Bulldogs Look To Match Third-Best Start Ever

Monday, December 29

Athens, Ga.

7:00

University of Georgia

LIU

Georgia forward Kareem Stagg (1) during Georgia’s game against FAMU at Stegeman Coliseum in Athens, Ga., on Monday, Nov. 17, 2025. (Sofia Yaker/UGAAA)

Photo by: Sofia Yaker/UGAAA

December 28, 2025 | Men's Basketball

Game Notes

Georgia Basketball Game Notes

No. 23/24 Georgia (11-1) vs. LIU (6-6)
Date: Monday, December 29, 2025
Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
Venue: Stegeman Coliseum (10,523)
Location: Athens, Ga.
TV: SEC Network + (Jeff Dantzler, play-by-play; Litterial Green, analyst)
Streaming: SECN+
Radio: Georgia Bulldog Network – Sirius 385 (Scott Howard, play-by-play; Chuck Dowdle, analyst; Adam Gillespie, producer)
Tickets: www.georgiadogs.com/mbbtix

The Starting 5

The Georgia Bulldogs – who reached Christmas with the highest scoring average of any Division I team in nine years (since 2016) – wrap up their non-conference schedule on Monday by hosting LIU.
The Bulldogs, who are riding a 10-game winning streak at Stegeman Coliseum, are a perfect 35-0 against non-conference competition at Stegeman during Mike White's four seasons in Athens and are 49-13 (.790) overall at home under White.
Georgia entered last weekend ranked among the nation's top-5 teams in seven statistics, including No. 1 in scoring offense (99.8 ppg), fastbreak points (28.6 ppg) and blocks (7.8 bpg).
As of last Friday, the Dunkyard Dawgs were scoring a nation-leading 23.0 percent of their field goals on dunks this season. Somto Cyril's 34 dunks led the SEC and ranked No. 2 nationally.
Georgia topped the 100-point plateau in six of its first 12 games, already breaking the program's single-season program record of five century mark tallies during the 1990-91 campaign.

The Opening Tip

The Georgia Bulldogs conclude the non-conference portion of their regular-season slate on Monday by hosting Long Island University at Stegeman Coliseum in the second half of a day-night doubleheader that also features UGA's Lady Bulldogs facing Charleston Southern at noon.

The Bulldogs are 11-1 and with a victory would match their third-best start ever.

Georgia is riding a 10-game winning streak at Stegeman Coliseum dating back to last season's victory over Florida on Feb. 25, the fourth span of double-figure home Ws under Mike White. By contrast, the Bulldogs posted eight double-digit home winning streaks in their first 117 seasons of hoops prior to White's arrival. Georgia also owns a 35-game win streak against non-conference opposition at Stegeman, a stretch that coincides with White's arrival in Athens.

It would be hard to fathom a better beginning to the 2025-26 campaign for Georgia, at least statistically speaking.

As of last Friday, the Bulldogs were leading the all 365 Division I teams in scoring offense (99.8 ppg), fastbreak points (28.6 ppg) and blocks (7.8 bpg). Among the 28 statistics tracked by the NCAA, Georgia was ranked in the top 10 in 11 stats and within the top 25 in 15 categories.

Georgia features one of the nation's deepest rotations playing at a pace among the quickest in the country.

Eleven Bulldogs are averaging double-figure minutes, and according to the oft-used metric KenPom.com, Georgia entered last weekend ranked No. 2 nationally in average offensive possession length (14.1 seconds), as well as No. 3 nationally in adjusted tempo (76.3).

Georgia's depth is not just in numbers but also in its offensive production.

Ten of the 11 Bulldogs playing double-digit minutes have scored 10+ points in a game, combining to record 53 double-figure scoring outputs this season. Jeremiah Wilkinson is averaging a team-high 18.0 ppg, while Blue Cain is contributing 16.0 ppg and Marcus "Smurf" Millender is chipping in 10.3 ppg, including 12.9 ppg over the last seven outings.

Scouting The Sharks

LIU is an even 6-6 on the season entering Monday's contest and is looking to snap a two-game losing skid of road losses at Mississippi State and Florida International.

The Sharks have been a popular pick to win the Northeast Conference this season and as of Saturday were featured in 28 of 36 NCAA Tournament projections on the website www.bracketmatrix.com.

Malachi Davis, Jamal Fuller and Greg Gordon give LIU with a balanced scoring trio, averaging 16.0 ppg, 15.3 ppg and 14.3 ppg, respectively.

Series History With LIU

Georgia is 2-0 all-time against LIU. Monday's matchup will the first meeting between the Bulldogs and the Sharks in exactly 27 years and one day.

Most recently, the Bulldogs defeated the Sharks, 73-59, on Dec. 28, 1998 behind a double-double of 20 points and 11 boards from Jumaine Jones. A complete box score from that contest is below.

The other contest, a 106-69 decision on Dec. 6, 1991, came in the opening round of the Mile High Classic in Boulder, Colo.

Last Time Out

Somto Cyril's career-high double-double of 15 points and 15 rebounds led No. 23-ranked Georgia in a 103-74 win over West Georgia before a sellout crowd at Stegeman Coliseum on Dec. 22.

Cyril notched his third-straight career-high offensive output, with 13 points against Cincinnati and 14 versus Western Carolina before his 15 against the Wolves. In addition, Cyril's 15 rebounds were the most by a Bulldog in a game since Toumani Camara's 17 against Montana on Dec. 8, 2020.

"You can't lead others unless you can lead yourself," head coach Mike White said of Cyril. "He's learned how to do that to a certain extent. He's got more growth to do in that category, as all sophomores do, but he's come a long way from his freshman year from a cardiovascular standpoint, skill-level standpoint, maturity standpoint, controlling his emotions with the fouls and that type of stuff."

Bulldogs Look To Match Third-Best Start Ever

Georgia's 11- record equals the fourth-best start in the program's 121 seasons of intercollegiate play. With a win over LIU, the Bulldogs would match their third-best beginning as outlined below.

Best Starts
Rank	Season	Record
1.	1930-31	23-1
2.	1923-24	13-1
3.	2024-25	12-1
4.	2025-26	11-1
	2001-02	11-1
	1996-97	11-1
	1947-48	11-1
	1929-30	11-1
	1920-21	11-1

Somto Looks To Continue Surreal Stretch

Sophomore Somto Cyril has not missed a shot from the field over Georgia's last three games, connecting on 6-of-6 field goals in each outing. He also has posted career-high scoring outputs in those contests, with 13 against Cincinnati, 14 versus Western Carolina and 15 against West Georgia.

Cyril grabbed a career-most 15 rebounds versus West Georgia, the most by any Bulldog in a single game since Toumani Camara's 17 caroms against Montana on Dec. 8, 2020.

Bulldogs Are Nation's Top Offensive Team

Georgia entered last weekend ranked No. 1 nationally in scoring offense and fastbreak points. The Bulldogs are putting up 99.8 points per game, including 28.6 ppg on fastbreak opportunities.

In fact, the Bulldogs' scoring average was the highest by any Division I basketball team on Christmas Day since The Citadel was putting up 103.2 ppg in 2016.

Though bolstered by reaching 120 points twice, Georgia's scoring has been consistent. In 24 halves of hoops, the Bulldogs scored 40 or more points 22 times, with 11 50-point periods and three segments of 60 or more points.

Georgia played 102 games in Mike White's first three seasons in Athens. The Bulldogs reached 90 points nine times and 100 points twice. In 12 games this season, Georgia has topped 90 points in nine outings and surpassed the century mark in a school-record six contests.

A "Stegtacular" Home Court Advantage

Georgia's home court advantage? It's real and it's Stegtacular.

The Bulldogs have compiled a 49-13 home mark under Mike White and are a perfect 35-0 versus non-conference competition in Stegeman over his four seasons at UGA.

White's success at Stegeman is not confined to his UGA tenure. He was 7-1 in Athens as a visiting head coach, leading Louisiana Tech to a 2014 NIT victory at Stegeman and compiling a 6-1 mark at Florida. That makes White is a combined 56-14 (.800) as a head coach in Stegeman.

Georgia currently owns a 10-game winning streak at Stegeman that began with impressive victories last season over No. 3 Florida on Feb. 25 and Vanderbilt in the regular-season finale.

After producing just eight double-digit home winning streaks in 117 seasons of basketball, the Bulldogs have produced four double-digit winning streaks at Stegeman during Mike White's four seasons alone. The Bulldogs were 15-3 in Athens last season, matching the program record for home wins in a season. Georgia also won 15 home outings during both the 2013-14 and 2015-16 campaigns, but those tallies include an NIT victory.

Georgia Among Nation's Top-5 In Seven Stats

Peruse the NCAA basketball statistical leaders and you'll find a multitude of categories featuring the Georgia Bulldogs at or near the top.

Entering last weekend, Georgia was ranked in the nation's top-25 teams in 15 of the 28 stats the NCAA measures, including seven in the top 5 as outlined below.

Top-5 Stats
Statistic	Rk.	No.
Scoring Offense	1	99.8
Fastbreak Points	1	28.6
Blocks Per Game	1	7.8
Scoring Margin	2	+28.0
FTs Made Per Game	2	22.2
Rebounds Per Game	4	44.5
FTAs Per Game	4	29.0

Double-Digit Dogs' Have Hit Double Figures

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

Those Bulldogs have now combined to produce 53 double-digit performances. Blue Cain leads that pack by scoring 10+ in each game, followed by Jeremiah Wilkinson with 11; Smurf Millender with seven; Somto Cyril with five; Kanon Catchings, Jordan Ross and Jake Wilkins with four each; Justin Bailey and Dylan James with two; and Kareem Stagg with two.

Seven of the aforementioned Bulldogs scored in double digits against 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. Georgia came within a bucket of repeating that feet against...Tennessee Tech when six Bulldogs topped 10 and both Jake Somto Cyril and Wilkins finished with eight points in a Nov. 29 date with TTU.

Bulldogs Back In Top 25 Polls

Georgia entered the Associated Press poll on Dec. 15 at No. 25. Last week, the Bulldogs were tabbed No. 23 by the AP and No. 24 in the coaches poll.

Georgia last appeared in the AP poll last season on Jan. 13 when the Bulldogs were No. 23 in both the AP and coaches polls. This is the first time Georgia has been ranked in consecutive seasons since the 2001-02 and 2002-03 campaigns.

Georgia Plays At One Of The Nation's Quickest Paces

The Bulldogs average possession length on offense is 14.1 seconds, which according to KenPom.com was the second-fastest in the nation entering the holiday break. The Bulldogs also ranked No. 3 by KenPom.com in "adjusted tempo" at 76.3 possessions per 40 minutes.

Dunkyard Dogs Leading The Nation In Slams

According to BartTorvik.com, Georgia entered last weekend scoring a nation-leading 23.0 percent of its field goals this season on dunks – 96 of 409 the Bulldogs' total FGs – as outlined below.

As of last Friday, Somto Cyril led the SEC and ranked No. 2 nationally with 34 dunks followed by Jake Wilkins with 14; Kareem Stagg with 13; Jeremiah Wilkinson with nine; Blue Cain with eight; Justin Abson and Kanon Catchings with seven each; and Dylan James with four.

Dunking It
Rank	Team	Pct.
1.	Georgia	23.0
2.	N. Carolina	20.0
3.	Indiana	18.4
4.	Duke	18.1
5.	Kentucky	17.5
6.	Louisville	17.2
7.	Cincinnati	16.6
8.	Arkansas	16.5
9.	Kansas	16.5
10.	Florida	16.2

Dogs Are SEC's Best At Stealing, Swatting

With Georgia leading the SEC in both steals and blocks per game as of last Friday, it would be a reasonable assumption individual Bulldogs are also among the league's best in those statistics.

Within Georgia's SEC-best 10.8 steals per contest, Blue Cain was ranked No. 5 (2.1 spg) in the league and Jeremiah Wilkinson was No. 5 (2.0 spg). Also of note, Dylan James, who recorded 11 steals in 32 games last season, notched 11 takeaways in the first nine contests this year.

The Bulldogs' nation-leading 7.8 blocks per game as a team featured Somto Cyril ranked No. 2 in the SEC and No. 14 nationally at 2.4 bog and Justin Abson at No. 3 in the league and No. 20 in the country at 2.3 bpg.

Georgia Rewriting Its Scoring Records

The Bulldogs produced two of their top-10 single-game scoring tallies ever during their first eight games of the 2025-26 season.

Georgia's 123 points against Tennessee Tech and 120 versus Morehead State rank No. 3 and No. 7 all-time in program history.

The Bulldogs topped the century mark a school-record six times in their first 12 outings, besting the 1990-91 campaign's five for the most 100-point performances.

COMPLETE GAME NOTES PDF

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