No. 23 Georgia Set To Host No. 1 Auburn On Saturday

Georgia Basketball Game Notes

No. 23/23 Georgia (14-3, 2-2 SEC) vs. No. 1/1 Auburn (16-1, 4-0 SEC)
Date: Saturday, January 18, 2025
Time: 1:00 p.m. ET
Venue: Stegeman Coliseum (10,523)
Location: Athens, Ga.
TV: SEC Network (John Schriffen, play-by-play; Daymeon Fishback, analyst)
Radio: Georgia Bulldog Network – Sirius 374 (Scott Howard, play-by-play; Chuck Dowdle, analyst; Adam Gillespie, producer)
Game Giveaways: The first 750 UGA students will receive a Georgia Basketball tumbler & 2000 UGA students will receive a Whataburger Honey Butter Chicken Biscuit.
Tickets: www.georgiadogs.com/mbbtix

The Starting 5...

The No. 23-ranked Georgia Bulldogs host No. 1 Auburn on Saturday looking to extend their 13-game winning streak at Stegeman Coliseum, the fourth-longest stretch of home success in program history.
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 and Florida
The Bulldogs entered the week ranked 30.8 in an average of six popular metrics (NET, KenPom, Torvik, KPI, BPI and SOR) – an increase of 188.2 spots since Mike White became UGA's head coach.
Auburn is Georgia's fifth straight ranked opponent, the first time the Dogs have ever played a quintet of top-25 foes in a row. In fact, UGA had never played four ranked teams in a row before Wednesday.

The Opening Tip

No. 23 Georgia hosts No. 1 Auburn on Saturday at a sold-out Stegeman Coliseum, the Bulldogs' fifth consecutive matchup against a top-25 opponent to open SEC play. To provide perspective, Georgia had only played three straight games versus ranked teams four times prior to this season. The Bulldogs had never played four ranked foes in a row, let alone five.

Georgia is 2-2 to open league play, holding serve at home and falling on the road twice.

Such is life in the SEC in 2025.

While Saturday's game will likely end the stretch against ranked opposition, the Tigers represent the second of four top-10s team the Bulldogs will play in a six-game span, with three of those on the road. That stretch began with Wednesday's date with No 6 Tennessee and also includes road outings at No. 5/4 Florida next Saturday and at No. 4/5 Alabama in two weeks.

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 67 double-digit performances.

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 15.3 ppg. He also paces UGA on the boards at 6.7 rpg. Among league leaders, Newell is ranked No. 18 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 (.578).

Rounding out the double-digit point producers in the scoring column are Dakota Leffew at 12.1 ppg, Silas Demary Jr. at 11.9 ppg and De'Shayne Montgomery at 10.0 ppg.

Scouting The Tigers

Auburn arrives in Athens at 16-1 overall and 4-0 in the SEC, marks that have led the Tigers to be ranked No. 1 in both the AP and coaches polls this week.

Auburn is coming off an impressive 88-66 decision over No. 15/18 Mississippi State on Tuesday night. The Tigers played without National Player of the Year candidate Johni Broome, who suffered an ankle injury in last Saturday's win at South Carolina.

Broome has done it all for Auburn this season and leads the Tigers in scoring (17.9 ppg), rebounding (10.7 rpg), assists (3.3 apg) and blocks (2.7 bpg). Perhaps most impressive, the 6-10 Broome leads AU and ranks No. 4 in the SEC in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.89.

Even without Broome, five other Tigers are scoring at a double-figure clip for Auburn. Chad Baker-Mazara is averaging 13.1 ppg, followed by Tahaad Pettiford at 11.3 ppg, Denver Jones at 10.6 ppg, Chaney Johnson at 10.5 ppg and Miles Kelly at 10.4 ppg.

Series History With Auburn

Georgia and Auburn will face off for the 200th time on Saturday, with the Tigers owning a 102-97 edge in previous meetings.

The Bulldogs and Tigers last met in last season's regular-season finale, with Auburn securing an 82-78 victory at Neville Arena on The Plains.

In Auburn's most recent trip to Stegeman Coliseum on Feb. 24 last season, the Tigers broke away late en route to a 97-76 victory.

Auburn grabbed a double-digit lead midway through the first half and withstood a Georgia rally that trimmed the margin to three points three times in the second half.

After trailing 58-45 with 15:53 remaining, Georgia closed the gap to 60-57 on a pair of Silas Demary Jr. free throws with 11:49 remaining. The Bulldogs and Tigers traded buckets twice before a Johni Broome 3-pointer ignited a 14-2 surge by Auburn.

Last Time Out

No. 23 Georgia built a 26-21 lead late in the first half at No. 6 Tennessee on Wednesday before the Volunteers rallied for a 74-56 victory at Food City Center.

Asa Newell and Silas Demary Jr. led Georgia with 13 and 12 points, respectively. All of Demary's points came from a career-most four 3-pointers.

"I thought we were phenomenal in the first 20 and then early second half, we were just different defensively," head coach Mike White said. "And then we find ourselves in a hole there pretty quickly. We got a little bit stagnant offensively which allowed (Jahmai) Mashack and (Zakai) Ziegler to really crawl into our guards. Whether it was first half or early second half, did a poor job blocking them out, didn't match their intensity on the glass, 18 offensive rebounds. Those two stats there, the 18 and the 19 (turnovers), I think really tell you what happened out there."

Tigers Tie Tech At Georgia's Second Most Frequent Foes

On Saturday, Auburn will tie Georgia Tech in the second spot on the Bulldogs' ledger of most games against an opponent. The Bulldogs and Tigers are facing off for the 200th time, the same number of contests for Georgia against the Yellow Jackets.

Georgia has played Florida more than any other foe, with 230 times contests between the Bulldogs and Gators. Rounding out the top-5 in games played against Georgia are Tennessee and Kentucky, both with 161 matchups.

Mike White, Quickly Taking Losing Programs To The Top 25

Georgia represents the third program Mike White has taken from a losing record the season before his arrival to a top-25 ranking in the AP poll in less than three seasons. The Bulldogs were 6-26 in 2021-22 and joined the top 25 this week at No. 23 after improving to 14-2 on the year.

White took less than two seasons to earn a top-25 ranking at his previous two head coaching stops. Louisiana Tech was in 12-20 in 2010-11 before White had those Bulldogs ranked No. 25 in 2013. Florida, 16-17 in 2014-15, topped out at No. 12 during the Gators' 2017 "Elite Eight" campaign.

Some More 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. The last time Georgia was featured in both polls was March 10, 2003, when the Bulldogs were No. 21 and No. 22 in the AP and coaches polls, respectively.

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 OT, on Jan. 3, 2004 . . . a span of 21 years and one day. The 2003-04 season also was the last time Georgia defeated a pair of top-10 teams in the same campaign.

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 and No. 21 LSU in January 2007.

Dogs' Home Streak Hits 13 Games

Georgia has won 13 straight outings at Stegeman Coliseum, matching the fourth-longest home winning span ever for the Bulldogs as outlined below and below.

Georgia's 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.

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.

Dogs Among Nation's Best In A 8 Stats

Georgia entered this weekend ranked among the nation's top-35 teams in eight 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. 9 nationally in blocked shots (5.6 bpg) and No. 17 in rebounding margin (+8.4).

Rebounding wise, the Bulldogs won the board battle in all but three 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, entered the weekend ranked No. 30 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 Bulldogs' most in a single game since also blocking a dozen attempts by Vanderbilt on Jan. 9, 2019.

A Top-35 Team In...
Rk.	Category	Stat
9.	Blocked Shots	5.6
12.	3-Point FG Defense	.281
17.	Rebound Margin	+8.4
18.	FG Percentage Defense	.388
27.	Scoring Margin	13.7
27.	FT Attempts Per Game	23.9
30.	FTs Per Game	17.5
35.	Scoring Defense	64.8

The "Dunkyard Dawgs" Attack The Rim

With a nod to the awesome website barttorvik.com, we know that Georgia entered this weekend scoring the nation's third highest percentage of its made FGs on dunks – 17.2 percent. That equates to 79 of UGA's 460 made shots from the field this season and means 23.1 percent of UGA's made two-point field goals have been dunks.

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

Top Dunkers - Team Leaders
Rk.	Team	Pct. of FGs
1.	Cincinnati	18.8
2.	Utah	18.3
3.	GEORGIA	17.2
4.	Tennessee	17.1
5.	Creighton	15.7
Top Dunkers - Individual Leaders
Rk.	Player, School	No.
1.	R. Kalkbrenner, CU	40
2.	A. Bandaogo, UC	40
3.	D. Mitchell, UC	37
4.	Y. Niederhauser, PSU	39
5.	A. NEWELL, UGA	38

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 FOTW 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 against the Wildcats and the Sooners.

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 has paced the Bulldogs' point production in a team-high 10 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 five, Demary Jr. and in four, Cain and Godfrey in two apiece and Justin Abson and Lawrence in one each.

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

View the full game notes PDF.

No. 23 Georgia Set To Host No. 1 Auburn On Saturday

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Justin Abson

Blue Cain

Silas Demary Jr.

RJ Godfrey

Dylan James

Tyrin Lawrence

Dakota Leffew

De'Shayne Montgomery

Asa Newell

University of Georgia Athletics

No. 23 Georgia Set To Host No. 1 Auburn On Saturday

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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