Bulldogs Return To Stegeman To Host South Carolina

Georgia Basketball Game Notes

Georgia (14-6, 2-5 SEC) vs. South Carolina (10-10, 0-7 SEC)
Date: Tuesday, January 28, 2025
Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
Venue: Stegeman Coliseum (10,523)
Location: Athens, Ga.
Promotional Giveaway: The first 750 UGA students receive a reversible bucket hat.
TV: SEC Network (Rich Hollenberg, play-by-play; Daymeon Fishback, analyst)
Radio: Georgia Bulldog Network – Sirius 81 (Scott Howard, play-by-play; Chuck Dowdle, analyst; Adam Gillespie, producer)
Tickets: www.georgiadogs.com/mbbtix

The Starting 5...

Georgia returns to the friendly and increasingly raucous confines of Stegeman Coliseum on Tuesday to host the South Carolina Gamecocks. The Bulldogs will play three of their next four games at home.
Georgia is 11-1 at home this season, with capacity crowds for the Bulldogs' three SEC outings – wins over No. 6/7 Kentucky and No. 17/16 Oklahoma and a two-point loss to No. 1/1 Auburn.
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, with three of those matchups being on the road.
With UGA at No. 23 on Jan. 13, Mike White has now led three programs with losing records the year before he arrived to the top-25 AP in less than three seasons...also doing so at La. Tech and Florida.
The Bulldogs entered the week ranked 39.8 in an average of six popular metrics (NET, KenPom, Torvik, KPI, BPI and SOR) – an increase of 179.2 spots since Mike White became UGA's head coach.

The Opening Tip

Georgia returns to Stegeman Coliseum on Tuesday to host South Carolina in the first of three home dates over a four-game stretch for UGA.

The Bulldogs are 11-1 at Stegeman Coliseum this season, a record includes wins over No. 6/7 Kentucky and No. 17/16 Oklahoma. The lone setback is a two-point loss to No. 1/1 Auburn. The atmosphere in Stegeman has benefited the Bulldogs greatly. Georgia's three SEC dates have been played before electric capacity crowds.

Georgia is 14-6 overall and 2-5 to open league play. The Bulldogs are in the midst of a six-game stretch with dates versus top-10 teams, with trips to No. 6/6 Tennessee, No. 5/6 Florida and No. 4/4 Alabama to go along with the aforementioned contest with No. 1/1 Auburn.

Such is life in the SEC in 2025.

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 73 double-digit performances.

Asa Newell, who has been named SEC Freshman of the Week three times, leads a trio of Bulldogs averaging double figures at 15.1 ppg. He also paces UGA on the boards at 6.9 rpg. Among league leaders, Newell is ranked No. 14 in scoring and No. 13 rebounding – including an SEC-best and 17th nationally 3.6 offensive boards per game. He also is No. 3 the SEC and No. 50 nationally in field goal percentage (.533).

Silas Demary Jr. and Dakota Leffew are scoring at a double-digit pace for the Bulldogs at 11.3 ppg and 11.0 ppg, respectively.

Scouting The Gamecocks

South Carolina is 10-10 overall and 0-7 in the SEC, possibly the most deceiving record in the history of intercollegiate athletics. The Gamecocks' setbacks include a three-point decision to then-No. 2/2 Auburn, a one-point loss to No. 5/6 Florida and an overtime defeat to No. 19/19 Mississippi State.

Sophomore Collin Murray-Boyles leads South Carolina offensively at 15.1 ppg and is the SEC's second-leading rebounder at 9.1 rpg.

Jamaril Thomas is chipping in 12.8 ppg and a team-high 3.3 apg, while Nick Pringle and Zachary Davis are just shy of a double-digit scoring clip at 9.6 ppg and 9.5 ppg, respectively.

Series History With S.C.

Despite a 34-23 advantage for Georgia in games played in Athens, South Carolina leads the overall series, 64-60.

Georgia and South Carolina split their two meetings last season, with the visiting team winning each matchup.

In the most recent outing last Feb. 3 in Athens, Jabri Abdur-Rahim scored a game-high 20 points – his fourth 20-point performance this season – however South Carolina rallied to a 72-62 win before a sellout crowd.

The Bulldogs started quickly, racing to a 29-19 lead with 8:05 left in the first half. The Gamecocks cut that margin to two by halftime and took the lead for good with 11:17 left.

Blue Cain chipped in 11 points off the bench for Georgia, which was outscored on bench points for just the third time in 22 games.

Last Time Out

No. 5/6 Florida started quickly and maintained a comfortable lead throughout the game en route to an 89-59 win over Georgia last Saturday at Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center in Gainesville.

Blue Cain led the Bulldogs with 10 points, while Asa Newell had a team-high six boards.

Florida produced the most points by a Georgia opponent this season while shooting the best field goal percentage against the Bulldogs as well.

After leading at intermission and averaging giving up just 24.0 first-half points in its first four road games – 27-19 at Georgia Tech, 28-26 at No. 24/23 Ole Miss, 26-25 at No. 1/1 Tennessee and 38-26 at Arkansas – Georgia gave up 51 points while the Gators shot 66.7 percent in the first 20 minutes in Gainesville.

Bulldogs Have been Stellar In Stegeman

Georgia is 11-1 at historic Stegeman Coliseum this season, with an eye-catching scoring margin of +21.3 ppg in those outings. That tally includes double-digit decisions over No. 6/7 Kentucky and No. 17/16 Oklahoma.

The Bulldogs' 13-game home winning streak was snapped with a 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 ever during Mike White's three seasons in Athens 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.

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. 4/4 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 Alabama, No. 1 Auburn, No. 2 Florida, No. 2 Tennessee, 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 the Jan. 13 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, who were 6-26 in 2021-22, joined the AP poll after improving to 14-4 with back-to-back wins over No. 6/7 Kentucky and No. 17/16 Oklahoma the previous week.

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 during the 2012-13 campaign. Florida, 16-17 in 2014-15 prior to White, topped out at No. 12 in the AP poll during the Gators' 2017 "Elite Eight" campaign.

Some More Stuff On The Polls

The Bulldogs were ranked No. 23 in both the Associated Press and coaches polls released on Monday, Jan. 13.

That was Georgia's first appearance in the AP poll in just over 14 years....since Jan. 10, 2011, when the Bulldogs were No. 24. The last time prior to that when Georgia was featured in both polls was nearly 22 years ago...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 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 6 Stats

Georgia entered this week ranked among the nation's top-40 teams in six statistics as outlined below.

The Bulldogs rank among the nation's top-25 teams in both field goal percentage defense (No. 21) and 3-point defense (No. 12).

Oddly, Georgia is one of the nation's worst teams in free throw defense. The Bulldogs rank No. 348, with opponents connecting on 76.5 percent of their trips to the line.

Georgia is No. 15 nationally in blocked shots. Freshman Somto Cyril, who has four or more blocks in four games, entered the week ranked No. 29 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
12.	3-Point FG Defense	.285
15.	Blocked Shots	5.4
21.	FG Percentage Defense	.392
29.	FT Attempts Per Game	23.6
34.	Rebound Margin	+6.3
37.	FTs Per Game	16.9

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 – 15.3 percent.

Freshman Asa Newell's 41 slams represent the sixth most among all Division I players as outlined below.

Top Dunkers - Team Leaders
Rk.	Team	Pct. of FGs
1.	Cincinnati	17.5
2.	Utah	17.4
3.	Creighton	16.8
4.	Tennessee	16.8
5.	Georgia/Duke	15.3
Top Dunkers - Individual Leaders
Rk.	Player, School	No.
1.	R. Kalkbrenner, CU	53
2.	J. Scott, UofL	46
3.	D. Mitchell, UC	44
4.	R. Castro, GWU	43
5.	A. Bandaogo, UC	42
6.	A. Newell, UGA	41

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 12 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) Newell as led Georgia in eight games, followed by Somto Cyril in six, Demary Jr. and in four, Cain and Godfrey in two apiece and Justin Abson and Lawrence in one each.

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 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.

JU Win Supplies 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. The Bulldogs:

• Scored their most points under Mike White;
• 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.

Asa Equals nique's Mark For Debuting Dogs

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	Wofford	11/11/11

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

View the full game notes PDF.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jabri Abdur-Rahim

Justin Abson

Blue Cain

Silas Demary Jr.

RJ Godfrey

Dylan James

Tyrin Lawrence

Dakota Leffew

De'Shayne Montgomery

Asa Newell

University of Georgia Athletics