Bulldogs Take On No. 6/7 Kentucky At Stegeman

Georgia Basketball Game Notes

Georgia (12-2, 0-1 SEC) vs. No. 6/7 Kentucky (12-2, 1-0 SEC)
Date: Tuesday, January 7, 2025
Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
Venue: Stegeman Coliseum (10,523)
Location: Athens, Ga.
TV: SEC Network (John Schriffen, play-by-play; Richard Hendrix, analyst)
Radio: Georgia Bulldog Network – Sirius 374 (Scott Howard, play-by-play; Chuck Dowdle, analyst; Adam Gillespie, producer)
Game Giveaway: First 750 UGA students receive a Game Show Night t-shirt
Tickets: www.georgiadogs.com/mbbtix

The Starting 5...

Georgia returns to historic Stegeman Coliseum on Tuesday to host No. x/7 Kentucky at 7:00 p.m. in the second of seven consecutive games against top-25 opponents to open SEC play.
The Bulldogs are 9-0 at home and have won 11 straight outings at Stegeman dating back to last season, which matches the sixth-longest home winning streak in program history.
Georgia's "Dunkyard Dawgs" rank second nationally in percentage of made FGs that are dunks at 18.6 percent, while Asa Newell is third among individual leaders with 35 slams.
The Bulldogs' balanced offense features nine players who have combined to post 58 double-figure scoring outputs, led by freshman Asa Newell's 13 double-digit performances.
Georgia opened the season as 12-1, the Bulldogs' best start in 94 years...since UGA began the 1930-31 campaign at 23-1 en route to a 23-2 finish.

THE OPENING TIP

Georgia hosts No. 6/7 Kentucky on Tuesday in the Bulldogs' SEC home opener at Stegeman Coliseum. This week's slate also features a home date against No. 17/16 Oklahoma on Saturday.

In fact, the Bulldogs' first six SEC opponents are ranked in this week's AP and coaches polls, including back-to-back contests against No. 1 Tennessee and No. 2 Auburn next week.

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

Asa Newell leads a quintet of Bulldogs averaging double figures at 15.4 ppg. A two-time SEC Freshman of the Week honoree in the first five weeks of the season, Newell also paces UGA on the boards at 6.9 rpg. Among SEC stat leaders, Newell is ranked No. 17 in scoring and No. 12 rebounding, as well as No. 3 the SEC and No. 35 nationally in field goal percentage (.588).

Rounding out the double-digit point producers in the scoring column are De'Shayne Montgomery at 13.5 ppg, Dakota Leffew at 12.3 ppg, Silas Demary Jr. at 11.9 ppg and Tyrin Lawrence at 10.5 ppg.

Scouting The Wildcats

Kentucky improved to 12-2 on the season with a 106-100 victory over No. 6/5 Florida at Rupp Arena last Saturday.

The Wildcats jumped into the top 10 after defeating No. 6/6 Duke on Nov. 12 and have remained in there since.

Tuesday's game will be Kentucky's second road game of the season. The Wildcats dropped a 70-66 decision at Clemson on Dec. 3 as part of the SEC/ACC Challenge.

Six – yes six – Wildcats are scoring at a double-digit clip for UK. Otega Oweh leads Kentucky at 15.9 ppg. Lamont Butler chips in 13.8 ppg and has distributed a team-leading 53 assists. The additional double figure scorers are Koby Brea at 12.7 ppg, Jaxson Robinson at 12.1 ppg, Andrew Carr at 11.5 ppg and Amari Williams at 10.4 ppg. Williams also leads UK on the boards at 8.4 ppg.

Kentucky leads the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.09 and is second in scoring offense at 90.2 ppg.

Series History With Kentucky

Kentucky owns a 132-28 advantage in the all-time series between UGA and UK.

Last season on Jan. 20 in Lexington, Jabri Abdur-Rahim and Silas Demary Jr. put up career-high scoring tallies; however, Georgia could not overcome a hot-shooting Kentucky squad in a 105-96 setback at Rupp Arena. The Wildcats shot 61.9 percent from the floor and 56.0 percent from 3-point range en route to the win.

Abdur-Rahim knocked down a career-most seven 3-pointers while exploding for 34 points, the most by a Bulldog since Anthony Edwards' 35-point evening against South Carolina in 2020. Demary put up 22 points, topping his previous career high of 15 points at South Carolina four days earlier.

Kentucky raced to a 51-34 halftime lead. That advantage bulged to 28 points with 7:55 remaining before the Bulldogs closed out the night on a 28-9 surge.

In the most recent matchup in Athens on Feb. 11, 2023, Kario Oquendo poured in 21 points to lead Georgia in a 75-68 win over the Wildcats.

Justin Hill chipped in 15 points and dished out six assists with just one turnover, and Braelen Bridges added 12 points on an efficient 5-of-6 shooting effort from the field.

The Bulldogs led 42-32 at the half; however, Kentucky surged to a 52-48 edge with 11:53 left. Bridges then accounted for eight points in a 13-2 answer that gave Georgia the lead for good.

Last Time Out

Despite a double-double from Asa Newell in his SEC debut, No. 23/24 Ole Miss rallied from a halftime deficit to defeat Georgia, 63-51, last Saturday at SJB Pavilion in Oxford.

Newell scored 13 points and grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds for Georgia.

The Bulldogs surged ahead midway through the first half and led 28-26 at the intermission. Ole Miss opened the second stanza with a 15-2 surge. Georgia countered with an 11-1 run and pulled within 45-43 at the 7:30 mark but could not complete the comeback.

"Ole Miss' defense was the biggest factor in the game," head coach Mike White said. "Just their attention to detail, their switchability and their detail with their switching. Their physicality, one through five. We played half the game with guards guarding our bigs and just didn't do a good enough job taking advantage of those mismatches. Credit those guys, they played really hard."

Things That Make You Go Hmmmm....?

There were some statistical anomalies worth pointing out from the Bulldogs' last two games.

Against South Carolina State, Georgia followed its lowest first-half scoring output of the 2024-25 season – 24 points – with its highest second-half point production of the campaign – 55 points.

At Ole Miss, the Bulldogs shot season lows of 29.3 percent (17 of 58) from the field and 11.1 percent (2 of 18) from 3-point range but connected on a season best 88.2 percent (15 of 17) of their trips to the free throw line.

The "Dunkyard Dawgs" Attack The Rim

With a nod to the awesome website barttorvik.com, we know that Georgia has scored the nation's second highest percentage of its made FGs on dunks – 18.6 percent. Freshman Asa Newell's 35 slams represent the third most among all Division I players as outlined below.

Top Dunkers - Team Leaders
Rk.	Team	Pct. of FGs
1.	Cincinnati	20.0
2.	GEORGIA	18.6
3.	Utah	17.9
4.	Tennessee	17.1
5.	Auburn	15.8
Top Dunkers - Individual Leaders
Rk.	Player, School	No.
1.	Kalkbrenner, CU	37
	Bandaogo, UC	37
3.	A. NEWELL, UGA	35
	Mitchell, UC	35
5.	Key, Dayton	31

Dogs' Home Win Streak Stretches To 11 Games

Georgia's victory over South Carolina State extended the Bulldogs' winning streak at Stegeman Coliseum to 11 games. It also bolstered the Bulldogs' unbeaten streak against non-conference foes at home to 27 contests.

The Bulldogs span of home success dates back to a wins over Ole Miss in the final regular-season home outing and an NIT first-round win over Xavier last season, followed by a 9-0 home record this season.

That matches the sixth-longest home winning streak for Georgia as outlined below.

More impressive, Georgia is a perfect 27-0 against non-conference opposition at home under Mike White, compiling an 8-0 record in 2022-23 and a 10-0 mark in 2023-24 before starting this season 9-0.

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.	1997-98 & '98-99	12
6.	2023-24 & '24-25	11
	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 35-10 home mark since becoming Georgia's head coach, White is now a combined 42-11 (.792) in Stegeman.

Bulldogs' "1-2" Punch Likes Shooting In Stegeman

Georgia's No. 1 (Dakota Leffew) and No. 2 (De'Shayne Montgomery) – transfers from Mount St. Mary's – certainly enjoy shooting in Stegeman Coliseum.

A year ago, Leffew and Montgomery put up 26 and 23 points, respectively, in the Mountaineers' 94-82 loss to Georgia on Dec. 20 in Athens.

In Leffew's 10 games in Stegeman, he is averaging 16.0 ppg while shooting 53.3 percent (56-of-105) from the field, including 49.3 percent (34-of-69) from 3-point range, and 82.4 percent (14-of-17) from the free throw line.

In Montgomery's four outings in the arena, he is averaging 17.8 ppg with shooting percentages of 69.0 (29-of-42) from the field, 41.7 (5-of-12) from behind the 3-point arc and 72.7 (8-of-11) from the charity stripe.

"We sat in here about a year ago and knew both of them were SEC-level players," Mike White said after Leffew and Montgomery combined to score 41 points versus Charleston Southern on Dec. 22. "We recruited each one of them individually. They had a different, unique process that was about them. Both of these guys had hard decisions to make because they had a number of high-level programs that were after them. We're fortunate to get one. We're really fortunate to get both."

Bulldogs' Beginning Among Their Best Ever

Georgia's 12-1 start was the Bulldogs' best since also opening the 1930-31 campaign with a 23-1 mark...en route to a 23-2 finish.

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

This 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

Bulldogs Among Nation's Best In A Seven Stats

Entering this week, Georgia ranked among the nation's top-35 teams in seven statistics as outlined below.

The Bulldogs have been among the best in the country at controlling the glass and protecting the rim throughout the season. As of Monday, Georgia ranked No. 7 nationally in blocked shots (5.9 bpg) and No. 12 in rebounding margin (+9.6).

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.

Following a season-high five swats in back-to-back outings against Grand Canyon and Buffalo, freshman Somto Cyril now ranks 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 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
7.	Blocked Shots	5.9
12.	Rebound Margin	+9.6
22.	3-Point FG Defense	.285
24.	Scoring Margin	16.3
27.	FG Percentage Defense	.387
28.	Scoring Defense	64.1
32.	FG Percentage	.491

I Know That Dude(s)

Kentucky head coach Mark Pope began his college "coaching" career by serving as Georgia's Director of Basketball Operations during the 2009-10 season.

That also was the first season of current Kentucky associate coach Mark Fox's tenure as the Bulldogs' head coach. Fox led Georgia for nine seasons from 2009-18, compiling a 163-133 record with five postseason bids – two NCAAs and three NITs.

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. Last Tuesday, the Bulldogs were 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 14 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 Newell in four, Demary Jr. in three, Godfrey in two and Justin Abson, Cain and Lawrence in 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

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Players Mentioned

Jabri Abdur-Rahim

Justin Abson

Blue Cain

Silas Demary Jr.

RJ Godfrey

Justin Hill

Dylan James

Tyrin Lawrence

Dakota Leffew

De'Shayne Montgomery

Asa Newell