Bulldogs Open Two-Game Road Swing At Arkansas

Georgia Basketball Game Notes

Georgia (14-4, 2-3 SEC) vs. Arkansas (11-7, 0-5 SEC SEC)
Date: Wednesday, January 18, 2025
Time: 9:00 p.m. ET
Venue: Bud Walton Arena (19,200)
Location: Fayetteville, Ark.
TV: SEC Network (Roy Philpott, play-by-play; Jimmy Dykes, analyst)
Radio: Georgia Bulldog Network – Sirius 380 (Scott Howard, play-by-play; Chuck Dowdle, analyst; Adam Gillespie, producer)
Tickets: www.georgiadogs.com/mbbtix

The Starting 5...

Georgia opens a two-game road trip by trekking to Fayetteville to face Arkansas on Wednesday evening at Bud Walton Arena. The Bulldogs will take on No. 5/6 Florida on Saturday in Gainesville.
Georgia, which played five straight ranked opponents to begin the SEC campaign, is in the midst of a six-game span featuring four top-10 opponents – No. 6/6 Tennessee, No. 1/1 Auburn, No. 5/6 Florida and No. 4/3 Alabama – with three of those matchups being on the road.
Mike White has now led three programs with losing records the season before he arrived to top-25 AP rankings in less than three years. He also did so at Louisiana Tech (12-20 in 2010-11 to No. 25 in 2013) and Florida (16-17 in 2014-15 to No. 12 during 2017 "Elite Eight" campaign).
The Bulldogs entered the week ranked 31.8 in an average of six popular metrics (NET, KenPom, Torvik, KPI, BPI and SOR) – an increase of 187.2 spots since Mike White became UGA's head coach.
Asa Newell has been named SEC Freshman of the Week three times, the second most ever by a Bulldog behind only Anthony Edwards' four certificates during the 2019-20 season.

The Opening Tip

The Georgia Bulldogs open a two-game road swing this week by traveling to Fayetteville to take on Arkansas on Wednesday evening at Bud Walton Arena. Georgia will then venture to Gainesville to face the No. 5/6 Florida Gators on Saturday.

Georgia is 14-4 overall and 2-3 to open league play, with all five league foes to date being ranked – No. 24/23 Ole Miss, No. 6/7 Kentucky, No. 17/16 Oklahoma, No. 6/6 Tennessee and No. 1/1 Auburn.

Such is life in the SEC in 2025.

The Arkansas matchup is the third in a six-game span when the Bulldogs will play four top-10 teams. Georgia dropped decisions to No. 6/6 Tennessee and No. 1/1 Auburn last week and after playing No. 5/6 Florida on Saturday, will take on No. 4/3 Alabama the following Saturday.

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 70 double-digit performances.

Asa Newell, who was named SEC Freshman of the Week for the third time this season last Monday, leads a trio of Bulldogs averaging double figures at 15.3 ppg. He also paces UGA on the boards at 6.8 rpg. Among league leaders, Newell is ranked No. 17 in scoring and No. 13 rebounding – including an SEC-best 3.4 offensive boards per game. He also is No. 3 the SEC and No. 37 nationally in field goal percentage (.570).

A single point separates the production of Georgia's other double-digit scorers, with Dakota Leffew at 11.8 ppg and Silas Demary Jr. at 11.7 ppg.

Scouting The Razorbacks

Arkansas is 11-7 overall and 0-5 in the SEC to date. The Razorbacks spent six of the first eight weeks of the season ranked in the nation's top 25 before league play began.

Adou Theiro, who transferred from Kentucky to remain with head coach John Calipari, leads Arkansas in both scoring (16.4 ppg) and rebounds (6.0 rpg).

Freshman Boogie Fland, who is contributing 15.1 ppg, paces the Razorbacks at 5.7 apg and sports an even more stellar assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.68. D.J. Wagner, another Kentucky transfer, is also scoring at a double-figure clip for Arkansas at 10.1 ppg.

Series History With Arkansas

Arkansas enters Wednesday's matchup with Georgia sporting a 27-17 advantage in the all-time series.

The Bulldogs and Razorbacks split a home-and-home series last season, with each team winning on its home floor.

In the most recent meeting last Feb. 10 in Fayetteville, Georgia fought back from a 12-point, second-half deficit to grab a 66-65 lead with just under four minutes remaining but could not complete the comeback and fell 78-75 at Arkansas.

The Dogs and Hogs traded the lead five times over during the final 3:57 of the contest. The Razorbacks went on top for good with 54 seconds remaining.

A month earlier to the day, Georgia never trailed en route to a 76-66 win over Arkansas at Stegeman Coliseum on Jan. 19.

The Bulldogs scored the game's first six points and never looked back. The lead bulged to 13 before Georgia settled on a 34-24 halftime lead. Arkansas inched back into the game and pulled with three on three occasions; however, the Bulldogs answered each time.

Last Time Out

No. 1/1 Auburn built a 27-9 early lead and then withstood several valiant comeback attempts by No. 23/23 Georgia to secure a 70-68 win over the Bulldogs before a sell-out crowd at Stegeman Coliseum last Saturday.

Georgia made it a one-possession game four times before the Tigers pushed their advantage to 69-60 with 41 seconds remaining. A finally furious rally cut the margin to 70-67 before the Bulldogs failed to tie the game twice in the final 10 seconds, with a Dakota Leffew 3-pointer rimming out and an Asa Newell jumper at the buzzer drawing front iron.

The loss snapped the Bulldogs' 13-game winning streak at Stegeman, which equaled the fourth-longest stretch of home success in program history.

"(We) better rest tomorrow and get better on Monday," head coach Mike White said. "Our guys understand that there are some areas that we can improve. Auburn has got a bunch of winning experience. We hope to be a team that's the same over time. Who knows when that is, but that's the hope. (I) hope this team can reach their ceiling. There are a few things that we could have done better, of course, but when you're playing some of the best teams in the country, your warts are exposed a little bit. It's a little bit easier for learning situations to resonate with our guys. So, we'll look forward to trying to consolidate as quickly as we can to watch on Monday and discuss it."

No Matter How You State It, Dogs' SEC Slate Is Daunting

Since Georgia's Southeastern Conference schedule is so testing, here's a multiple choice question about the Bulldogs' slate. Which of the following is true?

A. Georgia opened SEC play by facing five straight top-25 opponents. Prior to this season, the Bulldogs had only played three consecutive ranked foes four times. Georgia had never played ranked opposition four outings in a row, let alone five.

B. Georgia is the midst of a six-game stretch when the Bulldogs will face four top-10 teams – No. 6/6 Tennessee, No. 1/1 Auburn, No. 5/6 Florida and No. 4/3 Alabama – with three of those matchup being on the road.

C. Of Georgia's 18 SEC games, 10 are against teams tabbed as top-5 seeds in the latest published edition of ESPN.com's Bracketology, including six road outings at No. 1 Auburn, No. 1 Tennessee, No. 2 Florida, No. 2 Alabama, No. 4 Texas A&M and No. 5 Ole Miss.

D. All of the above.

Mike White, Quickly Taking Losing Programs To The Top 25

When Georgia appeared at No. 23 in last week's Associated Press poll, it represented the third program Mike White has taken a program from a losing record the season before his arrival to a top-25 ranking in less than three years. The Bulldogs were 6-26 in 2021-22 and joined the Jan. 20 AP poll after improving to 14-4 with wins over No. 6/7 Kentucky and No. 17/16 Oklahoma.

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.

Dogs, Hogs Among Nation's youngest & Best Swatters

According to KenPom.com, Georgia and Arkansas are the two youngest and least experienced teams in the SEC. The Bulldogs are ranked No. 141 in average experience on its roster, with the Razorbacks as the only league team lower than UGA at No. 232.

AND, guaranteeing that not a single shot will be swatted on Wednesday . . . it is worth noting that both Georgia and Arkansas are ranked among Division I's top-10 teams in blocked shots, with the Bulldogs at No. 9 at 5.6 bpg and the Razorbacks at No. 6 at 6.0 bpg

Some More Stuff On The Polls

Georgia was ranked No. 23 in both the Associated Press and coaches polls last week.

That was the Bulldogs' first appearance in the AP poll in just over 14 years....since Jan. 10, 2011, when they were No. 24. The last time prior to last week Georgia was featured in both polls was nearly 22 years agon...on March 10, 2003, when the Bulldogs were listed at No. 21 and No. 22 in the AP and coaches polls, respectively.

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

Georgia's 82-69 win over No. 6 Kentucky on Jan. 7 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 Among Nation's Best In A 8 Stats

Georgia entered this week ranked among the nation's top-40 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 Monday, Georgia ranked No. 9 nationally in blocked shots (5.6 bpg) and No. 18 in rebounding margin (+7.9).

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 week ranked No. 31 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-40 Team In...
Rk.	Category	Stat
9.	Blocked Shots	5.6
18.	Rebound Margin	+7.9
18.	FG Percentage Defense	.388
21.	3-Point FG Defense	.289
30.	FT Attempts Per Game	23.7
33.	Scoring Margin	12.8
34.	Scoring Defense	65.1
38.	FTs Per Game	17.0

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 84 of UGA's 486 made shots from the field this season and means 23.8 percent of UGA's made two-point field goals have been dunks.

Freshman Asa Newell's 39 slams represent the fifth most among all Division I players as outlined below.

Top Dunkers - Team Leaders
Rk.	Team	Pct. of FGs
1.	Utah	18.3
2.	Cincinnati	18.3
3.	Tennessee	17.3
4.	GEORGIA	16.3
5.	Creighton	16.1
Top Dunkers - Individual Leaders
Rk.	Player, School	No.
1.	R. Kalkbrenner, CU	46
	D. Mitchell, UC	42
3.	A. Bandaogo, UC	40
	J. Scott, RofL	40
5.	A. NEWELL, UGA	39

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

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 11 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 and Asa Newell have led Georgia in six contests, followed Demary Jr. and in four, Cain and Godfrey in two apiece and Justin Abson and Lawrence in one each.

Asa Earns Third SEC FOTW Honor

Asa Newell was named SEC Freshman of the Week for the third time this season on Jan. 13 after he was Georgia's leading scorer in wins over No. 6/7 Kentucky and No. 17/16 Oklahoma. Newell averaged 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.

Dogs' Home Streak Snapped at 13

Georgia's home winning streak at Stegeman Coliseum ended at 13 straight with the Bulldogs' 70-68 setback to No. 1 Auburn on Jan. 18. That matched the fourth-longest home winning span ever for the Bulldogs.

In fact, Georgia has enjoyed three of its 10 longest stretches of home success under Mike White as outlined below.

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 Athens as a visiting head coach before coming to UGA. He led Louisiana Tech to a 2014 NIT victory at Stegeman and was 6-1 while at Florida from 2015-22.

With his 37-11 home mark since becoming Georgia's head coach, White is now a combined 44-12 (.786) in Stegeman. He is a perfect 27-0 versus non-conference competition in home games while with the Bulldogs.

Asa Equals nique's 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."

Six Dogs Were Top-100 Prospects

Georgia's 13 scholarship players includes a half-dozen Bulldogs who were ranked among the nation's top-100 prospects in their class.

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.

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 247 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.

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

University of Georgia Athletics