Bulldogs Return To Stegeman To Face Jacksonville

Georgia Basketball Game Notes

Georgia (6-1) vs. Jacksonville (4-3)
Date: Saturday, November 30, 2024
Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
Location: Athens, Ga.
Venue: Stegeman Coliseum (10,523)
Streaming: SEC Network+ (Jeff Dantzler, play-by-play; Marcus Thornton, analyst)
Radio: Georgia Bulldog Network (Scott Howard, play-by-play; Chuck Dowdle, analyst; Adam Gillespie, Producer)
Tickets: www.georgiadogs.com/mbbtix

The Starting 5...

Georgia will return to action on Saturday evening when the Bulldogs host Jacksonville at Stegeman Coliseum at 7:00 p.m.
The Bulldogs are 6-1 on the season and coming off a 66-63 win over No. 22/20 St. John's at Atlantis Paradise Island last Sunday, UGA's first win over a ranked team since defeating No. 22 Auburn (76-64) on Jan. 4, 2023. Georgia received votes – 11 AP, 3 Coaches – in both of this week's top-25 polls.
Five Bulldogs are currently averaging double figures, led by Asa Newell's 15.9 ppg. Seven Georgia players have scored in double figures a combined 29 times to seven games to date.
Entering this weekend, the Bulldogs led the SEC in both rebound margin and blocks per game and ranked No. 3 (+13.7 rpg) and No. 6 (6.7 bpg) nationally.
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 his first game as a Bulldog.

THE OPENING TIP

The Georgia Bulldogs return to action on Saturday night when they host Jacksonville at historic Stegeman Coliseum at 7:00 p.m. following a six-day break from competition over the Thanksgiving holiday.

Last weekend, the Bulldogs split a pair of outings against top-25 competition at Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas. Georgia defeated No. 22/20 St. John's, 66-63, on Sunday, 24 hours after their first setback of the season, an 80-69 decision to No. 15/15 Marquette.

Georgia's balanced office features a quintet of Bulldogs averaging double figures.

Freshman Asa Newell leads the Bulldogs in both scoring (15.9 ppg) and rebounding (6.9 rpg). Among SEC leaders, he entered the weekend ranked No. 14 in both scoring and rebounding, as well as No. 9 in field goal percentage (.552) and No. 11 in blocks (1.4 bpg).

Silas Demary Jr. is scoring 14.0 ppg and paces Georgia in assists at 3.6 apg, while Dakota Leffew adds 12.6 ppg, Tyrin Lawrence contributes 11.7 ppg and Blue Cain chips in 10.9 ppg.

Somto Cyril and RJ Godfrey also have produced double-figure scoring outputs this season. All told, those seven players have combined to produce 29 double-figure scoring outputs in seven games to date.

Georgia's strongest attributes have been controlling the glass and protecting the rim. The Bulldogs entered this weekend leading the SEC in both rebound margin and blocks and ranked No. 3 in boarding margin (+ 13.7 rpg) and No. 6 nationally in rejections (6.7 bpg).

Scouting The Dolphins

Jacksonville arrives in Athens with a 4-3 record after splitting two games at the Fort Myers Tip-Off earlier this week on Monday and Tuesday. The Dolphins dropped their opening game in South Florida, 90-89, in overtime to Mercer, a contest that was delayed for 90 minutes after a basket collapsed during warm-ups. JU rebounded to defeat Siena, 75-64. The Dolphins also own an impressive 74-64 win at Virginia Tech on Nov. 20.

Jordan Mincy, who won the 2022 Joe B. Hall Award as the top first-year head coach in the nation, is in his fourth season with the Dolphins. Prior to his stint at Jacksonville, Mincy was a member of Mike White's staff as an assistant coach for seven seasons both at Louisiana Tech (2014-15) and Florida (2014-21).

The Dolphins are led offensively by a trio of double-digit scorers – Robert McCray (17.4 ppg), Zach Bell (11.4 ppg) and Zimi Nwokeji (10.0 ppg). Stephon Payne III paces Jacksonville on the glass, averaging 7.7 rpg.

Series History With JU

Georgia owns a perfect 11-0 record all-time versus Jacksonville, with eight of those victories coming in Athens. In the most recent meeting on Dec. 7, 2021, Braelen Bridges' efficient 14-point outing led a trio of Bulldogs in double figures in a 69-58 win over the Dolphins.

Bridges connected on all four of his field goal attempts and converted on 6-of-8 free throws.

After leading by eight at the half, Georgia extended that advantage to 14 points less than three minutes into the second period and maintained a double-figure edge most of the rest of the game. The margin topped out at 16 points, 67-51, with 1:24 remaining.

The contest was marred by a season-ending knee injury suffered by Jailyn Ingram at the 14:21 mark of the second half.

Last Time Out

Asa Newell scored a team-high 18 points, Silas Demary Jr. added 15 points and Tyrin Lawrence contributed 11 points and a season-high nine rebounds to lead Georgia in a 66-63 upset of No. 22/20 St. John's last Sunday at Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas.

Though Georgia led or the game was tied for 33:25, the contest featured 10 ties and nine lead changes. The Bulldogs quickly pushed a four-point lead at halftime to 37-28 less than two minutes into the second half.

After St. John's answered with a 19-7 run, Newell scored five unanswered points in a span of 49 seconds to put Georgia back up 49-47. Demary Jr. gave the Bulldogs the lead for good on a layup with 1:59 remaining, the first of five points he scored in the final two minutes.

"Really good win for our team and for our program," head coach Mike White said. "Hard-fought game. Left everything we had out there on the floor. A lot of things that we can continue to get better at. We were really good on the offensive glass. Made some timely free throws. Our frontcourt was off the charts with all the actions that they run. Our ball screen coverages were really good. Really sound, really detailed, hard-fought game."

Dogs Dominate On The Boards

Georgia's rebounding margin of +13.7 led all SEC teams and ranked No. 3 nationally entering this weekend. That mark is boosted by two of the top-10 single-game rebound margins ever by the Bulldogs – a school-record effort +30 against Texas Southern on Nov. 10 and the No. 7 mark of +25 versus Alabama A&M in Georgia's most recent hom outing on Nov. 19 as outlined below.

Best Rebounding Margins
Rk.	No.	Opponent	Mar.	Date
1.	+30	Texas Southern	53-23	11/10/24
2.	+29	H-N.C. Central	54-25	12/4/19
	+29	H-Alabama A&M	51-22	11/24/06
4.	+28	H-Kentucky	53-25	1/3/90
	+28	H-Florida	53-25	1/30/80
6.	+26	H-Miss. Valley St.	51-25	11/25/08
7.	+25	H-Alabama A&M	47-22	11/19/24
	+25	H-Wofford	49-24	11/8/13
	+25	H-Miss. State	48-23	1/22/11
	+25	N-Grambling State	56-31	11/27/99
	+25	H-Augusta College	53-28	12/10/88

UGA Inches Into Bracketology

Though the NCAA Tournament won't tip off until March 18, it is worth noting that Georgia joined the projected field for "March Madness" in ESPN's Nov. 26 edition Bracketology.

Following last weekend's split against No. 15/15 Marquette and No. 22/20 St. John's, Georgia moved from fourth in the "next four out" last week to the second of the "last four in" this week.

Regardless of the current forecast, the Bulldogs will have plenty of chances for quality wins from now until March. Georgia will play 16 of 31 regular-season games against teams pegged to receive bids by ESPN this week. That's 51.6 percent of UGA's total contests.

Four of Georgia's non-conference foes are listed in the bracket – Marquette as a No. 3 seed, St. John's as a No. 6, Grand Canyon as a No. 12 and North Florida as a No. 15.

The Bulldogs will face the 10 SEC teams predicted to make the field a total of 12 times, including home-and-home dates with Auburn, a No. 1 seed, and Florida, at No. 5 seed. The remaining league teams and their seeds are Tennessee (No. 1), Kentucky (No. 2), Alabama (No. 3), Texas A&M (No. 4), Arkansas (No. 6), Texas (No. 8), Mississippi State (No. 8) and Ole Miss (No. 9).

Bulldogs' Home Non-Conference Win Streak Reaches 22

Georgia's victory over Alabama A&M extended the Bulldogs' non-conference winning streak at Stegeman Coliseum to 22 games.

In fact, 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 before starting this season with a 4-0 mark. 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 before arriving in Athens. He led Louisiana Tech to a 2014 NIT victory at Stegeman and was 6-1 against the Bulldogs in the venue at Florida from 2015-22.

With his 30-10 home mark since becoming Georgia's head coach, White is a combined 37-11 (.771) as a head coach in Stegeman.

UGA Swatting Shots Among Nation's Best

Georgia entered this weekend leading the SEC and No. 6 nationally at 6.7 blocks per game.

Three Bulldogs are averaging more than a block per game – Somto Cyril at 1.9 bpg, which ranked No. 54 nationally; Asa Newell at 1.4 bpg; and RJ Godfrey at 11.1 bpg.

Led by four blocked shots apiece from Cyril and Newell, the Bulldogs swatted 12 field goal attempts by Texas Southern on Nov 10. That represented Georgia's most blocks since posting 12 against Vanderbilt on Jan. 9, 2019.

Demary Jr. Getting To the Charity Stripe

Silas Demary Jr. ranked second in the SEC and among the nation's top-25 leaders in takes and makes at the free throw line entering this weekend.

As of Friday, the sophomore from Raleigh, N.C., ranked No. 21 nationally with 52 trips to the line. He was No. 12 in free throws made with 42.

Asa Earns SEC FOTW Honors

Asa Newell was named SEC Freshman of the Week on Nov. 18 after averaging 13.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 1.5 blocks and 1.5 assists in wins over North Florida and Georgia Tech.

Newell scored 13 points, grabbed nine rebounds and blocked three shots on Nov. 12 against North Florida, a team that arrived in Athens with a 3-0 record and road wins at South Carolina and Georgia Tech. He then put up 14 points and collected a team-leading seven rebounds against UGA's arch-rival in Atlanta on Nov. 15. Newell scored half of the Bulldogs' points in a 14-0 second-half surge that turned a three-point deficit with 12:25 remaining into an 11-point lead at the 7:23 mark.

Georgia Staff Inks Third-Straight Top-15 Recruiting Class

Mike White announced on Friday, Nov. 15 that high school standouts Jackson McVey, Kareem Stagg and Jacob Wilkins inked papers to join the Bulldogs next season.

The trio has been ranked No. 11 nationally by Rivals.com, as well as No. 12 by 247Sports.com, giving Georgia its third straight top-15 recruiting class of prep prospects. The Bulldog signees in the Classes of 2024 and 2023 were ranked No. 10 and No. 15, respectively, by both outlets.

McVey, is a 7-1, center from Ellijay, Ga., who is playing at Overtime Elite this season. Nationally, McVey is rated as a four-star prospect by ESPN.com, and he has been ranked as one of the nation's top-25 center prospects in the On3.com composite and by ESPN.com.

Stagg, is a 6-8, power forward from Chesapeake, Va., who is in his second season at the IMG Academy. A consensus four-star prospect, Stagg is ranked among the nation's top-100 prospects by 247Sports.com (No. 73), Rivals.com (No. 86) and On3.com (No. 92).

Wilkins, a 6-9, small forward from Loganville, Ga., and Grayson High School is the son of former Bulldog and hall-of-famer Dominique Wilkins. Jacob is a four-star recruit ranked among the nation's top-50 players by every major recruiting service – No. 35 by Rivals.com, No. 45 by ESPN.com, No. 49 by On3.com and No. 50 by 247Sports.com.

Dominique Wilkins, a two-time All-American and 1981 SEC Player of the Year, led Georgia to its first-ever postseason bids with invitations to the 1981 and 1982 NITs, including a trip to the 1982 semifinals. Though he played only three seasons at Georgia, Wilkins departed Athens as the Bulldogs' career scoring leader with 1,688 points, a 21.6 ppg average over 78 outings. He was the No. 3 overall pick in the 1982 NBA Draft before enjoying an illustrious professional career primarily with the Atlanta Hawks that included being a nine-time All-Star and seven-time All-NBA selection.

While We're talking about 'Nique...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 below.

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, Newell quickly replied: "Yes, for sure. The human highlight reel. I've got a jersey of Dominique back at the crib."

Top Debuts By Bulldog Freshmen
Pts.	Player	Opponent	Date
26	Asa Newell	Tennessee Tech	11/4/24
26	Dominique Wilkins	Troy State	11/30/79
24	Anthony Edwards	W. Carolina	11/5/19
19	Sahvir Wheeler	W. Carolina	11/5/19
19	Terry Fair	Troy State	11/30/79
18	Jeremy Price	Jacksonville St.	11/9/07
18	D.A. Layne	Mercer	11/13/98
17	Rayshaun Hammonds	Bryant	11/10/17
17	Sundiata Gaines	W. Kentucky	11/23/04
15	Kentavious Caldwell-Pope	Woffford	11/11/11

Bulldogs Feature Six Top-100 Prospects

Georgia's 15-player roster includes no less than a half-dozen Bulldogs who were ranked among the nation's top-100 prospects in their recruiting classes.

Blue Cain, Silas Demary Jr. and Dylan James all were tabbed among the top 100 players in the Class of 2023. Their highest The highest rankings featured Cain at No. 53 by On3.com, Demary at No. 56 by Rivals.com and James at No. 78 in the 247Sports.com composite.

As a class, they 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.

Somto Cyril, Savo Drezgić and Asa Newell were featured among the top 100 prospects in the Class of 2024, with highs of No. 11 for Newell by On3.com, No. 43 for Cyril by 247Sports.com and No. 53 for Drezgić by On3.com.

Newell finished No. 14 in the 247Sports.com composite rankings, placing him alongside from impressive names. Newell is the fourth-highest signee for Georgia since the website began its composite ledger in 2003, trailing only Anthony Edwards (No. 2 in 2019), Lou Williams (No. 6 in 2005 before declaring for the NBA Draft) and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (No. 11 in 2011).

COMPLETE GAME NOTES PDF

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Players Mentioned

Blue Cain

Silas Demary Jr.

RJ Godfrey

Dylan James

Tyrin Lawrence

Dakota Leffew

Asa Newell

University of Georgia Athletics