Dogs Open SEC Tourney On Thursday

Thursday, March 12

Nashville, Tenn.

7:00 p.m.

University of Georgia

Texas/Ole Miss

March 11, 2026 | Men's Basketball

Game Notes

Georgia Basketball Game Notes

2026 MEN'S SEC BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
Georgia (22-9, 10-8 SEC) vs. Texas (18-13, 9-9) OR Ole Miss (12-19, 4-14)
Date: Thursday, March 12, 2026
Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
Venue: Bridgestone Arena (19,395)
Location: Nashville, Tenn.
TV: SEC Network (Tom Hart, play-by-play; Dane Bradshaw, analyst)
Streaming: SECN+
Radio: Georgia Bulldog Network; Sirius TBA (Scott Howard, play-by-play; Chuck Dowdle, analyst; Adam Gillespie, producer)
Tickets: www.georgiadogs.com/mbbtix

The Starting 5

The winningest and highest-scoring Georgia Bulldogs ever will open play in the 2026 SEC Tournament on Thursday when they face either Texas or Ole Miss in the second round at 7:00 p.m. ET.
Georgia's 22 victories to date represent the most ever by the Bulldogs during regular-season play in 121 seasons of competition and is two shy of UGA's most wins in a season – 24 in 1982-83 and 1996-97.
The Bulldogs have scored 2,802 points, passing the previous record of 2,764 points in 37 games during 2023-24. UGA is averaging 90.4 ppg, 7.7 ppg more than its current highest ever – 82.7 ppg in 1989-90.
The "Dunkyard Dawgs" lead the nation in percentage of field goals that are dunks at 18.9 percent (193 of 964 FGs). Individually, Somto Cyril tops all D-I players in dunks with 81 rim rattlers.
Georgia finished 10-8 in SEC play, the first time the Bulldogs have been above .500 in league play since also going 10-8 in 2015-16. UGA is the No. 7 seed, it's highest since being No. 6 in 2016.

Keeping An Eye On…

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

Blue Cain is...
• 3 points from No. 44 Allan Johnson
• 4 points from No. 43 Bob Schloss
• 14 points from No. 42 Chris Daniels
• 17 points from No. 41 Jarvis Hayes
• 21 points from No. 40 Gerald Crosby
• 3 3-point FGs from co-No. 13s Ty Wilson and Ray Harrison
• 9 3-points FGs from No. 12 Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
• 10 3-point FGAs from No. 12 Ray Harrison
Somto Cyril is...
• 11 blocks from No. 6 Donte Williams

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

Somto Cyril is...
• 2 blocks from No. 6 Lavon Mercer ('80)
• 7 blocks from No. 5 Nicolas Claxton ('19)
Justin Abson is...
• 1 block from No. 18 Charles Claxton ('92)
• 2 blocks from co-No. 15s Yante Maten ('18) & Willie Anderson (in both '87 & '88)
• 3 blocks from No. 14 Trey Thompkins ('11)
• 4 blocks from co-No. 12s Somto Cyril ('25) & Donte' Williams (12)
Jeremiah Wilkinson is...
• 14 points from 1,000 career points
• 1 3-point FGs from co-No. 12s Anthony Edwards ('20) & Levin Stukes ('06)
• 15 3-point FGAs from No. 7 Kentavious Caldwell-Pope ('12)

The Opening Tip

The 2025-26 Georgia Bulldogs – already UGA's winningest and highest-scoring team in 121 seasons of intercollegiate competition – will open play in the SEC Tournament on Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. ET. The No. 7-seeded Bulldogs will face the winner of Wednesday's first-round matchup between No. 10 seed Texas and No. 15 seed Ole Miss.

With last Saturday's 102-96 win at Mississippi State, Georgia notched its 22nd win of the season. That tally is the most ever by the Bulldogs during the regular season, surpassing the 1930-31 and 1996-97 teams' 21 victories. Georgia is looking to inch closer to the program record of 24 overall wins in a single season set in 1982-83 and 1996-97.

Also in Starkville, the Bulldogs upped their season scoring total to 2,802 points in 31 games. That topped the Georgia record for points in a season of 2,764 in 37 games of the 2023-24 season that culminated with a trip to the NIT semifinals.

Those results have Georgia poised to earn an NCAA Tournament bid for the second straight season, a first for the Bulldogs since participating in the 2001 and 2022 editions of "March Madness."

According to bracketmatrix.com, Georgia is a unanimous pick to earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament, with the Bulldogs appearing in all 123 projections for "March Madness" by various bracketologists as of Tuesday.

Georgia's statistical resume for the 2025-26 campaign is quite impressive.

As of Monday, the Bulldogs led all 365 Division I programs in fastbreak points (20.0 ppg) and also were ranked among the top-10 nationally in blocks (No. 2 at 6.2), scoring (No. 3 at 90.4 ppg) and bench points (No. 7 at 34.4 ppg).

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

Eleven Bulldogs are averaging double-figure minutes, and they have combined to record 128 double-figure scoring outputs this season.

Jeremiah Wilkinson is averaging a team-high 17.3 ppg, while Blue Cain is contributing 13.6 ppg, Marcus "Smurf" Millender is chipping in 12.0 ppg and Kanon Catchings is adding 11.7 ppg.

Somto Cyril, an SEC All-Defensive selection by league coaches, is averaging 9.7 ppg and leads the Bulldogs in rebounding (5.6 rpg), blocks (2.4 bpg) and field goal percentage (.761).

UGA's SEC Tournament History

Georgia has compiled a 49-62 record in 65 SEC Tournaments. The Bulldogs are 40-43 in SEC Tourney action since the event resumed in 1979 after a 27-season hiatus from 1953-79.

Georgia won SEC Tournament titles in 1983 and 2008 and also finished as the runners-up in 1940, 1981, 1988 and 1997.

The Bulldogs have reached the semifinals 15 times, most recently doing so in 2016.

Series History With Texas

Georgia owns a 10-6 lead in all-time matchups with Texas.

Texas is one of two current league member that the Bulldogs have never faced in an SEC Tournament game.

The Bulldogs and Longhorns split a home-and-home series this season, with Georgia winning in Athens, 91-80, on Feb. 21 and Texas earning a victory in Austin on Jan. 21.

Series History With Ole Miss

Georgia is 78-49 all-time versus Ole Miss, including a 9-2 advantage in SEC Tournament meetings.

On Jan. 14 in Athens, an Ole Miss putback with .02 seconds left in overtime lifted the Rebels to a 97-95 upset over Georgia.

The Bulldogs defeated the Rebels, 81-63, in their most recent SEC Tournament matchup in 2020.

That first-round matchup was one of two games played before the tournament was canceled due to COVID and also served as the last college outing for Anthony Edwards, who went on to become the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft and has emerged as one of the league's most electrifying players during six seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Last Time Out

Kanon Catchings scored 23 points to lead five Bulldogs in double figures in a 102-96 victory over Mississippi State in Starkville last Saturday.

After trailing 47-42 at halftime, Georgia exploded for 60 second-half points and topped the 100-point plateau for a school-record eighth time during the 2025-26 season.

"We made history today with the regular season win total," head coach Mike White said. "It's incredibly rewarding. We've got turn the page quickly, though, because here comes the postseason and we have a chance to play for a championship this coming weekend. We will certainly play in 'the Dance' and we certainly want to dance as long as possible. That's the next step with this program, but we're really, really proud of the regular season we've had."

In Several Ways, These Are Already The Best Bulldogs Ever

Georgia's school-record 22 regular-season wins is just the tip of the iceberg for what the 2025-26 Bulldogs have accomplished.

Additional record-setting numbers include:

• Broke the school record for points in a season at Mississippi State on March 7. The Bulldogs have scored 2,802 points in 31 games, bettering the previous record for most points of 2,764 in 37 games during the 2023-24 season.
• Broke the school record for blocks in a season at Vanderbilt on Feb. 25. The Bulldogs have now blocked 192 shots in 31 games, bettering the previous record for most rejections of 175 in 34 games during the 2015-16 season.
• Broke the school record for 3-pointers at Mississippi State on March 7. The Bulldogs have made 305 3-pointers in 31 games, bettering the previous record for most 3-pointers of 300 in 37 games during the 2023-24 season.
• Tied the school record for 3-point attempts at Mississippi State on March 7. The Bulldogs have attempted 883 3-pointers in 31 games, equaling the record of 883 attempts in 37 games during the 2023-24 season.
• Broke the school record for 100-point games with a sixth outing over 100 against West Georgia on Dec. 22, the 12th game of the season. The Bulldogs now have eight 100-point outings, bettering the previous record of five during the 1990-91 season.

The Bulldogs also could better marks for:

• Georgia has 22 wins, two shy of the current record of 24 victories during the 1982-83 and 1996-97 seasons.
• Georgia is averaging 90.4 ppg, 7.7 ppg better than the current record of 82.7 ppg in 1989-90.
• Georgia is shooting 75.8667 percent from the free throw line, just shy of the current record of 75.9197 percent in 1996-97. • Georgia has made 964 field goals, 32 shy of the current record of 997 in 1982-83.

Dogs Make Massive Metric Jump Under White

Georgia has made considerable improvement under head coach Mike White from both semantic and quantifiable perspectives.

From traditional "game notes" verbiage you will read:

• Georgia upped its regular-season win total by 10 victories in White's first campaign, the second-largest increase of any Power conference team in 2023.
• In 2023-24, the Bulldogs earned their first postseason bid since 2017 and while advancing to the NIT semifinals.
• Georgia earned its first NCAA Tournament bid in a decade in 2025, doing so while playing a nation-leading eight regular-season games against top-10 teams.
• The Bulldogs reached the 20-win plateau for the third straight season in 2026 and notched 22 regular-season victories, their most ever in 121 seasons of Georgia Basketball.

From a numerical perspective, Georgia's progress has been even more impressive.

Among seven of the most-utilized college hoops metrics, the Bulldogs have improved each season and ascended an average of 194.0 spots under White as outlined below.

Statistic	21-22	25-26	Diff.
The Metric Improvement
Torvik	193	37	156
SOR	246	27	219
KPI*	225	32	193
NET	223	31	192
KenPom	219	31	188
BPI	208	33	175
EvanMiya	265	30	235
Avg.	225.6	31.6	194.0

* KPI from 22-23-24 as of selection Sunday.

Jeremiah Looks To Join Smurf & Blue In Millennium Club

Jeremiah Wilkinson has scored 14 or more points in 21 of 29 games played this season. That fact is significant because the sophomore from Powder Springs, Ga., enters Thursday's SEC Tournament outing with 986 points in two seasons of college basketball.

After scoring 484 points as a freshman at Cal as a freshman, Wilkinson has put up 502 this season as a Bulldog.

Wilkinson would become the third Bulldog to top 1,000 career points this season.

Houston native Marcus "Smurf" Millender reached 1,000 with approximately 30 family and friends on hand for his return to the Lone Star State at Texas on Jan. 24. Millender scored his 1,000 points at three different schools, with 309 (9.7 ppg) as a freshman at South Alabama, 461 (14.9 ppg) as a sophomore at UT San Antonio and the final 230 in his junior campaign as a Bulldog.

Blue Cain's 3-pointer to open the scoring in Georgia's 102-96 win at Mississippi State in the regular-season finale pushed him over the millennium milestone. The Knoxville, Tenn., native scored 274 points (7.4 ppg) as a freshman, upped that tally to 318 points (9.6 ppg) as a sophomore before scoring 422 (13.6 ppg) this season.

It had been quite some time since a Bulldog reached the 1,000-point milestone exclusively in a Georgia uniform. Cain became the first UGA player to do since Yante Maten on Jan. 4, 2017 – a span of 3,349 days.

Bulldogs Notch Third Straight 20-Win Campaign

Georgia has reached the 20-win plateau for a third-straight season.

Over 121 seasons, Georgia has only posted three straight 20-win tallies just thrice – also doing so from 1996-98 and from 2014-16. Only 17 Bulldogs have ever played on three 20-win teams – five from 1996-98, seven between 2014-16 and five new 2026 pledges to the fraternity in Blue Cain, Dylan James, Brandon Klatsky, Jaden Newell and Markel Jennings.

Georgia has now produced 16 20-win efforts overall but only seven of those teams reached that mark during the regular season – 1931, 1985, 1997, 2011, 2015, 2025 and 2026.

White Matches Durham For Winningest 3-Season Stretch At UGA

Georgia has now won 62 games over the past three seasons, tying Mike White with the legendary Hugh Durham for the most wins by a Georgia coach over a trio of seasons. Durham also won a combined 62 games over the 1980-81 (19), 1981-82 (19) and 1982-83 (24) campaigns.

White now has 78 wins in his four seasons in Athens, easily the most by any Georgia head coach. The previous best was 66 victories by Durham from 1979-82.

Dunkyard Dawgs, Cyril Lead The Nation In Slams

According to BartTorvik.com, Georgia entered this week leading the nation in percentage of its field goals that have been dunks at 18.9 – 193 of 964 the Bulldogs' FGs this season – as outlined below.

Somto Cyril's 81 dunks is the most in the nation and is a whopping 28 more than any other SEC player. Kareem Stagg is second among the Bulldogs with 21 dunks, followed by Jake Wilkins with 20; Kanon Catchings and Dylan James and with 16 each; Jeremiah Wilkinson with 14; Justin Abson with 13; and Blue Cain with 12.

Rank	Team	Pct.
Dunking It
1.	Georgia	18.8
2.	N. Carolina	16.2
	Duke	16.2
4.	Michigan	15.3
	Arkansas	15.3
	Florida	15.3
7.	Kansas	14.8
8.	Indiana	14.7
9.	Kentucky	14.2
10.	Providence	14.0

Dogs Among Top Scoring Teams In Several Ways

Georgia entered this week ranked No. 3 in D-I in scoring offense at 90.4 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 (20.0 ppg) and are No. 26 free throws made (18.4 ppg). That equates to roughly 42.3 percent (38.4 of 90.4 ppg) of Georgia's offensive output.

Georgia's scoring has been consistent.

In 62 halves of hoops, the Bulldogs scored 40 or more points 47 times, with 13 50-point periods and four 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 31 games this season, Georgia has topped 90 points in 15 outings and surpassed the century mark in a school-record eight contests.

Cain Sets UGA Career FT Percentage Record

Blue Cain's 4-of-4 day at the line against Mississippi State on March 7 pushed him ahead of J.J. Frazier for the best career free throw percentage effort ever by a Bulldog.

The minimum to qualify for UGA'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 152-of-180 and his 84.4 conversion rate is slightly better than Frazier's 84.1 percent.

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 76-of-84 and his 90.5 conversion rate is the second-best ever by a Bulldog – just .05 behind Channing Toney's school record of 91.0 percent.

Somto Shatters Georgia's Season FG Percentage Mark

During his 5-of-7 shooting against Texas on Feb. 21, Somto Cyril met the 100 FG made minimum tally to qualify for Georgia's single-season leaders' ledger...and shattered the Bulldogs' field goal percentage record.

Cyril has now converted 76.1 percent (118-of-155) of his shots from the field this season – 11.8 percent better than the previous record by a Bulldog.

Almost unfathomably, Cyril could miss his next 28 shot attempts and he would still own the Georgia record.

Cyril is 45 shot attempts shy of qualifying for the SEC's single-season field goal percentage leaders; however, his 76.1 percent effort is 3.5 percent better than the current record of 72.6 percent (151-208) by Alabama's Donta Hall in 2017-18.

Catchings Earns SEC Player Of The Week Accolade

Kanon Catchings was tabbed the SEC's co-Player of the Week on March 9 after leading the Bulldogs to victories over No. 16 Alabama and at Mississippi State. He averaged 27.5 points while shooting 59.4 percent from the field, including 60.0 percent from 3-point range, in those wins.

Against Alabama, Catchings exploded for a career-high 32 points, including 20 in the first half. He started the game 1-of-5 from the field (0-of-3 on 3-pointers) before shooting 11-of-15 overall and 7-of-10 from 3-point range the rest of the evening.

At Mississippi State, Catchings poured in 23 points, his career high before the Alabama outing. He was 5-of-7 (71.4 percent) on 3-pointers, including three 3s in a span of 1:56 in the second half to help turn a four-point deficit into a three-point lead the Bulldogs maintained the rest of the game.

Catchings entered the week averaging 10.6 points on the season and 8.8 points in 59 career games before upping those tallies to 11.7 ppg in 2025-26 and 9.4 ppg overall just two games later.

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 26 games as outlined below.

Millender has now put up double-digit scoring tallies in 20 of 26 games and distributed five or more assists in 12 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.

Stat	1st 5	Last 26	Diff.
Smurf's Surge
PPG	6.8	13.0	+6.1
FG Pct.	26.2	49.6	+23.4
3FG Pct.	21.7	43.4	+21.7

Somto Surging Among Bulldogs' Blocks Ledgers

Sophomore Somto Cyril is quickly ascending on Georgia's single-season and career leaders lists for blocked shots.

In 31 contests this season, the Enugu, Nigeria native has already blocked 74 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.

In 33 games last season, Cyril swatted 51 shots, which was the second-most ever by a Georgia freshman.

Cyril joined Georgia's top-10 career blocks leaders at Vanderbilt on Feb. 25. His current tally of 125 rejections is already No. 7 all-time among Bulldogs and 11 away from No. 6.

Dogs' Dishing, Ball Control Much 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 week well over 100 spots better in each stat – No. 110 in assists (15.1 apg) and No. 82 in assist-to-turnovers (1.42).

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 270 passes-to-points while committing just 134 turnovers – equating to 8.7 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 Dogs have now combined to produce 128 double-digit tallies.

Blue Cain leads that pack at 25 contests, followed by and Jeremiah Wilkinson with 24, Smurf Millender with 21; Kanon Catchings with 17; Somto Cyril with 15; Jordan Ross with eight; Kareem Stagg and Jake Wilkins with five each; and Justin Bailey and Dylan James both with four.

Resilient Dogs Rally From Double-Digit Deficits

Georgia certainly didn't look like it was headed to a double-figure victory at LSU on Feb. 7 when the Bulldogs trailed 31-16. The Bulldogs then outscored the Tigers 67-40 the rest of the way.

That marked the fourth game this season Georgia overcame a double-digit scoring gap en route to victory, also doing so against Cincinnati, LIU and South Carolina.

The Bulldogs fought back in three more games that fell short on the scoreboard. At Vanderbilt, Georgia rallied from 20 points down to tie the game three times and have possession down one of two more occasions but could not get over that hump. In two more outings – Clemson and Ole Miss – UGA recovered from 10+-point deficits to take the lead before eventually losing in overtime.

COMPLETE GAME NOTES PDF

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