Bulldogs To Battle Billikens In Buffalo

Thursday, March 19

Buffalo, N.Y.

9:45 p.m.

University of Georgia

Saint Louis

March 17, 2026 | Men's Basketball

Game Notes

Georgia Basketball Game Notes

2026 MEN'S NCAA BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
No. 8 Georgia (22-10, 10-8 SEC) vs. No. 9 Saint Louis (28-5, 15-3 A10)
Date: Thursday, March 19, 2026
Time: 9:45 p.m. ET
Venue: KeyBank Center (19,070)
Location: Buffalo, N.Y.
TV: CBS (Brian Anderson, play-by-play; Jim Jackson, analyst; Allie LaForce, sideline reporter)
Video Streaming: NCAA.com
National Radio: Westwood One (Jason Benetti, play-by-play; Sarah Kustok, analyst)
Georgia Radio: Georgia Bulldog Network (Scott Howard, play-by-play; Chuck Dowdle, analyst; Adam Gillespie, producer)
Audio Streaming: WestwoodOneSports.com/madness

The Starting 5

The winningest and highest-scoring Georgia Bulldogs ever will open play in the 2026 NCAA Tournament on Thursday when they face Saint Louis in the Round of 64 at 9:45 p.m. ET in Buffalo, N.Y.
Georgia's 22 regular-season victories are the most ever by the Bulldogs in 121 seasons of competition and is two shy of UGA's most overall wins in a season – 24 in 1982-83 and 1996-97.
The Dogs have scored 2,874 points in 32 games, passing UGA's previous mark of 2,764 points in 37 outings in 2023-24. Georgia is averaging 89.8 ppg, 7.1 ppg over its current record – 82.7 ppg in 1989-90.
Georgia has earned a second straight NCAA bid for just the fourth time in program history. The Bulldogs also appeared in back-to-back editions of March Madness in 1990-91, 1996-97 and 2001-02.
The "Dunkyard Dawgs" lead the nation in percentage of field goals that are dunks at 19.0 percent (198 of 988 FGs). Individually, Somto Cyril tops all D-I players in dunks with 83 rim rattlers.

Keeping An Eye On…

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

Blue Cain is...
• 1 point from No. 43 Bob Schloss
• 11 points from No. 42 Chris Daniels
• 14 points from No. 41 Jarvis Hayes
• 18 points from No. 40 Gerald Crosby
• 47 points from No. 39 Rashad Wright
• 2 3-point FGs from co-No. 13s Ty Wilson and Ray Harrison
• 8 3-points FGs from No. 12 Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
• 3 3-point FGAs from No. 12 Ray Harrison
• 15 3-point FGAs from No. 11 Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
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 blocks from No. 14 Trey Thompkins ('11)
• 2 blocks from co-No. 12s Somto Cyril ('25) & Donte' Williams (12)
Jeremiah Wilkinson is...
• 6 points from 1,000 career points
• 3 3FGs from No. 11 D.A. Layne ('99)
• 4 3FGs from No. 10 J.J. Frazier ('16)
• 5 3FGs from No. 9 Ezra Williams ('03)
• 8 3FGAs from No. 7 Kentavious Caldwell-Pope ('12)
Kanon Catchings is...
• 1 3FG from No. 15 Jody Patton ('91)
• 4 3FGs from co-No. 14s Anthony Edwards ('20) & Levi Stukes ('06)
Smurf Millender is...
• 4 assists from co-No. 18s Gerald Robinson ('11) & Litterial Green ('89)

The Opening Tip

The 2025-26 Georgia Bulldogs – already UGA's winningest and highest-scoring team in 121 seasons of intercollegiate competition – begin play in the NCAA Tournament on Thursday at 9:45 p.m. ET. The No. 8-seeded Bulldogs face No. 9 seed Saint Louis for the right to take on the winner of a date between top-seeded Michigan and either UMBC or Howard.

With its 102-96 win at Mississippi State on March 7, Georgia notched its 22nd win of the season. That tally is the most ever by the Bulldogs during the regular season, surpassing 21 victories by teams in both the 1930-31 and 1996-97. 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 (now 2,874 points in 32 outings). That topped the Georgia record for points in a season of 2,764 in 37 games of the 2023-24 campaign that culminated with a trip to the NIT semifinals.

Those results have Georgia returning to the NCAA Tournament for a second straight year, just the fourth time the Bulldogs have earned back-to-back bids to March Madness following 1990-91, 1996-97 and 2001-02.

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 (19.9 ppg) and also were ranked among the top-10 nationally in blocks (No. 2 at 6.1), scoring (No. 5 at 89.8 ppg) and bench points (No. 6 at 34.1 ppg).

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

Eleven Bulldogs are logging double-figure minutes, and they have combined to record 130 double-figure scoring outputs this season.

Jeremiah Wilkinson is averaging a team-high 17.0 ppg, while Blue Cain is contributing 13.3 ppg, Kanon Catchings is adding 12.0 ppg and Marcus "Smurf" Millender is chipping in 11.9 ppg.

Somto Cyril, an SEC All-Defensive selection by league coaches, is averaging 9.6 ppg and leads the Bulldogs in rebounding (5.6 rpg), blocks (2.3 bpg) and field goal percentage (.764).

UGA's NCAA Tournament History

Officially, the Bulldogs are making their 12th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and their first back-to-back appearances since 1996 and 1997. Georgia has participated in two more editions of March Madness, including consecutive bids in 2001 and 2002; however, results from tourneys in 1985 and 2002 were lated vacated due to NCAA sanctions.

The Bulldogs' first invitation to the "Big Dance" was their most memorable.

After finishing 9-9 in league play and entering the 1983 SEC Tournament as the No. 6 seed, the Bulldogs won three games in as many days to earn their first SEC title and NCAA bid.

A No. 4 seed, Georgia beat VCU on a last-second James Banks jumper to advance to the East Regional in Syracuse. There, the Bulldogs shocked the basketball universe by upsetting top-seeded St. John's (led by Chris Mullin) in the "Sweet 16" before besting North Carolina (and Michael Jordan) in the 'Elite Eight."

Georgia was the "other Cinderella" at the 1983 Final Four Albuquerque, falling to eventual champion N.C. State (and Jim Valvano), 67-60, in the semifinal round.

Ironically, the Bulldogs' second-most successful NCAA run began in Albuquerque.

In 1996, Tubby Smith's first season in Athens, Georgia defeated Clemson and upset top-seeded Purdue at The Pit in the first two rounds to advance to the "Sweet 16." The Bulldogs then lost to Syracuse – which advanced to the 1996 national championship game – in overtime in the West Regional semifinals in Denver.

Scouting The Billikens

Saint Louis enters the NCAA Tournament with a 28-5 record. The Billikens finished 15-3 and tied for first in the Atlantic 10 standings with VCU but earned the No. 1 seed for the conference tournament by virtue of sweeping the season series with the Rams.

The Billikens were eliminated from the A 10 tourney in a wild finish with Dayton that included three buckets and three lead changes in the final 14.3 seconds.

The matchup between the Bulldogs and the Billikens is the only Round of 64 date featuring two teams ranked among the nation's top 10 in scoring offense. As of Monday, Georgia was the No. 5 point producer in the country at 89.8 points per game, while Saint Louis was No. 10 at 87.2 ppg.

Saint Louis sports an incredibly balanced offensive attack, with a septet of Billikens averaging between 9.1-12.9 points per game. A 10 Player of the Year Robbie Avila leads that group at 12.9 ppg, followed by Dion Brown and Trey Green both at 11.1 ppg, Amari McCottry at 10.3 ppg, Kellen Thames at 9.9 ppg, Quentin Jones at 9.2 ppg and Isham Sharm at 9.1 ppg.

Series History With Saint Louis

Georgia won the only two previous meetings between the Bulldogs and Billikens, sweeping both ends of a home-and-home contract staged during the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons.

On Dec. 2, 2009 in Athens, Dustin Ware's 17 points led five Bulldogs in double figures in a 64-56 victory. Georgia led wire-to-wire with a largest lead of 40-20 with 17:01 remaining.

On Nov. 20, 2010 in St. Louis, Travis Leslie score 19 points to lead Georgia in a 61-59 win over SLU. The Billikens never trailed until a Leslie jumper made it 59-57 with 40 seconds left in the game. Saint Louis tied the contest before a Jeremy Price layup at the buzzer sealed the victory.

Last Time Out

Georgia rallied from 23 points down early in the second half to pull within one possession four times in the final 7:35 but could not complete the comeback in a 76-72 loss to Ole Miss in the second round of the SEC Tournament last Thursday at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn.

The Bulldogs scored a season-low 20 first-half points and trailed 55-32 with 12:59 remaining before embarking on a 22-2 run over the next 5:14 to pull within 57-54. Georgia closed the gap to one possession three more times but could not get over that hump.

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 scored 2,802 points in 31 regular-season games (and now have 2,874 points), 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 195 shots in 32 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 now have made 314 3-pointers in 32 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 now have attempted 921 3-pointers in 32 games, bettering 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 the century mark 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 is two wins shy of its record of 24 victories during the 1982-83 and 1996-97 seasons.
• Georgia is averaging 89.8 ppg, 7.1 ppg better than the current record of 82.7 ppg in 1989-90.
• Georgia is shooting 75.4 percent from the free throw line, just shy of the current record of 75.9 percent in 1996-97.
• Georgia has made 988 field goals, just nine 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 192.3 spots under White as outlined below.

Statistic	21-22	25-26	Diff.
The Metric Improvement
EvanMiya	265	30	235
SOR	246	31	215
NET	223	33	190
KPI*	225	37	188
KenPom	219	32	187
BPI	208	33	175
Torvik	193	37	156
Avg.	225.6	33.3	192.3

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

Georgia Among Number Of Schools With Men & Women Dancing

A whopping 30 schools have both their men's and women's teams competing in March Madness, including six SEC programs – Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee, Texas and Vanderbilt.

Georgia's Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs both earned bids to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 15 years, since 2011.

The Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs are in the "Big Dance" together for the 12th time. Most notably, in 1983 Georgia became the first school in NCAA history to have both its men's and women's teams reach the Final Four in the same season. UGA held that distinction by itself until 1999 when Duke did so and it has happened 14 more times in the 2000s.

Georgia Is One Of One

The list of schools with qualifying for both NCAA Men's Basketball Championship and the College Football Playoffs (CFP) each of the past two years includes ... Georgia. That' it.

Jeremiah Looks To Join Smurf & Blue In Millennium Club

Jeremiah Wilkinson has scored six or more points in 29 of 30 games played this season. That fact is significant because the sophomore from Powder Springs, Ga., enters the NCAA Tournament outing with 994 points in two seasons of college basketball.

After scoring 484 points as a freshman at Cal as a freshman, Wilkinson has put up 510 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 the final 402 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 milestone 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 the postseason leading the nation in percentage of its field goals that have been dunks by a relatively wide margin.

Georgia has scored 19.0 percent of its shots from the floor on dunks – 198 of 988 the Bulldogs' FGs this season. That's a full 3.2 percent more than any other team in the nation – as outlined below.

Somto Cyril's 83 dunks is the most in the nation and is a whopping 25 more than any other SEC player. Kareem Stagg is second among the Bulldogs with 21 dunks, followed by Jake Wilkins with 20; Dylan James with 18; Kanon Catchings with 16 each; Jeremiah Wilkinson with 15; Justin Abson with 13; and Blue Cain with 12.

Rank	Team	Pct.
Dunking It
1.	Georgia	19.0
2.	N. Carolina	15.8
3.	Arkansas	15.4
4.	Florida	15.3
5.	Michigan	15.1
6.	Duke	14.9
7.	Kansas	14.8
8.	Indiana	14.2
9.	Kentucky	14.1
10.	South Florida	13.6

Dogs Among Top Scoring Teams In Several Ways

Georgia entered this week ranked No. 5 in D-I in scoring offense at 89.8 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 (19.9 ppg) and are No. 30 free throws made (18.3 ppg). That equates to roughly 42.5 percent (38.2 of 89.8 ppg) of Georgia's offensive output.

Georgia's scoring has been consistent.

In 64 halves of hoops, the Bulldogs scored 40 or more points 48 times, with 14 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 32 games this season, Georgia has topped 90 points in 15 outings and surpassed the century mark in a school-record eight contests.

Cain Owns UGA Career FT Percentage Mark, SEcond On Season List

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 at Florida on Jan. 6. Cain is now 152-of-180 and his 84.4 conversion rate is .3 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 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 effort against Texas on Feb. 21, Somto Cyril met the 100 FG made minimum tally to qualify for Georgia's single-season leaders' ledger...and obliterated the Bulldogs' field goal percentage record.

Cyril has now converted 76.4 percent (120-of-157) of his shots from the field – 11.2 percent better than the previous record, Lavon Mercer's 64.3 percent.

Almost unfathomably, Cyril could miss his next 29 shot attempts and still own the UGA record.

Cyril is 43 shot attempts shy of qualifying for the SEC's single-season leaders; however, his 76.4 percent effort is 3.8 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

Following a slow start early in the season, Marcus "Smurf" Millender has nearly doubled his production and shooting efficiency over the last 27 games as outlined below

After one double-figure scoring output in the season's first five contests, Millender has now put up double-digit tallies in 21 of the next 27 games and distributed five or more assists in 12 of those contests.

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 27	Diff.
Smurf's Surge
PPG	6.8	12.9	+6.1
FG Pct.	26.2	49.4	+23.2
3FG Pct.	21.7	42.5	+20.8

Somto Surging Among Bulldogs' Blocks Ledgers

Somto Cyril is quickly ascending on Georgia's season and career leaders lists for blocks.

In 32 contests this season, the Enugu, Nigeria native has blocked 74 shots. That's the No. 7 season mark by a Bulldog.

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

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. 112 in assists (14.9 apg) and No. 76 in assist-to-turnovers (1.40).

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 276 passes-to-points while committing just 137 turnovers – equating to 8.6 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 130 double-digit tallies.

Blue Cain leads that pack at 25 contests, followed by and Jeremiah Wilkinson with 24, Smurf Millender with 22; Kanon Catchings with 18; 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 four more games that fell short on the scoreboard.

Against Ole Miss in the SEC Tournament, the Bulldogs trailed by 23 points early in the second half and got within a single possession four times. 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.

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