie, producer)

The Starting 5...

Georgia treks to McCamish Pavilion in Atlanta on Friday for the Bulldogs' 200th all-time meeting on the hardwood against arch rival Georgia Tech.
The Bulldogs are 3-0 on the season, defeating Tennessee Tech, Texas Southern and North Florida by an average of 15.3 points per game.
Georgia topped Texas Southern, 92-64, last Sunday in record-setting fashion. The Bulldogs outrebounded the Tigers, 53-23, a school-record +30 margin on the glass.
Asa Newell exploded for 26 points in the Bulldogs' season opener against Tennessee Tech on Nov. 4. That tied Dominique Wilkins for the most points ever by a UGA freshman in their collegiate debut. Wilkins scored 26 points against Troy State on Nov. 22, 1979, in her first game as a Bulldog.
Both Georgia's freshman and transfer recruiting classes in 2024 were ranked among the top 10 nationally. The transfers were dubbed No. 8 by On3.com, while the freshmen were rated No. 10 by 247Sports.com and Rivals.com.

THE OPENING TIP

The Georgia Bulldogs will make the 90-minute drive from Athens to midtown Atlanta to face arch rival Georgia Tech on Friday evening at 8:00 p.m. The matchup at McCamish Pavilion will be the 200th in the series, which dates back well over a century to March 10, 1906. Georgia is 3-0 on the season, extending the Bulldogs' non-conference winning streak at Stegeman Coliseum to 21 games. Though Friday's matchup is Georgia's first true road outing of the 2024-25 campaign, the Bulldogs did defeat Charlotte, 86-59, in an exhibition outing at Hilton Arena on Oct. 19.

No less than six Bulldogs are averaging double digits to date. Freshman Asa Newell, whose 26 points against Tennessee Tech on Nov. 4 equaled Dominique Wilkins' UGA record for the highest offensive output by a Bulldog freshman in their debut, is averaging a team-high 17.7 ppg. Georgia's additional quintet of double-figure scorers includes Dakota Leffew at 17.0 ppg, Silas Demary Jr. at 13.3 ppg, Tyrin Lawrence at 11.7 ppg, RJ Godfrey at 11.3 ppg and Blue Cain at 10.7 ppg. Godfrey leads the Bulldogs on the glass, averaging 9.7 rpg after posting double-doubles in two of the season's first three games.

SERIES HISTORY WITH TECH

Georgia Tech leads the all-time series between the Bulldogs and Yellow Jackets, 107- 92, including a 63-27 mark on the Tech campus.

Last season on Dec. 5 in Athens, Georgia never trailed en route to a 76-62 victory over Georgia Tech at Stegeman Coliseum. A complete box score from that contest can be found to the right.

Georgia used a 12-2 run midway through the first half to build a 21-10 lead at the 6:27 mark of the opening period.

The Bulldogs eventually pushed the gap to 16 points, 36-20, at halftime and never allowed the Yellow Jackets closer than 12 points in the second stanza. Georgia's lead topped out at 23 points, 56-33, with 10:21 remaining.

Georgia's victory came after the Yellow Jackets defeated No. 21/22 Mississippi State and No. 7/7 Duke the previous week.

"I thought we defended at a really high level against a team that is really difficult to defend coming off one of the best weeks in college basketball," head coach Mike White said. "Georgia Tech, coming off two huge wins, is really playing well. I thought our crowd was a big factor in helping us defensively."

The Yellow Jackets won the most recent meeting in Atlanta, 79-77, on Dec. 6, 2022. That contest was back-and-forth battle featuring 11 ties and 18 lead changes.

After the Bulldogs were up 39-34 at the intermission, Tech began the second stanza with a 9-0 surge, the first of 15 lead changes in the period. The last, with 23 seconds left, put Tech up 79-77.

With 2.6 remaining, a Terry Roberts layup was negated by an offensive foul. The final outcome wasn't decided at that point, however. Kario Oquendo stole Tech's ensuring inbounds pass and squared up a 3-pointer just on Georgia's side of the half court line that rimmed off.

SCOUTING THE YELLOW JACKETS

Georgia Tech is 2-1 under second-year head coach Damon Stoudamire, with wins over West Georgia and Texas Southern and a setback to North Florida.

Sophomore Baye Ndongo leads the Yellow Jackets in scoring (16.3 ppg) and rebounding (9.3 rpg). He is one of five players scoring at a double-digit pace for Tech along with Kowacie Reeves Jr. (15.7 ppg), Javian McCollum (15.3 ppg), Lance Terry (12.0 ppg) and Luke O'Brien (11.5 ppg).

LAST TIME OUT

RJ Godfrey's career-high tallies of 21 points and 11 rebounds paced Georgia in a 90-77 win over North Florida on Tuesday in Athens.

Godfrey, a junior from Suwanee, Ga., and North Gwinnett High School who played his first two seasons at Clemson, posted his second double-double in three games at Georgia. He led six Bulldogs in double figures followed by Silas Demary Jr. with 17 points, Tyrin Lawrence with 15, Asa Newell with 13, Blue Cain with 11 and Dakota Leffew with 10.

BULLDOGS BETTER UNDER WHITE

Georgia has made considerable improvement under Mike White from both semantic and quantifiable standpoints. From traditional "game notes" verbiage you will read: Georgia upped its regular-season win total by 10 victories in White's first campaign, the second-largest increase of any Power conference team that season. Last season, the Bulldogs earned their first postseason bid since 2017 and while advancing to the NIT semifinals, reached the 20-win mark for the first time since 2016.

From a numerical perspective, Georgia's progress has been even more impressive. Among six of the most-used college basketball metrics, the Bulldogs ascended an average of 136 spots during White's two season as outlined to the right. That equates to Georgia passing roughly 40 percent – .387 to be exact – of Division I teams from 2021-22 through 2023-24.

COMPARATIVE SCORES ARE TRICKY, BUT...

It is worth noting that Georgia and Georgia Tech have played two of the same opponents in each team's three games on the season.

UGA and GT co-hosted the Peach State Classic last Sunday and Tuesday, providing the Bulldogs and Jackets with a multi-team event also featuring North Florida and Texas Southern.

On Sunday, Georgia defeated Texas Southern, 92-64, in Athens, while UNF bested GT, 105-93, in Atlanta. On Tuesday, the Bulldogs defeated North Florida, 90-77, while the Jackets topped TSU's Tigers, 81-62.

JACKETS ARE GEORGIA'S SECOND-MOST FREQUENT FOE

Georgia and Georgia Tech will face off for the 200th time on Friday, the second-most games for the Bulldogs against any opponent.

The only school Georgia has played more than Tech is Florida, with 230 all-time outings. Trailing the Jackets and rounding out the top-5 in games against the Bulldogs are Auburn with 199, Tennessee with 161 and Kentucky with 160.

BULLDOGS FEATURE 20-POINT SCORERS IN EVERY GAME TO DATE

Three different Bulldogs have topped the 20-point plateau to lead Georgia offensively in the first three games of the season.

Asa Newell put up 26 points in the season opener against Tennessee Tech, Dakota Few came off the bench to notch 23 digits versus Texas Southern and RJ Godfrey poured in 21 points against North Florida.

Through games of Wednesday, Georgia was one of only four power conference programs with a different 20-point scoring leader in each of the season's first three games along with Butler, Maryland and Stanford.

FRESHMEN HAVE UGA SWATTING SHOTS AMONG NATION'S BEST

Led by four blocked shots apiece from freshmen Somto Cyril and Asa Newell, the Bulldogs swatted 12 field goal attempts by Texas Southern last Sunday. That represented Georgia's most blocks since posting 12 against Vanderbilt on Jan. 9, 2019.

Through Wednesday's games, the Bulldogs led the SEC and No. 4 nationally at 8.0 blocks per game. Individually, Newell led the league and ranked No. 8 in the nation in blocks at 3.3 bpg, while Cyril ranked No. 5 in the SEC and No. 33 nationally at 2.3 bpg.

BULLDOGS' HOME NON-CONFERENCE WINNING STREAK REACHES 21

Georgia's victory over North Florida extended the Bulldogs' non-conference winning streak at Stegeman Coliseum to 21 games.

Georgia is perfect against non-conference opposition at home under Mike White, previously compiling an 8-0 record in 2022-23 and a 10-0 mark in 2023-24.

The Bulldogs' last loss at Stegeman to a non-conference foe was a 77-60 setback to Gardner- Webb on Dec. 29, 2022.

WHITE IS STELLAR IN STEGEMAN

Mike White's success at Stegeman Coliseum is not confined to his tenure with the Bulldogs.

White was 7-1 in the arena as a visiting head coach. He led Louisiana Tech to an NIT victory over Georgia at Stegeman in 2014 and was 6-1 against the Bulldogs in seven seasons at Florida from 2015-22.

With his 29-10 mark at Georgia, White currently sports a combined 36-11 (.766) as a head coach at Stegeman.

GODFREY, ASA AND CAIN POST FIRST DOUBLE-DOUBLES

Junior RJ Godfrey, freshman Asa Newell and sophomore Blue Cain both recorded the first double-doubles of their collegiate careers in the first two games of the season. Godfrey and Newell did so in the season opener, while Cain followed suit against Texas Southern.

Godfrey put up 10 points and 10 boards against Tennessee Tech and then bested that performance with career highs of 21 points and 12 rebounds against North Florida. After not recording a double-double during 69 games played at Clemson as a freshman and a sophomore, Godfrey has done so in two of three outings as a Bulldog.

Newell reached double figures in scoring in just 7:10 into his college career and took all of 25:47 to secure his double-double.

Cain grabbed a career-most 11 rebounds to go with his 12 points against TSU.

BULLDOGS BREAK REBOUNDING MARGIN MARK AGAINST TIGERS

Georgia out-rebounded Texas Southern, 53-23, providing a school-record margin of +30 on the boards as outlined to the right.

The Bulldogs dominated the glass from the get-go. Georgia notched 27 first-half rebounds, with 10 of those on the offensive end. Texas Southern collected just nine boards total in the opening 20 points.

Through Wednesday's games, Georgia led the SEC and ranked No. 5 nationally in rebound margin at +19.7 boards per game.

ASA EQUALS UGA FRESHMAN MARK

Asa Newell's 26-point outburst against Tennessee Tech tied Dominique Wilkins for the highest offensive output ever by a Bulldog freshman in their collegiate debut as outlined to the right.

Wilkins also put up 26 points in his initial outing for Georgia against Troy State on Nov. 30, 1979.

Newell started quickly, scoring his first 10 points over the opening 7:10 of the contest. He reached 20 points with 15:09 left in the contest and then garnered his first double-double with a rebound at the 14:13 mark of the second half. Newell matched Wilkins' tally with an offensive rebound and putback with 2:20 remaining.

When asked by media postgame if he knew of Wilkins' legacy at UGA and in the NBA, Newell quickly replied: "Yes, for sure. The human highlight reel. I've got a jersey of Dominique back at the crib."

Since NCAA rules changed to allow freshmen to compete in basketball beginning with the 1972- 73 season, 25 Bulldogs have scored in double figures during their first collegiate contest at UGA. That ledger includes sophomore Blue Cain, who put up 12 points against Oregon last season.

DAKOTA SCORING MANY POINTS IN STEGEMAN

Dakota Leffew certainly seems to like shooting in Stegeman Coliseum. The graduate transfer Hampton, Ga., who played the last four seasons at Mount St. Mary's, is averaging 19.3 points in four games played in Athens.

Last season, Leffew put up a game-high 26 points for Mount St. Mary's in the Mountaineers' 94-82 setback to Georgia on Dec. 20. Leffew scored 18 points in his Dog debut at Stegeman in the season opener against Tennessee Tech. He followed that with 23 points against Texas Southern and 10 versus North Florida.

Combining his quartet of Stegeman Coliseum contests, Leffew is shooting .542 from the field (26-of-48), including .464 (13-of-28) from 3-point range, and .857 (12-of-14) from the free throw line in the arena.

COMPLETE GAME NOTES PDF

View the full game notes PDF.

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Players Mentioned

Blue Cain

Silas Demary Jr.

RJ Godfrey

Tyrin Lawrence

Dakota Leffew

Asa Newell