Bulldogs Open Road Swing At Missouri

Tuesday, January 20

Columbia, Mo.

9:00

University of Georgia

Missouri

During Georgia’s game against Arkansas at Stegeman Coliseum in Athens, Ga., on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (Conor Dillon/UGAAA)

Photo by: Conor Dillon/UGAAA

January 19, 2026 | Men's Basketball

Game Notes

Georgia Basketball Game Notes

Georgia (15-3, 3-2 SEC) vs. Missouri (13-5, 3-2 SEC)
Date: Tuesday, January 20, 2026
Time: 9:00 p.m. ET
Venue: Mizzou Arena (15,061)
Location: Columbia, Mo.
TV: SEC Network (Tom Hart, play-by-play; Jon Sundvold, analyst)
Streaming: SECN+
Radio: Georgia Bulldog Network; Sirius 81 (Scott Howard, play-by-play; Chuck Dowdle, analyst; Adam Gillespie, producer)
Tickets: www.georgiadogs.com/mbbtix

The Starting 5

Georgia returns to the road on Tuesday to face Missouri. The Bulldogs have won three of their last four road outings dating back to last season, with wins at Texas, S. Carolina (twice) and Florida State.
Georgia entered this week ranked among the nation's top-25 teams in 14 of 28 statistics tracked by the NCAA including leading all 365 Division I teams in scoring offense (96.0 ppg), fastbreak points (24.7 ppg), free throws made per game (21.3 ppg) and blocks (7.6 bpg)
According to BartTorvik.com, the Dunkyard Dawgs also lead the country in percentage of field goals that are dunks at 20.4 (125 total dunks). Individually, Somto Cyril ranks No. 2 in dunks with 51.
Georgia has been incredibly consistent in its scoring this season. In 36 halves of hoops, the Bulldogs have scored 40 or more points 32 times.
The Bulldogs scored 90 points nine times in 102 games during Mike White's first three seasons at Georgia. This season, the Dogs have reached the 90-point plateau in 12 of 18 outings.

Keeping An Eye On…

Entering Today's Game - Among UGA's Career Leaders

Smurf Millender is…
• 24 points from 1000 for his career
Blue Cain is...
• 1 3-pointers from No. 19 Sundiata Gaines
• 3 3-pointers from No. 18 Rashad Wright
• 6 3-pointers from No. 17 Turtle Jackson
• 17 3-point attempts from No. 18 Ty Wilson
Somto Cyril is...
• 6 blocks from No. 13 Terry Fair
• 8 blocks from No. 12 Derek Ogbeide
• 14 blocks from No. 11 Trey Thompkins

Entering Today's Game - Among UGA's Season Leaders

Somto Cyril is...
• 4 blocks from No. 10 Lavon Mercer ('79)
• 6 blocks from No. 9 Charles Clayton ('94)
• 8 blocks from No. 8 Antonio Harvey ('91)
• 9 blocks from No. 7 Yante Maten ('16)

The Opening Tip

Georgia opens a two-game road swing on Tuesday with a matchup against Missouri at Mizzou Arena. The Bulldogs are 15-3 overall and 3-2 in SEC play following last Saturday's 90-76 victory over No. 17 Arkansas at a sold-out Stegeman Coliseum.

While the top-25 polls won't be released until Monday afternoon, Georgia is expected to be ranked for a sixth straight week, the Bulldogs' longest stretch in the top 25 since an 11-week span during the 2002-03 campaign.

Georgia's statistical start to the 2025-26 campaign has been equally impressive.

As of Monday, the Bulldogs were leading the all 365 Division I teams in scoring offense (96.0 ppg), fastbreak points (24.7 ppg), free throws made per game (21.3 ppg) and blocks (7.6 bpg). Among the 28 statistics tracked by the NCAA, Georgia was ranked in the top 10 in seven categories and in the top 25 in 14.

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

Eleven Bulldogs are averaging double-figure minutes, and according to the oft-used metric KenPom.com, Georgia entered this week ranked No. 2 nationally in adjusted tempo (74.9) and No. 5 in average offensive possession length (14.6).

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 76 double-figure scoring outputs this season.

Jeremiah Wilkinson is averaging a team-high 17.9 ppg, while Blue Cain is contributing 14.3 ppg, Marcus "Smurf" Millender is chipping in 11.4 ppg and Kanon Catchings is putting up 10.1 ppg. Somto Cyril is averaging 9.6 ppg and leads the Bulldogs in rebounding (6.1 rpg), blocks (2.9 bpg) and field goal percentage (.772).

Scouting The Tigers

Missouri is 13-5 overall, including a perfect 11-0 record at home. The Tigers and Bulldogs both enter Tuesday's game at 3-2 in SEC play.

The Tigers display incredible balanced in both points and boards, with five double-digit scorers and seven players averaging between 3.6-5.3 rpg.

Mark Mitchell paces Mizzou in both offensively (17.3 ppg) and on the glass (5.3 rpg). In addition to Mitchell, Jayden Stone is averaging 15.6 ppg, Jacob Crews chips in 11.6 ppg, Trent Pierce adds 10.4 ppg and Anthony Robinson II is producing 10.3 ppg.

Series History With Missouri

Missouri owns a slight 12-10 lead in all-time matchups between the Bulldogs and Tigers on the hardwood.

In the most recent meeting last Feb. 15 in Athens, No. 21/22 Missouri rallied from a halftime deficit to defeat Georgia, 87-74.

The Bulldogs built a 41-38 halftime lead before the Tigers used a 9-0 run early in the second stanza to go up for good. After going 11-0 when leading at halftime during non-conference play, Georgia fell to 3-5 in SEC games when up at intermission.

Georgia and Mizzou last in Columbia on Jan. 6, 2024, in their SEC opener. Russel Tchewa's 18 points and 11 rebounds led to his first double-double as a Bulldog and a 75-68 win.

Georgia used a 16-0 surge to grab a 17-point, 35-18, lead with 5:50 left in the first half before Missouri responded and cut that gap to 40-38 at the intermission. The contest was a one-possession game for 29:38 before the Bulldogs closed out the afternoon on a 12-3 run.

Last Time Out

No. 21/22 Georgia started and finished with bang in a 90-76 win over No. 17/17 Arkansas before a raucous sellout crowd at Stegeman Coliseum on Saturday. Dating back to last season, the Bulldogs have welcomed crowds of 10,000+ for nine of their last 12 SEC contests.

The Bulldogs raced to a 19-3 lead and bulged that margin to 19 points early in the second half before the Razorbacks rallied to tie the score twice, lastly at 70-70 with 5:52 remaining. Blue Cain and Jeremiah Wilkinson combined to score 10 unanswered points over the next 3:32 to help seal the victory for Georgia.

"We talked after last game just how are we going to respond to a tough game, tough loss that we know we should've won," Wilkinson said. "This is the way we come out and respond. We've had a tough two days of practice, trying to lock in on a lot of things we did wrong. I feel like we really got after it in practice, and it showed on the court today."

Wilkinson Putting Up Big Numbers For Bulldogs

Jeremiah Wilkinson leads Georgia with eight 20-point outputs this season, including a pair of 30-point performances.

Wilkinson has three 20-point tallies in five SEC contests, popping for 31 in a 104-100 win over Auburn; putting up 32 versus Ole Miss, the single-game high of any Bulldog this season; and scoring 20 against Arkansas.

Big numbers have been a big part of the Powder Springs product's game.

Last season at Cal, he notched 10 20-point tallies and a pair of 30-point efforts for the Bears en route to winning ACC Sixth Man of the Year honors. Wilkinson's 10 20-point games for Cal were the second most in program history by a freshman behind only Shareef Abdur-Rahim.

Trio Of Bulldogs Approaching 1,000 Career Points

Marcus "Smurf" Millender, Blue Cain and Jeremiah Wilkinson all are within reach of topping 1,000 career points this season.

Millender enters the Missouri game with 976 points – 309 as a freshman at South Alabama, 461 as a sophomore at UT San Antonio and 206 in his junior campaign as a Bulldog.

Cain and Wilkinson have scored 850 and 806 points, respectively. At their current scoring averages, both Bulldogs would reach 1,000 points in 11 games (Feb. 28 against South Carolina). Cain would become the first player to score 1,000 points exclusively for Georgia since Yante Maten reached that plateau on Jan. 4, 2017.

Kanon Takes Off In SEC Outings

Kanon Catchings' production has increased dramatically over the last four games.

After averaging 8.3 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists while shooting 38.8 from the field and 24.2 from 3-point range in the first 14 games of the season, Catchings has upped each effort to 16.0 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 2.8 apg, 44.7 FG pct. and 46.4 3FG pct. in his four most recent contests.

The sophomore from Brownsburg, Ind., notched four double-figure scoring tallies in the first 14 games before recording double-digit point performances in each of his last four outings.

Bulldogs Are Nation's Top Offensive Team

Georgia entered this week ranked No. 1 nationally in scoring offense and fastbreak points. The Bulldogs are putting up 96.0 points per game, including 24.7 ppg on fastbreak opportunities.

In fact, the Bulldogs' average of 99.0 ppg on January 1 was the highest by any Division I basketball team on New Year's Day in seven years . . . since The Citadel was putting up 99.1 ppg when the calendar flipped from 2018 to 2019.

Getting to the free throw line – and converting – has bolstered the Bulldogs' output. As of Monday, Georgia ranked No. 1 nationally in free throws made (21.3 FT pg) and No. 3 in free throw attempts (28.2 FTA pg).

Georgia's scoring has been consistent. In 36 halves of hoops, the Bulldogs scored 40 or more points 32 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 18 games this season, Georgia has topped 90 points in 12 outings and surpassed the century mark in a school-record seven contests.

Georgia Among Nation's Top-10 In Seven Stats

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

As of Monday, Georgia was ranked in the nation's top-25 teams in 14 of the 28 stats the NCAA measures, including seven in the top 10 as outlined below.

Top-10 Stats
Statistic	Rk.	No.
Scoring Offense	1	96.0
Fastbreak Points	1	24.7
Blocks Per Game	1	7.6
FTs Made Per Game	1	21.3
FTAs Per Game	3	28.2
Bench Points	6	37.6
Scoring Margin	9	+19.8

Dunkyard Dogs Leading The Nation In Slams

According to BartTorvik.com, Georgia entered this week scoring a nation-leading 20.4 percent of its field goals this season on dunks – 125 of 586 the Bulldogs' total FGs – as outlined below.

As of Monday, Somto Cyril led the SEC and ranked No. 2 nationally with 51 dunks followed by Kareem Stagg with 17; Jake Wilkins with 15; Jeremiah Wilkinson with 11; Blue Cain and Kanon Catchings with nine apiece; Justin Abson with eight; and Dylan James with five.

Dunking It
Rank	Team	Pct.
1.	Georgia	20.4
2.	N. Carolina	20.2
3.	Duke	16.7
4.	Indiana	16.6
5.	Arkansas	16.4
6.	Kentucky	16.0
7.	Kansas	15.5
8.	Florida	15.4
9.	Wake Forest	15.2
10.	Michigan	14.7

Abson, Cyril Supply Top-25 Swatting Duo

With Georgia leading the nation in blocks per game entering this week, largely due to two Bulldogs also being among the top-25 shot swatters in the country.

As of Monday, Somto Cyril led the SEC and No. 3 nationally at 2.9 bpg and Justin Abson was at No. 3 in the league and No. 23 in the country at 2.2 bpg.

Cyril's numbers are bolstered two career-high outputs in SEC play – six swats against Auburn which was followed by a seven-block outing versus Arkansas.

Georgia entered this weekend ranked No. 3 nationally in defensive blocks percentage according to KenPom.com, swatting away 17.3 percent of the opponents' shots from the field.

Dogs' Dishing, Ball Control Considerably Better

Mike White has called the 2025-26 Bulldogs one of the better passing teams he's coached.

A year ago, the Bulldogs ranked No. 262 nationally in assists per game at 12.5 and No. 298 in assist-to-turnover ratio at 0.96. This season, Georgia is a much improved No. 98 in assists (15.7 apg) and No. 94 in assist-to-turnovers (1.38).

A large part of that is the performance of the four guards Georgia added via the transfer portal during the offseason – Justin Bailey, Marcus "Smurf" Millender, Jordan Ross and Jeremiah Wilkinson. That quartet has delivered a combined 161 passes-to-points while committing just 80 turnovers – equating to 8.9 apg and a stellar ratio of 2.01 assists-to-TOs.

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 76 double-digit performances. Blue Cain leads that pack with 16 tallies, followed by Jeremiah Wilkinson with 15; Smurf Millender with 11; Kanon Catchings with eight; Somto Cyril with seven; Jordan Ross with six; Jake Wilkins with five; Justin Bailey and Dylan James with three; and Kareem Stagg both 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.

Smurf's Game Gets Bigger In Baker's Dozen Of Outings

Marcus "Smurf" Millender's season-high 24-point outing against Auburn in the SEC opener headlines a strong series of performances over the Bulldogs' last 13 contests.

The stretch began in dramatic fashion, with Millender canning a game-winning 3-pointer against Xavier in the opening round of the Shriners Children's Charleston Classic on Nov. 21.

Millender has now put out double-digit scoring tallies in 10 of 13 games and distributed six or more assists in four of those contests. After averaging 6.8 points in Georgia's first five games, he is contributing 13.2 ppg in the Bulldogs' last 13 outings.

Millender's efficiency from the field also has increased dramatically. After shooting 26.2 percent (11-of-42) from the field and 21.7 percent (5-of-23) from 3-point range in the first five games, Millender has connected on 52.3 percent (57-of-109) of his field goals, including 45.8 percent (27-of-59) of his 3s, thereafter.

Somto's Almost Unfathomable Surreal Stretch

It would be hard to choose which of the following is most impressive about Somto Cyril's seven-outing stretch from Dec. 13 (vs. Cincinnati) to Jan. 10 (at South Carolina):

• Producing five career-high scoring outputs.
• Grabbing the most rebounds by a Bulldog since 2020.
• Swatting a career-high six shots against Auburn.
• Shooting a combined 90.0 (36-of-40) percent from the field.

Cyril matched his career-most points with 13 against Cincinnati, upped that to 14 versus Western Carolina, inched up to 15 against West Georgia and then had 18 points at South Carolina.

Cyril hauled in 15 rebounds West Georgia, which not only represented a career high but also was the most by any Bulldog since Toumani Camara's 17 boards against Montana on Dec. 2, 2020.

Cyril made the most of the overtime session versus Auburn, notching three of his career-high six blocks in those five minutes alone against the Tigers.

Cyril was perfect from the field in five of those seven contests, connecting on 6-of-6 field goals against Cincinnati, Western Carolina, West Georgia and Auburn and 8-of-8 at South Carolina.

Cyril averaged 12.0 points, 7.6 rebounds and 3.1 blocks over those seven contests, numbers that took a hit by only playing 7:08 at Florida.

Cain Joins UGA's Free Throw Leaders

Blue Cain recently met the minimums to be included in Georgia's single-season and career leaders in free throw percentage. He enters the Arkansas game ranked No. 2 in career and No. 3 in season success rate among all Bulldogs.

The minimum to qualify for Georgia's career free throw leaders percentage leaders is 125 made attempts, which Cain achieved with two free throws at Florida on Jan. 6. Cain is now 130-of-156 and his 83.6 conversion rate is now the second-best ever by a Bulldog.

The minimum to qualify for Georgia's single-season free throw percentage leaders is 50 made attempts, which Cain reached with two makes at South Carolina on Jan. 19. Cain is currently 54-of-60 and his 91.1 conversion rate is the third-best ever by a Bulldog.

Bulldogs Match Second-Best Start Ever

Georgia's 13-1 record to begin this season equaled the second-best start in the Bulldogs' 121 seasons competition and matched their best beginning since the 1930-31 campaign.

White Quickly Takes Losing Teams To The Top 25

When Georgia climbed into both the AP and coaches ledgers last January, it represented the third program Mike White took from a losing record the season prior to his arrival to a top-25 ranking in less than three years.

The Bulldogs were 6-26 in 2021-22 and joined both editions of the Jan. 20, 2025, polls after improving to 14-4 with wins over No. 6/7 Kentucky and No. 17/16 Oklahoma.

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 in 2013. Florida, 16-17 in 2014-15, topped out at No. 12 during the Gators' 2017 "Elite Eight" campaign.

COMPLETE GAME NOTES PDF

View the full game notes PDF.