Bulldogs Take On Tennessee In Top-25 Matchup

Georgia Basketball Game Notes

No. 23/23 Georgia (14-2, 2-1 SEC) vs. No. 6/6 Tennessee (15-1, 2-1 SEC)
Date: Wednesday, January 15, 2025
Time: 8:00 p.m. ET
Venue: Food City Center (21,678)
Location: Knoxville, Tenn.
TV: SEC Network (Brian Custer, play-by-play; Richard Hendrix, analyst)
Radio: Georgia Bulldog Network – Sirius 389 (Scott Howard, play-by-play; Chuck Dowdle, analyst; Adam Gillespie, producer). Please note the Atlanta area broadcast will be on 97.1 for this game.
Tickets: www.georgiadogs.com/mbbtix

The Starting 5...

The No. 23-ranked Georgia Bulldogs trek to Knoxville on Wednesday to face No. 6 Tennessee in the first of four matchups against current top-10 teams in UGA's next six outings.
The Bulldogs are ranked No. 23 in both the AP and coaches polls this week, UGA's first AP poll appearance since Jan. 10, 2011 and the first time the Dogs are in both polls March 10, 2003.
Mike White has led three different programs with losing records the season before he arrived to top-25 rankings in the AP poll, also doing so at Louisiana Tech in 12-20 in 2010-11 to No. 25 in 2013 and Florida 16-17 in 2014-15 to No. 12 in 2017. UGA was 6-26 in 2021-22, the season before White's arrival.
The Bulldogs entered the week ranked 29.3 in an average of six popular metrics (NET, KenPom, Torvik, KPI, BPI and SOR) – an increase of 189.7 spots since Mike White became UGA's head coach.
Tennessee is UGA's fourth straight ranked opponent, the first time the Bulldogs have ever played a quartet of ranked foes in successive outings. Last Saturday vs. Oklahoma was just the fifth time Georgia faced a trio of consecutive ranked foes...also so in 1982-83, 1999-2000, 2016-17 and 2020-21.

The Opening Tip

For the first time in nearly 22 years – since March 10, 2003 to be exact – Georgia is ranked in both the Associated Press and coaches polls. After sweeping No. 6/7 Kentucky and No. 17/16 Oklahoma last week, the 14-2 Bulldogs ascended to No. 23 in each ledger on Monday. Their reward? Facing four top-10 teams over the next six games, with three of those matchups being on the road.

Georgia will face No. 6/6 Tennessee at Food City Center in Knoxville on Wednesday. The Volunteers are the fourth of five consecutive ranked foes the Bulldogs will play to christen the 2025 calendar.

After falling to No. 24/23 Ole Miss in Oxford on Jan. 4, Georgia bounced back last week to top the Wildcats on Tuesday and the Sooners on Saturday before a pair of raucous sellout crowds at Stegeman Coliseum. Following Wednesday's game, Georgia will host No. 1/1 Auburn before another packed house on Saturday.

The additional top-10 outings are at No. 5/4 Florida on Jan. 25 and at No. 4/5 Alabama on Feb. 2.

Wednesday's game against Tennessee will represent the first time the Bulldogs have every played four ranked foes in a row.

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 65 double-digit performances, an average of 4.1 per game.

Asa Newell, who was named SEC Freshman of the Week for the third time this season on Monday, leads a quartet of Bulldogs averaging double figures at 15.4 ppg. He also paces UGA on the boards at 6.8 rpg. Among league leaders, Newell entered this week ranked No. 17 in scoring and No. 13 rebounding – including an SEC-best 3.6 offensive boards per game. He also is No. 3 the SEC and No. 39 nationally in field goal percentage (.581).

Rounding out the double-digit point producers in the scoring column are Dakota Leffew at 12.4 ppg, Silas Demary Jr. at 11.9 ppg and De'Shayne Montgomery at 11.3 ppg.

Scouting The Volunteers

Tennessee's five-week run atop the AP and coaches polls ended on Monday when the Volunteers slipped to No. 6/6.

Tennessee was the nation's last undefeated team before falling at No. 8/8 Florida last Tuesday in Gainesville.

Graduate Chaz Lanier tops all Vols in scoring and entered this week literally a single point shy of leading the SEC. He has scored much of his 19.0 ppg from behind the arc, pacing the league and ranking No. 4 nationally in 3-pointers per game at 3.7 3FGpg and ranking second in the SEC 3-point percentage at .437.

Tennessee has an additional trio of double-figure scorers – Zakai Zeigler at 11.9 ppg, Jordan Gainey at 11.2 ppg and Igor Milicic Jr. at 10.4 ppg. Zeigler leads the SEC and is No. 5 in the nation in assists at 7.6 apg, while Milicic is fourth in the league on the boards at 8.6 rpg.

Series History With Tennessee

Tennessee enters Wednesday's matchup with a 99-61 lead in the all-time series between the Bulldogs and Vols.

Last season on Jan. 13 in Athens, Georgia led by as many as 11 points in the second half; however, No. 5 Tennessee rallied for an 85-79 win before a sellout crowd at Stegeman Coliseum.

The Volunteers gradually built a 14-point first-half lead before the Bulldogs exploded on a combined 15-0 run over the last 3:47 of the first half and the opening 34 seconds of the second stanza to go up 43-42.

Georgia's lead maxed out at 11 points twice, lastly at 75-64 at the 6:24 mark. Tennessee then closed out the contest on a 21-4 surge.

The loss ended the Bulldogs' 10-game winning streak, which equaled the fourth-longest in 118 seasons of Georgia Basketball and was UGA's longest since the 1947-48 campaign.

In the Bulldogs' last trip to Knoxville on Jan. 25, 2023, Georgia started quickly but could not maintain that pace, dropping a 70-41 decision to No. 4 Tennessee. The Bulldogs scored the game's first four points and remained within a single bucket at 19-17 midway through the first half before the Vols embarked on a 16-5 surge to take control.

Last Time Out

Dakota Leffew and Asa Newell both scored a team-high 15 points to lead Georgia in a 72-62 win over No. 17/16 Oklahoma before a sold-out Stegeman Coliseum crowd last Saturday.

With the win, the Bulldogs secured back-to-back wins over ranked foes for the first time since January 2007. Georgia also defeated No. 6/7 Kentucky, 82-69, last Tuesday.

A Justin Abson hook shot put the Bulldogs up 51-50 with 10:36 remaining and ignited a 9-2 surge by Georgia to grab the lead for good.

Newell's output included a trio of old-fashioned three-point plays during a perfect 5-of-5 effort at the line, and Leffew scored seven of his points in the final 4:26 to help ice the win.

"They're all huge," head coach Mike White said. "And I say they're all, like there's going to be a bunch, who knows how many we can get and how many some of these other teams win. It's just great opportunities, but every one of them is just going to be a war. And you have to appreciate the wins that you do get. We appreciate the home court advantage that we had tonight, and we have to work on our force moving forward."

Some Stuff On The Polls

Georgia is ranked No. 23 in both the Associated Press and coaches polls this week.

The Bulldogs last appeared in the AP poll on Jan. 10, 2011, when they were No. 24. Within that week's coaches poll, Georgia was No. 29 among teams receiving votes.

The last time the Bulldogs were featured in both national polls was March 10, 2003, when Georgia was No, 21 and No. 22 in the AP and coaches polls, respectively. The Bulldogs were ranked during 13 weeks throughout the 2002-03 season, topping out on Jan. 27 when Georgia was tabbed No. 15 by the AP and No. 17 by the coaches.

A pair of wins over ranked foes last week pushed the Bulldogs into this week's polls.

Georgia's 82-69 win over No. 6 Kentucky last Tuesday represented the Bulldogs' highest over a ranked foe since defeating No. 5 Kentucky, 65-57, on Jan. 17, 2004. It was also UGA's 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.

The Bulldogs' wins over No. 6 Kentucky and No. 17 Oklahoma were their first back-to-back victories over ranked opponents since beating No. 25 Kentucky (78-69 in OT) and No. 21 LSU (57-54) on Jan. 24 & 28, 2007, respectively.

A Homecoming For Blue

Georgia sophomore Blue Cain is a Knoxville native and was named All-State by the Tennessee Sports Writers Association in 2021 and 2022 while playing at Knoxville Catholic.

Cain played three seasons at Knoxville Catholic before finishing his prep career at the IMG Academy. In 85 outings with the Fighting Irish, he scored 1,213 points, grabbed 400 rebounds, dished out 253 assists and collected 191 steals.

Cain helped Knoxville Catholic compile a 74-12 record over three seasons, including winning the 2020 Tennessee Division II-AA state title.

A Family Reunion for Mike White

Mike White is the older brother of Tennessee's Athletics Director, Danny White.

The White family has produced quite the lot of athletic administrators.

Mike's dad, Kevin, retired as the Director of Athletics at Duke in 2021 following a career that also included stints as AD at Notre Dame, Arizona State, Tulane, Maine and Loras College.

Mike's other brother, Brian, is the AD at Florida Atlantic and his sister, Mariah (Chappell), was previously an assistant AD at SMU.

The "Dunkyard Dawgs" Attack The Rim

With a nod to the awesome website barttorvik.com, we know that Georgia entered this week scoring the nation's third highest percentage of its made FGs on dunks – 18.1 percent. That equates to 80 of UGA's 440 made shots from the field this season and means 24.4 percent of UGA's made two-point field goals have been dunks.

Freshman Asa Newell's 38 slams represent the third most among all Division I players as outlined below.

Top Dunkers - Team Leaders
Rk.	Team	Pct. of FGs
1.	Cincinnati	19.5
2.	Utah	18.4
3.	GEORGIA	18.1
4.	Tennessee	16.6
5.	Creighton	15.7
Top Dunkers - Individual Leaders
Rk.	Player, School	No.
1.	A. Bandaogo, UC	40
	R. Kalkbrenner, CU	40
3.	A. NEWELL, UGA	38
4.	D. Mitchell, UC	37
5.	J. Scott, UofL	36

Dogs Among Nation's Best In A 10 Stats

Georgia entered this week ranked among the nation's top-50 teams in 11 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 Monday, Georgia ranked No. 7 nationally in blocked shots (5.9 bpg) and No. 11 in rebounding margin (+9.3).

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.

Freshman Somto Cyril, who has four or more blocks in four games this season, began the week ranked No. 27 nationally at 2.0 bpg. Cyril and classmate Asa Newell both had four blocks when Georgia swatted 12 shots against Texas Southern on Nov. 10, the Bulldogs' 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
7.	Blocked Shots	5.9
10.	3-Point FG Defense	.280
11.	Rebound Margin	+9.3
17.	FG Percentage Defense	.386
18.	Scoring Margin	15.7
19.	FT Attempts Per Game	24.7
23.	FTs Per Game	17.9
28.	Scoring Defense	64.3
42.	FG Percentage	.484
44.	Rebounds Per Game	39.3
48.	Bench Points	27.8

Bulldogs' Beginning Among Their Best Ever

Georgia's 12-1 start to the 2024-25 campaign 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

Asa Earns Third SEC Freshman Of The Week Honor

Asa Newell was named SEC Freshman of the Week for the third time this season on Monday.

Last week, Newell was Georgia's leading scorer in wins over No. 6/7 Kentucky and No. 17/16 Oklahoma, averaging 16.0 points in those outings.

Newell also was honored on Nov. 18 – after he averaged 13.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 1.5 blocks and 1.5 assists in a pair of wins over Georgia Tech and North Florida – and on Dec. 9 – after posting game-high tallies of 20 points and 11 rebounds in Georgia's 69-48 victory over Notre Dame in the SEC/ACC Challenge.

Newell is one of 10 Bulldogs who have earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors a combined 16 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.

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 paced the Bulldogs' point production in a team-high nine 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 Demary Jr. and Newell in four each, Cain and Godfrey in two apiece and Justin Abson and Lawrence in one each.

Dogs' Home Streak Hits 13 Games

Georgia's victory over No. 17/16 Oklahoma extended the Bulldogs' winning streak at Stegeman Coliseum to 13 games. That matches the fourth-longest home winning span ever for Georgia as outlined below.

The Bulldogs' span of home success dates back to victories over Ole Miss in the final regular-season home outing and an NIT first-round win over Xavier last season, followed by an 11-0 home record this season.

Georgia is 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 37-10 home mark since becoming Georgia's head coach, White is now a combined 44-11 (.800) in Stegeman.

Asa Equals Nique's UGA Debut Scoring 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

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

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Players Mentioned

Justin Abson

Blue Cain

Silas Demary Jr.

RJ Godfrey

Dylan James

Tyrin Lawrence

Dakota Leffew

De'Shayne Montgomery

Asa Newell