Bulldogs To Face 11th Ranked, Sixth Top-10 Foe At Texas A&M

Georgia Basketball Game Notes

Georgia (16-8, 4-7 SEC) vs. No. 8/9 Texas A&M (18-5, 7-3 SEC)
Date: Tuesday, February 11, 2025
Time: 9:00 p.m. ET
Venue: Reed Arena (12,989)
Location: Bryan-College Station, Texas
TV: SEC Network (Dave Neal, play-by-play; Jon Sunvold, 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 treks to Texas A&M on Tuesday for a matchup against the No. 8/9 Aggies, who represent the Bulldogs' sixth top-10 opponent in their 12th SEC game this season.
Texas A&M will be Georgia's 11th ranked and sixth top-10 opponent this season, both the most ever for the Bulldogs. The previous ranked foes record was 10 in 1981-82, 1997-98, 1999-2000, 2002-03 and 2006-07. Six top-10 opponents ties the 1980-81 and 1993-94 seasons as the most for UGA.
Asa Newell, who was named a top-10 candidate for the Kareem Abdul-Jabar Award last Friday, was selected as SEC Freshman of the Week on Monday. Newell has been named FOTW four times, matching Anthony Edwards' school record.
Mike White has now led three programs with losing records the season before he arrived to top-25 AP rankings in less than three years...also doing so at Louisiana Tech and Florida.
Georgia is the only SEC team that will play the four teams ranked in the top-10 throughout the entirety league play – Alabama, Auburn, Florida and Tennessee – in road games.

The Opening Tip

The Georgia Bulldogs will establish records for AP ranked and top-10 opponents in a single season on Tuesday night as soon as they tip off their contest at No. 8/9 Texas A&M on Tuesday night at Reed Arena.

The Aggies represent Georgia's 11th ranked foe this season, breaking the previous high of 10 during the 1981-82, 1997-98, 1999-2000, 2002-03 and 2006-07 seasons. Texas A&M is the Bulldogs' sixth contest versus a top-10 team, matching the 1980-81 and 1993-94 campaigns for the most ever.

Those facts highlight a grueling SEC slate for Georgia. After playing six of eight games against top-25 opponents in January, six of the Bulldogs' seven contests in February are against teams ranked this week.

The Bulldogs are 16-8 overall and 4-7 in SEC play following last Saturday's 76-75 loss to No. 22 Mississippi State. Georgia is projected as an NCAA Tournament team by virtually everyone predicting a bracket, including a No. 10 seed by ESPN.com on Friday. In fact as of Monday, bracketmatrix.com, which attempts to track every bracket prediction published, confirms that Georgia is currently part of all 86 active prognostications for "March Madness."

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 87 double-digit performances.

Asa Newell, who on Monday was named SEC Freshman of the Week for the fourth time to tie Anthony Edwards' Georgia record of most SEC FOTW honors, leads a trio of Bulldogs averaging double figures at 15.3 ppg and also paces UGA on the boards at 6.8 rpg. Among league leaders, Newell is ranked No. 14 in scoring and No. 11 rebounding. Entering this week, he also was No. 3 in the SEC and No. 39 nationally in field goal percentage (.554).

Silas Demary Jr. and Dakota Leffew are scoring at double-digit paces of 11.5 ppg and 10.7 ppg, respectively, for the Bulldogs. Demary Jr. also sports team-high averages of 3.1 apg and 1.8 spg.

Scouting The Aggies

Texas A&M is currently 18-5 overall, including a 7-3 SEC mark, and ranked No. 8 and No. 9 in this week's Associated Press and coaches polls, respectively.

Following back-to-back losses to No. 5 Alabama and at No. 8 Kentucky, the Aggies have won five of their last six outings, including a dramatic 67-64 decision at No. 15 Missouri last Saturday.

Wade Taylor IV and Zhuric Phelps provide the Aggies with a potent 1-2 scoring punch. Taylor is averaging 15.1 ppg, while Phelps is contributing 14.7.

Series History With A&M

Texas A&M owns a 9-5 edge in all-time matchups between the Bulldogs and the Aggies.

Last season on March 2 at Stegeman Coliseum, freshman Blue Cain scored a team-high 11 points – his third time leading Georgia offensively last season – in a 70-56 setback to Texas A&M.

Georgia trailed 60-56 following Cain's floating jumper with 6:35 remaining before the Aggies closed out the day on a 10-0 surge.

In the Bulldogs' last trip to Bryan-College Station on Feb. 4, 2023, Justin Hill scored a season-high 20; however, Georgia dropped an 82-57 decision to Texas A&M.

A&M started quickly, racing to a 15-2 lead and maintaining a significant distance throughout the rest of the evening.

Last Time Out

Despite career-high efforts of 23 points and seven assists from Silas Demary Jr., Georgia dropped a 76-75 decision to No. 22 Mississippi State last Saturday at Stegeman Coliseum.

Though State led for 32:19 of the contest, the score was separated by one or two possession for much of the evening. Georgia tied the game five times in the second half, lastly when Asa Newell scored five points in a span of nine seconds to make it 71-71 with 4:04 remaining.

The Bulldogs gained possession down one with just under eight seconds left but failed to score.

"This was a tough loss," head coach Mike White said. "It could have gone either way. We did enough offensively. Our defense let us down tonight. Great opportunity, but not enough urgency in transition defense."

Georgia's Declaration of Schedule Difficulty

We know that a computer spit out the Southeastern Conference men's basketball schedule using an almost unfathomable lengthy list of data qualifiers attempting to create an equal and equitable ledger for all 16 schools. However, it seems prudent to make the following declaration. "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all schedules are not created equal, that they are endowed by the league office with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness (as in an NCAA Tournament bid)."

• Georgia is the only team that has road games at each of the four SEC teams ranked in the top-10 throughout conference play – Alabama, Auburn, Florida and Tennessee. We've added a trip to No. 8/9 Texas A&M for good measure.

• Georgia is one of two teams that will play two of those top-10 programs twice – Auburn and Florida. Kentucky is the other – Alabama and Tennessee.

Asa Equals Ant For Most SEC FOTW Honors By A Bulldog

Asa Newell was named SEC Freshman of the Week for the fourth time this season on Monday (Feb. 10), tying Anthony Edwards (2019-20) for the most SEC FOTW certificates by a Georgia Bulldog.

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 – 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 – and on Jan. 13 – after he averaged 16.0 ppg and was Georgia's leading scorer in wins over No. 6/7 Kentucky and No. 17/16 Oklahoma.

Newell is one of 10 Bulldogs who have earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors a combined 17 times since the award's inception in 1988.

Newell has drawn plenty of recognition this season.

Last Friday (Feb. 7), Newell was named a top-10 candidate for the 2025 Kareem Abdul-Jabar Award by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. The award annually honors the top center in Division I men's basketball.

Newell is one of three non-seniors on the list. He is the third Georgia player in the past nine years to be a top-10 candidate for one of the position player of the year awards, following Anthony Edwards (Jerry West Award in 2020) and Yante Maten (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award in 2017).

On Jan. 29, Newell was featured on The Athletic's Freshman All-America squad along with Duke's Cooper Flagg, Rutgers' Dylan Harper, Illinois' Kasparas Jakucionis and Auburn's Tahaad Pettiford.

Dogs' "D" Improves At Historic Level

The season before Mike White arrived, Georgia finished the year ranked No. 328 nationally in defensive efficiency according to kempom.com.

As of Monday, these Bulldogs were No. 24 in that same metric.

Georgia's almost unfathomable ascension of 304 spots over three seasons is the second-largest leap ever during the kenpom era, which began 29 seasons ago in 1997 as outlined below.

Georgia's climb has been steady, moving from No. 328 in 2021-22 to No. 132 in White's first season to No. 58 during the Bulldogs' NIT semifinal campaign a year ago.

D-Up, D-Up, D-Up
School	Yr.	Rk.	Yr.	Rk.	Diff.
UCF	'15	319	'18	8	311
Georgia	'22	328	'25	24	304
Grand Canyon	'15	336	'18	50	286
Wofford	'07	324	'10	45	279
Harvard	'09	302	'12	29	273
Little Rock	'22	336	'25	67	269
Manhattan	'11	310	'14	46	264
McNeese	'21	353	'24	89	264
S. Utah	'17	349	'20	86	263
N. Colorado	'15	349	'18	94	255

Georgia Elite At Protecting The Rim

Georgia enters this week ranked No. 15 nationally in blocks per game, swatting 5.3 opponent attempts per game.

Freshman Somto Cyril ranks No. 3 in the SEC and No. 33 nationally at 1.8 bpg. Cyril has blocked four or more shots in four games, including five in back-to-back outings against Notre Dame and Buffalo. He is one of three Bulldogs with five swats in a game this season. Dylan James had five rejections in Georgia's upset of then-No. 22/20 St. Johns and Asa Newell did so at No. 4/4 Alabama.

Cyril and Newell both had four blocks when Georgia had 12 swats 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.

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. During an 18-day span between Jan. 15-Feb. 1, Georgia faced 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 matchups being on the road.

C. Georgia's February schedule includes six of seven games against teams ranked in the top-25 when the month began, including three top-10 foes.

D. Of Georgia's 18 SEC games, 14 are against featured in the latest published edition of ESPN.com's Bracketology, including five road outings at top-2 seeds – No. 1 Alabama, No. 1 Auburn, No. 1 Tennessee, No. 2 Florida and No. 2 Texas A&M.

E. There are four SEC teams that have been ranked in the top 10 throughout SEC play – Alabama, Auburn, Florida and Tennessee. Georgia and Kentucky are the only two teams that will play two of the top-10 quartet twice.

F. Georgia is the only SEC team that will play road games against the four aforementioned top-10 SEC teams.

G. All of the above.

Mike White, Quickly Taking Losing Programs To The Top 25

When Georgia appeared at No. 23 in the Jan. 13 AP 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 during the 2012-13 campaign. White inherited a 16-17 team from 2014-15 at Florida. Two seasons later, the Gators topped out at No. 12 in the AP poll during their 2017 "Elite Eight" campaign.

Some More Stuff On The Polls

The Bulldogs were ranked No. 23 in both the AP 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 the 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.

The Bulldogs then topped No. 17 Oklahoma on Jan. 11, securing their first back-to-back victories over ranked opponents since beating No. 25 Kentucky and No. 21 LSU in January 2007.

The Dogs' Home Court Advantage? It's Real and It's Stegtacular

Georgia is 13-2 at Stegeman Coliseum this season, improving to 39-12 (.765) at home under Mike White. The Bulldogs sport a scoring margin of +19.0 at home, with 11 of 13 victories – including those over No. 6/7 Kentucky and No. 16/17 Oklahoma – coming by double figures. Georgia's home losses were by two points to No. 1 Auburn and one point to No. 22 Mississippi State.

The Bulldogs' 13-game home winning streak dating back to last season was snapped by No. 1 Auburn on Jan. 18. That matched the fourth-longest home winning span ever for UGA.

In fact, after producing just 11 double-digit home winning streaks in Georgia's first 116 seasons of intercollegiate competition, the Bulldogs have now produced three double-digit winning streaks at Stegeman during White's three seasons alone 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 39-12 home mark since becoming Georgia's head coach, White is now a combined 46-13 (.780) in Stegeman. He is a perfect 27-0 versus non-conference competition in home games while with the Bulldogs.

In Commit To The G, The "G" Is For Grades

The basketball Bulldogs enjoyed their strongest academic semester ever during the fall, producing a team grade point average of 3.28. That was not only the program's highest mark ever, but also the second-highest GPA among UGA's nine men's athletic programs last fall.

All told, 12 Georgia players posted a 3.0 or higher in the fall. Tyrin Lawrence led the way with a 4.0, followed by four players between a 3.50-3.99 and seven between a 3.0-3.49.

Georgia Alters Starters For First Time

After sending the same quartet onto the court for tipoff for the first 20 games, the Bulldogs changed their lineup against South Carolina.

Dakota Leffew got the nod in place of Tyrin Lawrence. Leffew responded with a team-best "+17" against the Gamecocks, with 14 points, a team-high four assists and season-best tallies of three steals and 35 minutes.

Georgia was one of six Division I programs to use the same starting lineup for the first 20 games of the season.

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 sixth-highest percentage of its made FGs on dunks – 14.5 percent.

Freshman Asa Newell's 45 slams represent the ninth most among all Division I players as outlined below.

Top Dunkers - Team Leaders
Rk.	Team	Pct. of FGs
2.	Cincinnati	16.8
3.	Utah	16.7
4.	Tennessee	16.3
5.	Duke	15.6
6.	Georgia	14.5
Top Dunkers - Individual Leaders
Rk.	Player, School	No.
1.	R. Kalkbrenner, CU	67
2.	A. Bandaogo, UC	52
	J. Scott, UofL	52
4.	D. Mitchell, UC	51
5.	R. Castro, GWU	50
6.	F. Okpara, UT	49
7.	M. Rubin, Loy-Chi.	48
8.	D. Cardwell, AU	46
9.	A. Newell, UGA	45

Bulldogs' Beginning Among Their Best Ever

Georgia's 12-1 start to the 2024-25 campaign was the Bulldogs' third-best ever and their best in 94 seasons as outlined below.

Georgia also opened 1930-31 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.

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

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;

Georgia's overall field goal percentage (.667) remains the best efforts by any SEC team during the 2024-25 season and the 3-point percentage (.583) against the Dolphins is the second-best mark by any league team this 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.

Bulldogs To Face 11th Ranked, Sixth Top-10 Foe At Texas A&M

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Blue Cain

Silas Demary Jr.

Justin Hill

Dylan James

Tyrin Lawrence

Dakota Leffew

Asa Newell

Bulldogs To Face 11th Ranked, Sixth Top-10 Foe At Texas A&M

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Blue Cain

Silas Demary Jr.

Justin Hill

Dylan James

Tyrin Lawrence

Dakota Leffew

Asa Newell

Related Videos