Georgia, Clemson Meet For Shriners Children's Charleston Classic Title

Sunday, November 23

Charleston, S.C.

1:00 PM

University of Georgia

Clemson

Georgia, Clemson Meet For Shriners Children's Charleston Classic Title

November 22, 2025 | Men's Basketball

Game Notes

Georgia Basketball Game Notes

Shriners Children's Charleston Classic - Palmetto Bracket Semifinal
Georgia (6-0) vs. Clemson (5-1)
Date: Sunday, November 23
Time: 1:00 p.m. ET
Venue: TD Arena (5,100)
Location: Charleston, S.C.
TV: ESPN (John Schriffen, play-by-play; Scott Williams, analyst)
Radio: Georgia Bulldog Network – Sirius TBD (Scott Howard, play-by-play; Chuck Dowdle, analyst; Adam Gillespie, producer)
Tickets: www.georgiadogs.com/mbbtix

The Starting 5

Georgia will face Clemson on Sunday afternoon in the championship game of the Shriners Children's Charleston Classic at the College of Charleston's TD Arena.
The Bulldogs are looking to win their first holiday tournament title since the 1996 Outrigger Hotels Classic in Hawaii.
As of Saturday, the Bulldogs are ranked in the top-10 nationally in 9 of 28 statistics tracked by the NCAA, including No. 2 in fastbreak points (29.8 ppg) and No. 3 in bench points (47.3 ppg).
Georgia's Dunkyard Dawgs have scored 25.0 percent of their field goals – 49 of 195 – on dunks, the second-highest percentage in the nation according to BartTorvik.com.
Georgia topped the 90-point plateau in each of its first four games...after scoring 90 or more points in nine of 102 games during Mike White's first three seasons at Georgia.

The Opening Tip

The Georgia Bulldogs will look to capture their first holiday tournament title in 30 years on Sunday afternoon when they face Clemson in the championship game of the Shriners Children's Charleston Classic at TD Arena.

Georgia defeated Washington State, Memphis and No. 21 Maryland on Dec. 28-30, 1996 to win the 1996 Outrigger Hotels Classic in Honolulu.

The Bulldogs advanced to the championship game with a thrilling 78-77 win over Xavier on Friday. Georgia controlled the scoreboard for much of the contest before the Musketeers rallied to take a 77-75 lead with 1:38 remaining. Marcus "Smurf" Millender canned a 3-pointer from the right wing with 9.9 seconds left to provide the game winner and improve the Bulldogs to 6-0.

It would be hard to fathom a better beginning to the 2025-26 campaign for Georgia, at least statistically speaking. As of Saturday, the Bulldogs are ranked among the nation's top-10 teams in 9 stats tracked by the NCAA – that's 32.1 percent of the 28 total team categories the NCAA measures. Most notably, Georgia ranked second in the nation fastbreak points (29.8 ppg) and blocks (9.2 bpg), while also ranking third in bench points (47.3 ppg).

Those stats point to two of the Bulldogs' strengths – speed and depth.

According to KenPom.com, Georgia ranks No. 15 nationally in adjusted tempo.

Eleven Bulldogs are averaging double-digit minutes, with 10 of them already recording double-figure scoring outputs. Blue Cain paces a trio of scorers contributing 10-plus points per game at 15.2 ppg, followed by Jeremiah Wilkinson at 14.3 ppg and Jake Wilkins at 11.3 ppg.

Scouting The Tigers

Clemson improved to 5-1 on the season with a come-from-behind 70-67 victory over West Virginia on Friday night. The Tigers outscored the Mountaineers 24-11 over the final eight minutes to secure the victory.

Carter Welling leads Clemson in both scoring (11.7 ppg) and rebounding (6.7 rpg), while former Bulldog RJ Godfrey is close behind at 11.3 ppg and 6.5 rpg.

Series History With Clemson

Georgia sports a 56-26 lead in all-time meetings with Clemson on the hardwood, including a 4-3 edge in neutral site matchups.

Seventy-two of those games came between 1913-65, followed by a 21-year gap in meetings.

The Bulldogs and Tigers are meeting for the first time in eight seasons. Clemson topped the Bulldogs 64-49 in the semifinals of the 2018 Cayman Islands Classic.

Last Time Out

Marcus "Smurf" Millender's 3-pointer with 9.9 seconds remaining lifted Georgia to a 78-77 win over Xavier on Friday in the opening round of the Shriners Children's Hospital Classic.

The Bulldogs led 29:48 of the contest and by a comfortable margin for most of the evening. After ending the first half up 53-41, Georgia's lead topped out at 14 points (62-48) early in the second stanza.

A pair of Kareem Stagg free throws with 3:49 remaining put the Bulldogs up 75-70 before the Musketeers used a 7-0 surge to gain their first lead since the 6:58 mark of the first half.

After empty possessions by each teams, Millender knocked down the game winner.

Bailey Returns To The Palmetto State

Georgia senior Justin Bailey was named the South Carolina Class 3A Player of the Year in 2022 after leading Blue Ridge High School to its first-ever state championship.

Over four seasons at Blue Ridge, Bailey compiled 1,936 points (23.6 ppg), 549 rebounds (9.0 rpg), 333 assists (4.1 apg) and 232 steals (2.8 spg) in 82 career games played. As a senior, he averaged a double-double of 28.8 points and 11.9 rebounds per game – as well as 4.5 assists and 3.6 steals – leading the Fighting Tigers to a 27-4 record and the 3A state title. Bailey averaged 34.6 points in the Fighting Tigers' five state tournament outings in 2022.

While Bailey is from Greer, which is in South Carolina's upstate, his family is originally from the lowcountry. His father, Antonio, is from Edisto Island, and his mother, Theresa, is from Ravenel.

The Dunkyard Dogs Finishing With Authority

According to BartTorvik.com, Georgia has scored 25.0 percent of its field goals this season on dunks – 49 of 195 the Bulldogs' total FGs through six games. As of Saturday, that ranks second nationally – as outlined below.

Individually, sophomore Somto Cyril and freshman Jake Wilkins ranked No. 8 and No. 20 in the country in dunks with 13 and 11 rim-rattling finishes, respectively.

The Bulldogs also are among the best teams in college basketball at protecting the rim on dunks. Opponents are converting only 58.8 percent of the attempts to slam the basketball, which is tied for No. 10 nationally according to the website.

Dunking FGs
Rank	Team	Pct.
1.	N. Carolina	26.6
2.	Georgia	25.0
3.	Duke	22.6
4.	Indiana	21.7
5.	Kentucky	21.0
6.	Southern Cal	19.8
7.	Kansas	19.1
8.	Arkansas	18.6
9.	Cincinnati	18.6
10.	Marshall	18.5

Two Tigers Have Ties To Georgia

Clemson players RJ Godfrey and Dillon Hunter – and their parents – have strong ties to Georgia.

Godfrey played for Georgia last season, starting all 33 games and averaging 6.4 points and 3.8 rebounds for the Bulldogs' first NCAA Tournament team since 1995. He is the son of Randall Godfrey, one of the greatest linebackers to ever play for the Bulldogs. Randall was a four-year starter and earned SEC Freshman of the Year honors in 1992 followed by All-SEC accolades in 1993 and 1994. He was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the second round of the 1996 NFL Draft and went on the play 11 seasons.

Hunter is the son of the late Brice Hunter and Brandi (Decker) Lewis. A native of Valdosta, Hunter played for the Bulldogs from 1992-95 and had 182 catches for 2,373 yards, both of which were school records when he graduated. Lewis was a four-year letterwinner for Georgia's Lady Bulldogs from 1993-97 including teams that finished as 1996 NCAA runner-up, advanced to another Final Four in 1995 and won 1996 and 1997 SEC Championships.

Double-Digit Dogs' Have Hit Double Figures

No less than 10 different Georgia Bulldogs recorded double-figure scoring outputs in the first six games of the season.

Those Bulldogs have combined to produce 25 double-digit performances. Blue Cain leads that pack by scoring 10+ in each game, followed by Jeremiah Wilkinson with five; Jake Wilkins with four; Kanon Catchings, Dylan James and Smurf Millender with two; and Justin Bailey, Somto Cyril, Jordan Ross and Kareem Stagg with one each.

Seven of the aforementioned Bulldogs scored in double digits in Georgia's 120-81 win over Morehead State on Nov. 9. That marked the first time seven Bulldogs hit the 10-point plateau in a single game since a 99-72 decision over Tennessee Tech on Dec. 29, 1994 – a span of 979 contests – when Shandon Anderson, Charles Claxton (aka Nic's dad) and Carlos Strong all scored 13 points, Curtis Carrington and Katu Davis added 12 each; and Pertha Robinson and Ty Wilson chipped in 11 apiece.

Georgia Among Nation's Top-10 In 9 Stats

Peruse the early-season NCAA basketball statistical leaders and you'll find plenty of ledgers featuring the Georgia Bulldogs near the top.

As of Saturday, Georgia is ranked in the nation's top-10 team in nine of the 28 stats the NCAA measures. That's 32.1 percent of the total categories.

More impressively, the Bulldogs were featured in the top-5 teams in six statistics as outlined below.

Top-5 Stats
Statistic	Rk.	No.
Winning Pct.	1	100.0
Fastbreak Points	2	29.8
Blocks Per Game	2	9.2
Bench Points	3	47.3
Turnover Margin	5	+9.0
TOs forced Per Game	5	19.5

Bulldogs Among SEC's Best At Stealing, Swatting

With Georgia leading the SEC in both steals and blocks per game, it would be enigmatic if individual Bulldogs weren't also among the league's best in those statistics.

Within Georgia's SEC-best 11.8 steals per contest, Jeremiah Wilkinson is ranked No. 1 in the league (2.7 spg), Blue Cain is No. 6 (2.2 spg) and Dylan James is No. 13 (2.7 spg). Remarkably, James, who recorded 11 steals in 32 games last season, has already matched that total in six contests this year.

The Bulldogs' 9.2 blocks per game as a team features Somto Cyril with a league-leading 2.5 bpg, followed by Justin Abson at No. 3 (2.2 bpg) and Jake Wilkins at No. 13 (1.3 bpg).

COMPLETE GAME NOTES PDF

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