Georgia Opens SEC Play At No. 24/23 Ole Miss

Georgia Basketball Game Notes

Georgia (12-1, 0-0 SEC) vs. No. 24/23 Ole Miss (11-2, 0-0 SEC)
Date: Saturday, January 4, 2025
Time: 12:00 p.m. ET
Venue: SBJ Pavilion (9,500)
Location: Oxford, Miss.
TV: SEC Network (Richard Cross, play-by-play; Pat Bradley, 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 SEC play on Saturday at No. 24/23 Ole Miss looking to extend its best beginning to a season in 94 years. The Bulldogs are 12-1, the first time they have started as well since 1930-31.
Seven out of the Bulldogs' eight January games are against teams ranked in this week's AP poll, including back-to-back outings against No. 1 Tennessee and No. 2 Auburn and additional dates with No. 6 Florida and No. 10 Kentucky.
Georgia has turned into the "Dunkyard Dawgs" this season. A nation-leading 19.7 percent of the Bulldogs' field goals have been dunks, and Asa Newell ranks third nationally with 34 slams.
The Bulldogs' balanced offense features nine players who have combined to post 57 double-figure scoring outputs, led by freshman Asa Newell's 12 double-digit performances.
Georgia entered the weekend ranked among the nation's top-50 teams in 12 stats, including top-20 marks in blocks (No. 5 at 6.0 bpg), FG percentage (No. 12 at .507), rebound margin (No. 12 at +10.4 rpg), scoring margin (No. 18 at +18.5) and 3-point FG defense (No. 16 at .280).

THE OPENING TIP

The Georgia Bulldogs open Southeastern Conference play on Saturday, venturing to Oxford, Miss., to take on the No. 24/23 Ole Miss Rebels at noon ET.

Georgia is 12-1 on the season, the Bulldogs' best start in 94 years...since they began the 1930-31 campaign with a 23-1 record.

The Bulldogs will face an eye-catching slate of games in January, with seven of eight contests against teams currently ranked by the AP. Georgia will take on three of the nation's four teams to reach January undefeated – Tennessee, Florida and Oklahoma.

Georgia's balanced offense features seven players who have led the Bulldogs offensively in one or more games. Two more players have posted double-figure scoring outputs. All told, those nine Bulldogs have produced 57 double-digit performances, an average of 4.4 per game.

De'Shayne Montgomery leads a quintet of Bulldogs averaging double figures at 16.0 ppg, including a 22-point outburst against Charleston Southern.

Asa Newell, a two-time SEC Freshman of the Week honoree in the first five weeks of the season, is averaging 15.5 ppg and paces UGA on the boards at 6.4 rpg. Among SEC stat leaders, Newell enters league play ranked No. 16 in scoring and No. 15 rebounding, as well as No. 3 the SEC and No. 33 nationally in field goal percentage (.590).

Rounding out the double-digit point producers in the scoring column are Silas Demary Jr. at 12.8 ppg, Dakota Leffew at 12.4 ppg and Tyrin Lawrence at 10.7 ppg.

Scouting The Rebels

Ole Miss sports an 11-2 record to date and is ranked No. 24 and No. 23 in this week's AP and coaches polls, respectively.

The Rebels are a perfect 11-0 at the Sandy and John Black Pavilion, with their losses coming in a neutral site setback to No. 12 Purdue in San Diego and a second defeat on the road at Memphis.

Sean Pedulla leads four double-digit scorers for the Rebels at 14.7 ppg, followed by Jaylen Murray at 13.2 ppg, Matthew Murrel at 11.7 ppg and Dre Davis at 10.9 ppg.

Series History With Ole Miss

Georgia is 78-47 all-time versus Ole Miss; however, the Rebels own a 28-27 edge in games played in Oxford.

In the most recent meeting on March 5 last season, five Bulldogs posted double-digit scoring outputs as a balanced offensive attack secured Georgia a 69-66 win at Stegeman Coliseum.

Georgia led for 36:37 of the contest, but the outcome wasn't decided until the final 30 seconds. The Bulldogs built their largest lead of the night at 65-54 with 2:45 remaining before Ole Miss used an 8-0 surge to pull within 65-63 with 49 seconds left.

Justin Hill assisted a Russel Tchewa layup with 22 ticks on the clock and then knocked down both ends of a one-and-one with a second remaining to put Georgia up by six. Jaylen Murray connected on a three-quarter court heave at the final buzzer to cut that margin in half.

In Georgia's last trip to Oxford on Jan. 14, 2023, the Bulldogs earned a 62-58 win over the Rebels.

Kario Oquendo scored all of his game-high 15 points in the second half to lead Georgia, including the Bulldogs' final 12 points of the afternoon. With Georgia trailing 54-50 and 5:44 remaining, Oquendo put up all of the Bulldogs' digits in a 12-4 run to close out the contest. He hit back-to-back 3-pointers that flipped the score from down 56-54 to up 60-56.

Following an Ole Miss bucket, Oquendo knocked down both ends of a one-and-one with three seconds left to ice the victory.

Last Time Out

Six Bulldogs scored in double figures as Georgia rallied from a 17-point halftime deficit en route to a 79-72 win over South Carolina State last Sunday before 10,140 at Stegeman Coliseum.

RJ Godfrey and Tyrin Lawrence paced the Bulldogs with 14 points, while De'Shayne Montgomery supplied a sold linescore of 10 points, four assists and four steals.

The Bulldogs followed their lowest first-half scoring output of the 2024-25 season – 24 points – with their highest second-half point production of the campaign – 55 points.

"The crowd was a big factor," head coach Mike White said. "We didn't give our crowd a lot to cheer for in the first 20. They had us on our heels offensively...and their confidence grew and they finished the latter part of the first half in a big, big way. Our culture came through. Our guys were saying the right things and owning the right things individually in the locker room at halftime."

Bulldogs' Beginning Among Their Best Ever

Georgia's 12-1 start is the Bulldogs' best since also opening the 1930-31 campaign with a 23-1 mark.

The 1930-31 season was the last of Coliseum namesake Herman Stegeman's 12 seasons as the Bulldogs' head coach.

This marks 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

Bulldogs' Head Coach Faces His Alma Mater

Mike White was a four-year starter for Ole Miss from 1995-99 and later served as an assistant coach for the Rebels from 2004-11.

During the 11 seasons of those combined stints, White helped Ole Miss record seven 20-win campaigns, capture four SEC West titles (1997, 1998, 2007 & 2010) and earn seven postseason bids (three NCAA and four NITs).

Ole Miss recorded its first span of three-consecutive 20-win seasons during White's sophomore-senior years. The Rebels earned NCAA bids each of those years, including the program's first-ever "March Madness" victory. In fact, White calls dribbling out the clock in that 72-70 NCAA win over Villanova at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee as the favorite memory of his basketball career.

White returned to Ole Miss as an assistant coach in 2004 and helped the Rebels advance to four NITs, including trips to the semifinals in 2008 and 2010.

The More Honored Ole Miss Athlete

During his playing career with the Rebels, White met his wife, the former Kira Zschau.

While Mike enjoyed great team success on the hardwood, Kira was the more celebrated individual athlete and earned All-SEC recognition on the volleyball court.

In Ole Miss records for the "sideout scoring" era, Kira ranks No. 3 in single-season kills (481 in 2000) and owns the No. 2 and No. 3 single-match kill totals ever by a Rebel (31 vs. Arkansas in 2000 and 30 vs. Winthrop in 2000).

The "Dunkyard Dawgs" Attack The Rim

With a nod to the awesome website barttorvik.com, we know that Georgia has scored the nation's highest percentage of its made FGs on dunks – 19.7 percent. Freshman Asa Newell's 34 slams represent the third most among all Division I players as outlined below.

Top Dunkers - Team Leaders
Rk.	Team	Pct. of FGs
1.	GEORGIA	19.7
2.	Cincinnati	19.7
3.	Utah	18.7
4.	Tennessee	17.4
5.	Auburn	16.1
Top Dunkers - Individual Leaders
Rk.	Player, School	No.
1.	Kalkbrenner, CU	36
2.	Bandaogo, UC	35
3.	A. NEWELL, UGA	34
4.	Mitchell, UC	31
5.	Key, Dayton	30

Bulldogs Among Nation's Best In A Dozen Stats

Entering this weekend, Georgia ranked among the nation's top-50 teams in no less than 12 statistics as outlined below.

Of 364 Division I men's basketball teams, Georgia entered this weekend as one of two programs ranked among the top 25 nationally in both field goal percentage and field goal percentage defense...with Ohio State being the other.

The Bulldogs have been among the best in the country at controlling the glass and protecting the rim throughout the season. As of Friday, Georgia ranked No. 5 in blocked shots (6.0 bpg) and No. 12 in rebounding margin (+10.4).

Rebounding wise, the Bulldogs won the board battle in all but one game, 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. 25 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 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
5.	Blocked Shots	6.0
12.	FG Percentage	507
12.	Rebound Margin	+10.4
18.	Scoring Margin	18.5
16.	3-Point FG Defense	.280
25.	Effective FG Percentage	.574
25.	FG Percentage Defense	.385
32.	Scoring Defense	64.2
46.	FT Attempts Per Game	23.3
47.	Bench Points	28.9
46.	Rebounds Per Game	39.5
49.	Scoring Offense	82.6

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. 17 in ESPN's SOR.

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 185.0 spots during White's three seasons in Athens as outlined below.

The Metric Improvement
	21-22	24-25	DIFF
SOR	246	17	+229
NET	223	28	+195
Torvik	193	33	+160
KPI*	225	39	+186
BPI	208	39	+169
KenPom	219	48	+171
Avg.	219.0	34.0	+185.0

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

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. This week, the Bulldogs are 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. 7 and Grand Canyon as a No. 12.

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. The remaining SEC teams and their seeds are: Tennessee (No. 1), Alabama (No. 2), Kentucky (No. 3), Mississippi State (No. 4), Texas A&M (No. 3), Oklahoma (No. 5), Ole Miss (No. 8), Arkansas (No. 9), Texas (No. 11) and Vanderbilt (No. 11). In addition, Missouri was tabbed the "first team out."

Lots Of Bulldogs Leading The Way

No less than seven Georgia players have led the Bulldogs offensively during the first 13 games of the season, while seven different Dogs have also led Georgia on the boards count.

A different Bulldog topped 20 points to top Georgia's scoring efforts in first three games of the campaign. Asa 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 five contests, followed by Demary Jr. and Newell at three times each, Godfrey twice and Justin Abson, Cain and Lawrence 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.

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Players Mentioned

Justin Abson

Blue Cain

Silas Demary Jr.

RJ Godfrey

Justin Hill

Dylan James

Tyrin Lawrence

Dakota Leffew

De'Shayne Montgomery

Asa Newell

Russel Tchewa

University of Georgia Athletics