Bulldogs Face Third-Straight Top-25 Foe In Oklahoma

Georgia Basketball Game Notes

Georgia (13-2, 1-1 SEC) vs. No. 17/16 Oklahoma (13-2, 0-2 SEC)
Date: Saturday, January 11, 2025
Time: 6:00 p.m. ET
Venue: Stegeman Coliseum (10,523)
Location: Athens, Ga.
Tickets: www.georgiadogs.com/mbbtix
TV: ESPN2 (John Schriffen, play-by-play; Perry Clark, analyst)
Radio: Georgia Bulldog Network – Sirius 384 (Scott Howard, play-by-play; Chuck Dowdle, analyst; Adam Gillespie, producer)
Game Giveaway: First 1000 UGA students choose between two winter hats and receive a free Chick-fil-A sandwich
Tickets: www.georgiadogs.com/mbbtix

The Starting 5...

Georgia wraps up a two-game homestand on Saturday evening by hosting No. 17/16 Oklahoma. The Bulldogs defeated No. 6/7 Kentucky, 82-69, on Tuesday before a sellout crowd at Stegeman Coliseum.
The Bulldogs are 10-0 at home and have won 12 straight outings at Stegeman dating back to last season, which matches the fifth-longest home winning streak in program history.
Georgia's "Dunkyard Dawgs" rank second nationally in percentage of made FGs that are dunks at 18.3 percent, while Asa Newell is third among individual dunk leaders with 36 slams.
The Bulldogs enter the weekend ranked 32.8 in an average of six popular metrics (NET, KenPom, Torvik, KPI, BPI and SOR) – an increase of 186.2 spots since Mike White became UGA's head coach.
Oklahoma is UGA's third straight ranked opponent, just the fifth time the Bulldogs have faced a trio of ranked foes in consecutive games...also doing so in 1982-83, 1999-2000, 2016-17 and 2020-21.

The Opening Tip

Georgia hosts No. 17/16 Oklahoma on Saturday evening at historic Stegeman Coliseum to continue the Bulldogs' brutal January schedule.

The Sooners are the third of five straight matchups against ranked foes to christen the 2025 calendar. After falling to No. 24/23 Ole Miss in Oxford last Saturday, the Bulldogs bounced back to top No. 6/7 Kentucky on Tuesday before a raucous sellout crowd at Stegeman. Next week, Georgia ventures to current No. 1/1 Tennessee before hosting No. 2/2 Auburn.

Saturday's game will represent just the fifth time the Bulldogs have played three ranked foes in a row. Georgia has never played four consecutive ranked teams, much less five.

Georgia's balanced offense features seven players who have led the Bulldogs in one or more games. Two more players have posted double-figure scoring outputs. All told, those nine Bulldogs have produced 62 double-digit performances, an average of 4.1 per game.

Asa Newell leads a quartet of Bulldogs averaging double figures at 15.5 ppg. A two-time SEC Freshman of the Week honoree during the first five weeks of the season, Newell also paces UGA on the boards at 6.9 rpg. Among league leaders, Newell is ranked No. 16 in scoring and No. 13 rebounding – including an SEC-best 3.7 offensive boards per game. He also is No. 3 the SEC and No. 34 nationally in field goal percentage (.586).

Rounding out the double-digit point producers in the scoring column are De'Shayne Montgomery at 12.6 ppg, Dakota Leffew at 12.2 ppg and Silas Demary Jr. at 12.1 ppg.

Scouting The Sooners

After opening the season at 13-0, Oklahoma has dropped its first two league outings in during its SEC membership.

The Sooners were one of the nation's last four remaining undefeated teams before falling to No. 5/6 Alabama last Saturday in Tuscaloosa and dropping a heart breaker to No. 10/9 Texas A&M on Wednesday.

Freshman Jeremiah Fears leads Oklahoma and ranks in the SEC's top 10 in three major statistics – No. 5 scoring at 17.6 ppg, No. 6 in assists at 4.3 apg and No. 7 in steals at 2.1 spg.

Jalen Moore's 17.4 ppg scoring average is No. 7 among league leaders, making the Sooners the only team with two of the SEC's top-10 scorers. Duke Miles also is scoring at a double-digit pace for OU at 12.0 ppg.

Series History With Oklahoma

Oklahoma won the only previous meeting between the Bulldogs and the Sooners, a 93-90 decision on Christmas Day 1987 during the Chaminade Christmas Classic in Honolulu, Hawaii.

The No. 12-ranked Sooners improved to 10-0 on the year led by 30- and 26-point performances from Mookie Blaylock and Harvey Grant, who played all 40 minutes of the contest. Toney Mack poured in 32 points to lead Georgia, while Alec Kessler added a double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds.

The contest was the sixth and final outing of a two-legged road trip that included wins over New Orleans, UAB and the Japan All-Stars in the Phenix NCAA Ball on Dec. 18-20 in Tokyo, followed by a win over La Salle and a setback to Virginia in the opening rounds in Hawaii.

Last Time Out

Asa Newell's thorough and efficient linescore led Georgia to an 82-69 upset of No. 6/7 Kentucky at a sold-out Stegeman Coliseum on Tuesday night.

Newell paced four Bulldogs in double figures with 17 points, on 5-of-9 shooting from the field, including 2-of-5 from 3-point range, and a 5-of-8 at the line. He also grabbed seven rebounds, handed out two assists, recorded a steal and blocked a shot in the victory. Blue Cain added 15 points, Silas Demary Jr. chipped in 14 and Dakota Leffew put up 11.

A Newell 3-pointer at the first-half horn capped a 22-9 surge covering 6:17 to put the Bulldogs up 47-34 at the intermission. Kentucky pulled within five points with 12:07 remaining, but Georgia responded with four unanswered points and maintained a three-possession lead for the remainder of the evening.

The win represented Georgia's highest over a ranked foe since defeating No. 5 Kentucky, 65-57, on Jan. 17, 2004 and its highest over a ranked opponent at Stegeman Coliseum since beating No. 3 Georgia Tech, 83-80 in double overtime, on Jan. 3, 2004 . . . a span of 21 years and one day.

"This is our biggest win," head coach Mike White said. "I thought we played with a ton of energy, stayed connected throughout. We separated the score a little bit there late in the first half. Kentucky came storming back, of course. We showed a lot of maturity and connection there by staying together. We did a lot of good things. We've got to continue to get better and there's a lot of things we've got to continue to work on. It's a really good win for us, obviously, but it's a different SEC these days, so we've got to move on to the next one pretty quick."

Bulldogs Better Under White

Georgia has made considerable improvement under Mike White from both semantic and quantifiable perspectives.

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.

• Georgia is currently ranked among the nation's top-40 teams in virtually every metric published, including No. 22 in the NCAA's NET.

From a numerical perspective, Georgia's progress has been even more impressive.

Among six of the most-utilized college basketball metrics, the Bulldogs have ascended an average of 186.2 spots during White's three seasons in Athens as outlined below.

The Metric Improvement
	21-22	24-25	DIFF
SOR	246	22	+224
NET	223	29	+194
Torvik	193	31	+162
KPI*	225	37	+188
KenPom	219	39	+180
BPI	208	39	+169
Avg.	219.0	32.8	+188.2

* Final KPI as of selection Sunday...not updated after postseason.

Things That Make You Go Hmmmm....?

There were some statistical anomalies worth pointing out from the Bulldogs' last three games.

Against South Carolina State, Georgia followed its lowest first-half scoring output of the 2024-25 season – 24 points – with its highest second-half point production of the campaign – 55 points.

At No. 24/23 Ole Miss, the Bulldogs shot season lows of 29.3 percent (17-of-58) from the field and 11.1 percent (2-of-18) from 3-point range but connected on a season best 88.2 percent (15-of-17) of their trips to the free throw line.

After scoring a season-low 51 points in Oxford, Georgia bounced back to score 47 points in the first half alone against No. 6/7 Kentucky. At the same time, the Bulldogs held the Wildcats, who entered the game ranked No. 2 nationally in scoring offense at 90.2 ppg, to 21 points under their season average.

The "Dunkyard Dawgs" Attack The Rim

With a nod to the awesome website barttorvik.com, we know that Georgia has scored the nation's second highest percentage of its made FGs on dunks – 18.3 percent. That equates to 77 of the Bulldogs' 419 made shots from the field this season.

Freshman Asa Newell's 36 slams represent the third most among all Division I players as outlined below.

Top Dunkers - Team Leaders
Rk.	Team	Pct. of FGs
1.	Cincinnati	20.2
2.	GEORGIA	18.3
3.	Utah	17.3
4.	Tennessee	16.7
5.	Creighton	15.8
Top Dunkers - Individual Leaders
Rk.	Player, School	No.
1.	A. Bandaogo, UC	40
2.	R. Kalkbrenner, CU	37
3.	A. NEWELL, UGA	36
4.	D. Mitchell, UC	35
5.	J. Scott, UofL	34

Dogs' Home Win Streak Stretches To 12 Games

Georgia's victory over No. 6/7 Kentucky extended the Bulldogs' winning streak at Stegeman Coliseum to 12 games. That matches the fifth-longest home winning span ever for Georgia as outlined below.

The Bulldogs span of home success dates back to a wins over Ole Miss in the final regular-season home outing and an NIT first-round win over Xavier last season, followed by a 10-0 home record this season.

More impressive, Georgia remained a perfect 27-0 at home against non-conference opposition at home under Mike White, compiling an 8-0 record in 2022-23, a 10-0 mark in 2023-24 and a 9-0 standard this season.

Home Winning Streaks
Rk.	Season	No.
1.	1930-31 & '31-32	25
2.	1938-39 & '39-40	20
3.	1988-89, '89-90 & '90-91	15
4.	2001-02 & '02-03	13
5.	2023-24 & '24-25	12
	1997-98 & '98-99	12
7.	1984-85 & '85-86	11
8.	2023-24	10
	2022-23	10
	2007-08	10

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 at Florida from 2015-22.

With his 36-10 home mark since becoming Georgia's head coach, White is now a combined 43-11 (.792) in Stegeman.

Bulldogs' "1-2" Punch Likes Shooting In Stegeman

Georgia's No. 1 (Dakota Leffew) and No. 2 (De'Shayne Montgomery) – transfers from Mount St. Mary's – certainly enjoy shooting in Stegeman Coliseum.

A year ago, Leffew and Montgomery put up 26 and 23 points, respectively, in the Mountaineers' 94-82 loss to Georgia on Dec. 20 in Athens.

In Leffew's 11 games in Stegeman, he is averaging 15.5 ppg while shooting 50.9 percent (58-of-114) from the field, including 46.7 percent (35-of-75) from 3-point range, and 83.3 percent (20-of-24) from the free throw line.

In Montgomery's five outings in the arena, he is averaging 16.0 ppg with shooting percentages of 62.7 (32-of-51) from the field, 35.7 (5-of-14) from behind the 3-point arc and 64.7 (11-of-17) from the charity stripe.

"We sat in here about a year ago and knew both of them were SEC-level players," Mike White said after Leffew and Montgomery combined to score 41 points versus Charleston Southern on Dec. 22. "We recruited each one of them individually. They had a different, unique process that was about them. Both of these guys had hard decisions to make because they had a number of high-level programs that were after them. We're fortunate to get one. We're really fortunate to get both."

Bulldogs' Beginning Among Their Best Ever

Georgia's 12-1 start was the Bulldogs' best in 94 seasons.

Georgia also opened the 1930-31 season at 12-1 and eventually extended that to a 23-1 record before losing to Maryland in the semifinals of the Southern Conference Tournament and finishing 23-2. That campaign was the last of Coliseum namesake Herman Stegeman's 12 seasons as the Bulldogs' head coach.

This year marked just the 10th time in 119 seasons of intercollegiate play for Georgia that the Bulldogs notched their 10th win with one or fewer losses as outlined below.

Bulldogs' Best Beginnings
Rk.	Season	Rec.
1.	1930-31	23-1
2.	1923-24	13-1
3.	2024-25	12-1
4.	2001-02	11-1
	1996-97	11-1
	1929-30	11-1
	1947-48	11-1
	1920-21	11-1
9.	1995-96	10-1
	1994-95	10-1

Dogs Among Nation's Best In A 10 Stats

Georgia entered this weekend ranked among the nation's top-50 teams in 10 statistics as outlined below.

The Bulldogs have been among the best in the country at controlling the glass and protecting the rim this season.

As of Friday, Georgia ranked No. 8 nationally in blocked shots (5.7 bpg) and No. 12 in rebounding margin (+9.4).

Rebounding wise, the Bulldogs won the board battle in all but two games, including two of the biggest rebound margins in program history. On Nov. 10, Georgia out-rebounded Texas Southern, 53-23, a school-record margin of +30. The Bulldogs' +25 effort against Alabama A&M on Nov. 19 tied UGA's seventh-biggest single-game edge.

Following a season-high five swats in back-to-back outings against Grand Canyon and Buffalo, freshman Somto Cyril now ranks No. 38 nationally at 1.9 bpg. Cyril and classmate Asa Newell both had four blocks when Georgia swatted 12 shots against Texas Southern on Nov. 10, the most in a single game since also blocking a dozen attempts by Vanderbilt on Jan. 9, 2019.

A Top-50 Team In...
Rk.	Category	Stat
8.	Blocked Shots	5.7
12.	Rebound Margin	+9.4
15.	3-Point FG Defense	.282
17.	FG Percentage Defense	.386
19.	Scoring Margin	16.1
29.	Scoring Defense	64.4
32.	FT Attempts Per Game	23.9
40.	FG Percentage	.487
41.	FTs Per Game	17.3
48.	Rebounds Per Game	39.2

Bulldogs' Schedule Has "March Madness" Feel To It

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. On Tuesday, the Bulldogs were tabbed as a No. 9 seed by Joe Lunardi.

After splitting games against No. 15/15 Marquette and No. 22/20 St. John's at Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas, Georgia moved into the bracket as the second of the "last four in" on Nov. 26.

Regardless of the current forecast, the Bulldogs will have plenty of chances for quality wins from now until March. Georgia will play 17 of 31 regular-season games – 54.8 percent – against teams pegged to receive bids by ESPN this week.

Three of Georgia's non-conference foes are listed in the most recent bracket – Marquette as a No. 2 seed, St. John's as a No. 9 and Grand Canyon as a No. 13.

The Bulldogs will face the other 12 SEC teams predicted to make the field a total of 14 times, including home-and-homes with Auburn, a No. 1 seed, and Florida, a No. 2 seed.

Lots Of Bulldogs Leading The Way

No less than seven Georgia players have led the Bulldogs offensively this season, while seven different Dogs have also led Georgia on the boards count. Asa Newell had led the Bulldog's point production in a team-high eight outings.

A different Bulldog topped 20 points to top Georgia's scoring efforts in first three games of the campaign. Newell put up 26 points in the opener against Tennessee Tech, Dakota Few notched 23 digits versus Texas Southern and RJ Godfrey poured in 21 points against North Florida. 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.

Since then, Silas Demary Jr. was the Bulldogs' leading scorer at Georgia Tech with 18 points, Blue Cain joined the list with 17 against No. 15 Marquette, De'Shayne Montgomery did so with 16 versus Buffalo and Tyrin Lawrence rounded out the list when he put up 14 points in the non-conference finale against S.C. State.

On the boards, (including some ties) Somto Cyril has led Georgia in six contests, followed by Newell in four, Demary Jr. in three, Cain and Godfrey in two and Justin Abson and Lawrence in one each.

Asa Again Earns SEC FOTW Honors

Asa Newell was named SEC Freshman of the Week on Dec. 9 – his second certificate in the first five weeks of the season – after posting game-high tallies of 20 points and 11 rebounds in Georgia's 69-48 win over Notre Dame in the SEC/ACC Challenge.

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

Newell is one of 10 Bulldogs who have earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors a combined 15 times since the award's inception in 1988. He is the first Georgia player to claim the accolade multiple times since Anthony Edwards earned four certificates during the 2019-20 campaign.

North Florida Victory Supplies Several Superlatives

The fourth-best shooting performance in school history topped a list of stellar stats Georgia posted in a 102-56 victory over Jacksonville on Nov. 30 at Stegeman Coliseum. The Bulldogs:

• Scored their most points during Mike White's three seasons in Athens;
• Connected on 34-of-54 shots from the field, a red-hot 66.7 percent effort that matched the No. 4 effort in school history;
• Knocked down 14 3-pointers, matching UGA's sixth-most ever;
• Shot 58.3 percent (14-of-24) from behind the arc, their best percentage under White.

Georgia's overall field goal percentage (.667) and 3-point percentage (.583) are currently the best efforts by any SEC team during the 2024-25 season.

Trio Posts First Double-Doubles

Junior RJ Godfrey, freshman Asa Newell and sophomore Blue Cain all 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 in the next contest against Texas Southern.

Godfrey put up 10 points and 10 boards against Tennessee Tech and then posted career highs of 21 points and 12 rebounds versus North Florida. After not recording a double-double in 69 GPs as a freshman and a sophomore, Godfrey did so in two of his first 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.

Asa Equals UGA Freshman Mark

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

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 a 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."

Wilkins wasn't the only elite company Newell joined among the best Bulldog initial outings. Georgia's top-10 list of freshman debuts also includes current NBA stars Anthony Edwards and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope as outlined below.

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

Trio Posts First Double-Doubles

RJ Godfrey, Asa Newell and 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 in the next contest against Texas Southern.

Godfrey put up 10 points and 10 boards against Tennessee Tech and then posted career highs of 21 points and 12 rebounds versus North Florida. After not recording a double-double in 69 GPs as a freshman and a sophomore, Godfrey did so in two of his first 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.

Six Dogs Were 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).

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 was 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 the 1981 and 1982 NITs. 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 career primarily with the Atlanta Hawks that included being a nine-time All-Star and seven-time All-NBA selection.

Bulldogs Produce Points In Exhibitions

Georgia averaged exactly 100 points in the Bulldogs' two preseason exhibition victories, putting up 86 at Charlotte and 114 versus UCF.

Equally impressive as the point production was Georgia's efficiency. The Bulldogs shot 61.3 percent from the floor, including 48.9 percent from 3-point range, against the 49ers and Knights.

COMPLETE GAME NOTES PDF

View the full game notes PDF.

Bulldogs Face Third-Straight Top-25 Foe In Oklahoma

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Justin Abson

Blue Cain

Silas Demary Jr.

RJ Godfrey

Dylan James

Tyrin Lawrence

Dakota Leffew

De'Shayne Montgomery

Asa Newell

Bulldogs Face Third-Straight Top-25 Foe In Oklahoma

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Justin Abson

Blue Cain

Silas Demary Jr.

RJ Godfrey

Dylan James

Tyrin Lawrence

Dakota Leffew

De'Shayne Montgomery

Asa Newell

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