Bulldogs Back In Stegeman To Host Texas

Saturday, February 21

Athens, Ga.

3:30

University of Georgia

Texas

Tickets From $22 - $43

February 20, 2026 | Men's Basketball

Game Notes

Georgia Basketball Game Notes

Georgia (18-8, 6-7 SEC) vs. Texas (17-9, 8-5)
Date: Saturday, February 21, 2026
Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
Venue: Stegeman Coliseum (10,523)
Location: Athens, Ga.
TV: SEC Network (Rich Hollenberg, play-by-play; Pat Bradley analyst)
Streaming: SECN+
Radio: Georgia Bulldog Network; Sirius 382 (Scott Howard, play-by-play; Chuck Dowdle, analyst; Adam Gillespie, producer)
Tickets: www.georgiadogs.com/mbbtix
Game Giveaway: The first 750 UGA students will receive a free "Spike Hat."

The Starting 5

Georgia returns to a sold-out Stegeman Coliseum on Saturday afternoon looking to continue building momentum following an 86-78 victory over Kentucky at Rupp Arena on Tuesday night.
Somto Cyril is on the verge of shattering Georgia's single-season field goal percentage record. With two more FGs, Cyril will qualify for the record. He could do 2-for-30 and still break the current mark.
Blue Cain has notched 20-point performances in each of Georgia's last two games at Oklahoma and Kentucky...after have two 20-point tallies in his first 94 games as a Bulldog.
After using the same starting five for 19 of 22 games, UGA has used different lineup in four of its last five outings. Blue Cain is the only Bulldog to start every game, extending his streak to 67 straight nods.
Georgia entered this weekend leading the nation in percentage of field goals that are dunks at 18.7 percent (163 of 808 FGs). Individually, Somto Cyril is the nation's top dunker with 70 rim rattlers.

Keeping An Eye On…

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

Blue Cain is...
• 7 3-pointers from No. 15 Jabri Abdur-Rahim
• 10 3-pointers from co-No. 13s Ty Wilson and Ray Harrison
• 22 3-point attempts from No. 12 Ray Harrison
Somto Cyril is...
• 2 blocks from No. 11 Trey Thompkins
• 4 blocks from No. 10 Chris Daniels
• 5 blocks from No. 9 Marcus Thornton
• 8 blocks from co-No. 7 Willie Anderson and Nicolas Clayton

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

Somto Cyril is...
• 12 blocks from No. 6 Lavon Mercer ('80)

The Opening Tip

Georgia returns to the friendly confines of historic Stegeman Coliseum on Saturday afternoon to host Texas in a 3:30 p.m. ET matinee.

The Bulldogs are coming off an impressive 86-78 win at Kentucky on Tuesday, just Georgia's fifth victory in 45 trips to Rupp Arena. Blue Cain's second-straight 20-point outburst led the Bulldogs to their first W in Lexington since 2009.

According to bracketmatrix.com, Georgia is a unanimous pick for the NCAA Tournament, with the Bulldogs appearing in all 118 projections for "March Madness" by various bracketologists as of Thursday.

As of Friday, the Bulldogs led all 365 D-I programs in fastbreak points (21.2 ppg) and blocks (6.5 bpg) and also were among national leaders in scoring (No. 7 at 90.2 ppg) and bench points (No. 12 at 34.1 ppg).

Georgia has a deep rotations playing at a pace among the country's quickest.

Eleven Bulldogs are averaging double-figure minutes, and they have combined to record 106 double-figure scoring outputs this season. Jeremiah Wilkinson is averaging a team-high 17.2 ppg, while Blue Cain is contributing 13.9 ppg, Marcus "Smurf" Millender is chipping in 12.1 ppg and Kanon Catchings is adding 10.6 ppg.

The Bulldogs entered this weekend ranked in the top 10 of the oft-used metric KenPom.com in both average offensive possession length (No. 9 at 15.2) and adjusted tempo (No. 10 at 72.3).

Scouting The Longhorns

Texas improved to 17-9 overall and 8-5 in the SEC with its 88-85 victory over LSU on Tuesday night in Austin. The Longhorns were just 11-8 when UGA and UT met less than a month ago in Austin, but that contest started a span of six wins in seven games.

Dailyn Swain literally does everything for Texas, leading the Longhorns in scoring (17.7 ppg), rebounding (7.4 rpg), assists (3.3 apg) and steals (1.8 spg).

Texas' balanced offensive attack also includes Matas Vokietaitis averaging 15.5 ppg, Tramon Mark contributing 13.3 ppg and Jordan Pope chipping in 12.8 ppg.

Series History With Texas

Georgia owns an 9-6 lead in all-time matchups with Texas, including a 4-0 mark in Athens.

The Bulldogs and Longhorns last met in Athens on Jan. 26, 2019 as part of the SEC-Big 12 Challenge. Tyree Crump scored a game-high 21 points – largely due to shooting 6-of-8 from 3-point range – to lead five Bulldogs in double figures in a 98-88 decision.

The Longhorns led 21-13 before a Crump 3-pointer ignited a 17-2 spurt that put Georgia up 30-23 with 9:27 left in the first half. Texas tied the game twice, but the Bulldogs answered with a 13-4 run and never trailed thereafter.

FYI, Anthony Edwards sat court side at that contest and committed to the Bulldogs 16 days later on Feb. 11.

UGA and UT also faced off less than a month ago in Austin when Texas erased a seven-point halftime deficit en route to an 87-67 victory. Somto Cyril scored 11 first-half points to lead the Bulldogs to a 37-30 advantage at the intermission. The Longhorns opened the second stanza with an 8-0 run and used that momentum to upset then-No. 21/22 ranked Georgia.

Last Time Out

Blue Cain's second consecutive 20-point performance led Georgia to an 86-78 victory over Kentucky at Rupp Arena on Tuesday, the Bulldogs' first win in Lexington since 2009. Marcus "Smurf" Millender added 14 points and eight assists – the single-game high for UGA this season.

After being tied at 31 with 3:39 left in the first half, Georgia went on an 8-3 run to close out the period and take a five-point lead into the intermission.

Although the Wildcats made it a one-possession game seven times in the second stanza, the Bulldogs led the entire 20 minutes. Kentucky closed to with 81-78 with 2:13 remaining before a Somto Cyril stickback ignited a 7-0 surge to end the night.

"We played with a ton of intensity, and I thought our guys from the jump really sat down and defended," head coach Mike White said. "Offensively, we cut hard, we shared it, we made good decisions, we flew to the offensive glass. I don't think there was just one guy that played great. I thought that we had eight or 10 guys play well and defensively, we were really connected."

Somto Set to Shatter Single-Season FG Percentage Mark

Somto Cyril enters the Texas game with 98 made field goals during the 2025-26 campaign, two shy of meeting the minimum tally to qualify for Georgia's single-season leaders' ledger.

The sophomore from Enugu, Nigeria has connected on 74.8 percent (98-of-131) of his shots from the field this season – 10.5 percent better than the current best-ever effort by a Bulldog as outlined to the right.

Almost unfathomably, Cyril could go 2-for-30 going forward and he would still better the current record.

Rank	Player, Season	Pct.
Season FG Pct. Top-5
1.	Lavon Mercer, '78-79	.643
2.	Braelen Bridges, '21-22	.634
3.	Bob Lienhard, '69-70	.632
4.	Lavon Mercer, '79-80	.611
5.	Jim Youngblood, '66-67	.591

After Consistent Nods, Dogs Shuffle Starting Lineup

Georgia's starting five was extremely consistent . . . for the first 22 games of the season.

During that span, the quintet of Blue Cain, Somto Cyril, Jordan Ross, Jeremiah Wilkinson and Kanon Catchings was only interrupted for three games.

The Bulldogs then sent different lineups for the opening four of its next five games.

After using the aforementioned set of starters against Texas A&M, Justin Abson got his first career start at a Bulldog at LSU. He replaced Cyril, who missed practice most of the week with an illness. Dylan James got the nod against Florida when Jeremiah Wilkinson was a DNP. At Oklahoma, Marcus "Smurf" Millender and Kareem Stagg got their first starts of the season, and the same fivesome started at Kentucky.

Cain is now the only Bulldog to start every game this season, extending his streak of consecutive nods to 67 games dating back to the last eight games of his freshman season.

Dunkyard Dawgs, Cyril Lead The Nation In Slams

According to BartTorvik.com, Georgia entered this weekend leading the nation in percentage of its field goals that have been dunks at 18.7 – 163 of 808 the Bulldogs' FGs this season – as outlined to the right.

Somto Cyril's 70 dunks also led the nation and is 29 more than any other SEC player. Kareem Stagg is second among Bulldogs with 19 dunks; followed by Jake Wilkins with 17; Blue Cain, Kanon Catchings and Jeremiah Wilkinson all with 12; Justin Abson with 11; and Dylan James with 10.

Rank	Team	Pct.
Dunking It
1.	Georgia	18.7
2.	N. Carolina	17.1
3.	Duke	16.1
4.	Arkansas	15.9
5.	Florida	15.6
6.	Kansas	15.5
7.	Michigan	15.4
8.	Indiana	15.0
9.	Kentucky	14.4
10.	Providence	14.3

Georgia Putting Up Points At A Record-Breaking Pace

The Bulldogs are well on their way to shattering the program's all-time scoring record.

Georgia is currently averaging 90.2 points per game 26 contests into the campaign, an extremely healthy 7.5 ppg better than the Bulldogs' current best-ever effort of 82.7 ppg en route to winning the 1990 SEC Championship.

Those Bulldogs scored 2,399 points over 29 games. By comparison, Georgia has already scored 2,344 points in 26 outings this season.

Bulldogs Among Nation's Top Scoring Teams In Several Ways

Georgia entered this weekend ranked No. 7 in D-I in scoring offense at 90.2 points per game.

Much of Georgia's production has come either in a hurry or while standing still.

The Bulldogs lead the country in fastbreak points (21.2 ppg) and are No. 19 free throws made (18.7 ppg). That equates to roughly 44.2 percent (39.9 of 90.2 ppg) of Georgia's offensive output.

Georgia's scoring has been consistent.

In 52 halves of hoops, the Bulldogs scored 40 or more points 39 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 26 games this season, Georgia has topped 90 points in 12 outings and surpassed the century mark in a school-record seven contests.

Smurf's Game Gets Bigger

After a slow start early in the season, Marcus "Smurf" Millender has nearly doubled his production and shooting efficiency over the last 21 games.

Millender averaged 6.8 points in Georgia's first five games, but is contributing 13.3 ppg in the Bulldogs' last 21 outings. He connected on just 26.2 percent (11-of-42) overall and 21.7 percent (5-of-23) from 3-point range in the first five games, but has upped those tallies o 50.8 percent (96-of-189) overall and 43.0 percent (43-of-100) on 3-pointers thereafter.

Millender has now put up double-digit scoring tallies in 16 of 21 games and distributed five or more assists in eight of those contests. At Kentucky, he delivered eight assists – the single-game high of any Bulldog this season – while committing just one turnover

The stretch includes two dramatic game winners. Millender canned a clutch 3-pointer with 11 seconds left against Xavier in the opening round of the Shriners Children's Charleston Classic on Nov. 21 and converted a three-point play with 5.5 seconds left at Missouri on Jan. 20.

Somto Surging On Blocks Ledgers

Somto Cyril, who was named to the 2026 Naismith Men's College Defensive Player of the Year Watch List the Atlanta Tipoff Club in January, is quickly climbing on Georgia's single-season and career leaders lists for blocked shots.

In 33 games last season, Cyril swatted 51 shots, which was then UGA's 11th-best tally and the second-most by a Georgia freshman.

In 26 contests this season, the Enugu, Nigeria native has already blocked 64 shots. That's the No. 7 season mark by a Bulldog.

Cyril's numbers are bolstered two career-high outputs in SEC play – six against Auburn and eight versus Arkansas.

Cyril's 114 total rejections rank No. 12 among Georgia's career leaders, four shy of the top-10.

Cain Joins UGA's Free Throw Leaders

Blue Cain has met the minimums to be included in Georgia's single-season and career leaders in free throw percentage.

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 140-of-167 and his 83.8 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 64-of-71 and his 90.1 conversion rate is the third-best ever by a Bulldog.

Stagg's Impact Takes Dramatic Upswing

Kareem Stagg's PT and production has skyrocketed in the Bulldogs' three most recent outings.

The freshman from Chesapeake, Va., scored six points in just over 64 minutes of action in Georgia's first 10 SEC outings – easy to commute averages of 0.6 ppg and 6.4 mpg.

Over the last three games, Stagg has scored 22 points (7.3 ppg) while logging 64 minutes (21.3 mpg), including his first SEC double-figure output of 10 points at Oklahoma, while playing a career-most 27 minutes.

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 entered this weekend well over 100 spots better in each stat – No. 130 in assists (14.8 apg) and No. 103 in assist-to-turnovers (1.35).

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 226 passes-to-points while committing just 112 turnovers – equating to 8.7 apg and a stellar ratio of 2.02 assists-to-TOs.

Resilient Dogs Rally From Double-Digit Deficits

Georgia certainly didn't look like it was headed to a double-figure victory at LSU when the Bulldogs trailed by 15 points just after the midway point of the first half in Baton Rouge.

After falling behind 31-16, Georgia outscored the Tigers 67-40 the rest of the way.

That marked the fourth game this season the Bulldogs overcame a double-digit gap en route to a win, also doing so against Cincinnati, LIU and South Carolina. In two more outings – Clemson and Ole Miss – UGA recovered from 10+-point deficits to lead before eventually losing in overtime.

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 106 double-digit performances.

Blue Cain leads that pack at 21 contests, followed by Jeremiah Wilkinson with 20; Smurf Millender with 18; Kanon Catchings with 13; Somto Cyril with 12; Jordan Ross with seven; Jake Wilkins with five; Dylan James with four; Justin Bailey and Kareem Stagg both with three.

Millender Tops Millennium Mark; More Dogs Approaching 1,000

Houston native Marcus "Smurf" Millender reached 1,000 career points with approximately 30 family and friends on hand for his return to the Lone Star State at Texas on Jan. 24.

Millender scored his 1000 points at three different schools, with 309 as a freshman at South Alabama, 461 as a sophomore at UT San Antonio and 230 in his junior campaign as a Bulldog.

Blue Cain and Jeremiah Wilkinson also are on pace to reach 1,000 career points this season.

Cain and Wilkinson have scored 953 and 897 points, respectively. At their current averages, both Bulldogs would reach 1,000 points this season.

Cain would become the first player to score 1,000 points exclusively for Georgia since Yante Maten reached that plateau on Jan. 4, 2017.

Abson, Cyril Supply Top Shot-Swatting Duo

Georgia is leading the nation in blocks per game entering this weekend at 6.5 swats per contest, largely due to two Bulldogs also being among the shot swatters in the country.

As of Friday, Somto Cyril led the SEC and was No. 10 nationally at 2.5 bpg and Justin Abson was at No. 3 in the league and No. 45 in the country at 1.8 bpg.

This is the third time in his career Abson has been a top-50 shot swatter. In his two seasons at Appalachian State before transferring to Georgia, he ranked No. 5 (2.8 bpg) nationally as a sophomore and No. 19 (2.2 bpg) as a freshman.

Dogs Play School-Record Fourth OT Outing

Georgia's overtime setback to Tennessee on Jan. 27 was its fourth 45-minute contest this season.

That ties Georgia's record for most OT games in a season. The Bulldogs have played four overtime outings eight different times, most recently in 2012-13. The other seasons were 2010-11, 1998-99, 1986-87, 1983-84, 1876-77 and 1959-60.

COMPLETE GAME NOTES PDF

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