UGA Men’s Basketball: Dawgs Continue Busy Stretch By Hosting Catamounts

 

2020-21 STATISTICS	GEORGIA	WESTERN CAROLINA
Points Per Game	68.0	76.1
Opp. Point Per Game	70.0	75.0
Scoring Margin	-2.0	+1.1
Field Goal Pct.	.437	.419
Opp. Field Goal Pct.	.430	.422
3-Point Pct.	.302	.363
3-Pointers Per Game	6.0	11.7
Opp. 3-Point Pct.	.324	.320
Free Throw Pct.	.698	.644
Free Throws Per Game	14.8	12.0
Rebounds Per Game	34.7	42.8
Opp. Rebound Per Game	34.3	36.5
Rebound Margin	+0.4	+6.4
Assists Per Game	13.8	15.5
Turnovers Per Game	14.2	12.7
Assist-to-Turnover Ratio	0.97	1.07
Turnover Margin	-2.7	-4.0
Steals Per Game	5.7	5.0
Blocks Per Game	2.6	1.8

• Through games of 12/18, Aaron Cook ranked No. 2 in the SEC and No. 6 nationally in assists at 6.6 apg.
• Georgia has used 5 different starting lineups in the first 10 games…largely due to injuries and illnesses.
• Braelen Bridges leads UGA with seven double-figure outputs…and has two more games with nine points.
• Tom Crean earned his 400th career victory with UGA’s 82-79 upset of No. 18 Memphis on Dec. 1.
• UGA’s seven first-year transfers combined to score 4,782 points at their previous schools.

 

The Georgia Bulldogs will play their second of three games in less than 100 hours on Monday evening when they host the Western Carolina Catamounts at Stegeman Coliseum at 7:00 p.m.

Georgia began the stretch with a Saturday date against George Mason and will conclude the span by facing East Tennessee State on Wednesday night.

All told, the Bulldogs are in the midst of an eight-game, 37-day homestand.

Aaron Cook is…
• 32 assists from 400 for his career
• 8 outings from 150 games played in his career
• 22 steals from 200 for his career

Georgia is 7-0 all-time against Western Carolina, with every matchup taking place in Athens.

Most recently, the Bulldogs defeated the Catamounts, 91-72, on Nov. 5, 2019 in the season-opener and collegiate debut of Anthony Edwards.

The contest was a back-and-forth battle most of the way, with 12 ties and 20 lead changes before the Bulldogs finally gained some separation.

With eight minutes to play, Georgia scored on three straight possessions, including three-pointers from Edwards and Tyree Crump, to gain a seven-point edge. The Bulldogs continued to pull away, ending the game on an 8-0 run.

Edwards finished the game with 24 points, the second-most ever by a Bulldog freshman in their initial outing behind only Dominique Wilkins’ 26 points in 1979. Edwards’ tally also represented the most by a Georgia player in a season opener since Ezra Williams’ 26 points against Furman on Nov. 16, 2001.

Western Carolina arrives in Athens with a 6-5 record under first-year head coach Justin Gray.

The Catamounts began the season 1-3 before winning five of their last seven. Most recently, Western dropped a 73-72 decision to UNC Asheville on Dec. 11.

Nick Robinson, a graduate transfer from Valparaiso, leads the Catamounts on the offensive end with his 14.7 ppg scoring average. He also paces the team on the boards at 8.0 rpg. Travion McCray also is scoring at a double-figure pace and contributes 10.4 ppg.

Western sports four players who already have 25 or more assists on the season, led by Vonterius Woolbright’s 50 dimes (4.5 apg).

George Mason raced to an early lead and withstood every rally attempt by Georgia en route to an 80-67 win over the Bulldogs last Saturday.

Braelen Bridges led Georgia with 13 points, while Noah Baumann chipped in 11 to record his first double-digit performance as a Bulldog.

The Patriots started quickly and garnered an 19-4 lead just over six minutes into the contest. The Bulldogs cut that margin to six points twice in the first half before trailing 38-30 at the intermission.

Georgia pulled with six at 67-61 with 4:31 remaining, but George Mason answered with back-to-back 3-pointers over the next 35 seconds to double the deficit.

The contest was the Bulldogs’ first since a season-ending injury to Jailyn Ingram, who was averaging 10.7 points and a team-high 6.0 rebounds.

“Now we have a game under our belt without him,” head coach Tom Crean said. “There’s no question that it was different.

“Our guys have got to understand that this is our team,” Crean continued. “Outside of the onslaught at the beginning, I don’t feel like we’re not going to come back whatsoever. We did. We got it to a two-possession game. The problem for us, at times, was that we didn’t follow the game plan and defensively. That just can’t happen.”

Georgia has utilized five different starting lineups in 10 games this season, mixing and matching eight Bulldogs to comprise those quintets.

Only Braelen Bridges and Kario Oquendo have gotten the nod for every contest, although Aaron Cook has started every game he’s played. Cook missed the Memphis game due to an illness.

Noah Baumann notched 11 points against George Mason, representing his first double-digit scoring output as a Bulldogs and the 23rd of his collegiate career.

As is commonplace, the majority of the graduate transfer senior from Phoenix’s points came from behind the 3-point arc.

All told, 10 of Baumann’s 13 made field goals this season have been 3-pointers, and he’s shooting a higher percentage from 3-point range (.385) than on 2-point attempts (.333).

Career-wise, 71.6 percent (156 of 218) of Baumann’s made FGs are 3-pointers and is shooting a considerably better percentage outside the arc (.431) than inside that stripe (.358).

Western Carolina competes in the Southern Conference, of which Georgia was a charter member when the league was founded in 1921. The Bulldogs competed in the league – along with a large number of current SEC and ACC schools – until departing for the SEC in 1932.

A pair of Georgia Basketball’s greatest teams came during UGA’s SoCon days.

Under Coliseum namesake Herman J. Stegeman, Georgia was 23-2 during the 1930-31 season. The following year under Rex Enright the Bulldogs won 1932 SoCon Tournament by knocking off Mississippi State, Virginia, Duke and North Carolina.

The George Mason game was Georgia’s first since losing Jailyn Ingram to a knee injury during the Jacksonville game on Dec. 7. The “super senior” from Madison, Ga., and Morgan County High School went down with 14:21 remaining in the contest and did not return.

Following an MRI on Dec. 8, head coach Tom Crean confirmed the prognosis on Dec. 9 with a Twitter post stating: “Unfortunately, Jailyn Ingram will have to have surgery to repair his ACL in his right knee. It’s heartbreaking because Jailyn has been emerging in so many areas and has been a model of consistency day in and day out. He’s an incredible young man. We will help him in every way.

“Jailyn has brought a spirit and seriousness to us. He is a guy that is in the gym most mornings before we would lift weights at 8:45 and was a stabilizing for a young team. We plan to appeal for the waiver to get another year since he’s under the 30% games played. Pray for him.” Ingram’s setback is the second season-ending injury for Georgia. On Oct. 20, Crean announced that P.J. Horne, one of just two Bulldogs to start every game last season, would miss the 2021-22 campaign.

Tweeted Crean: “It’s with genuine sadness that I let you know that P.J. Horne will miss this season after undergoing surgery on his right knee this past weekend. In practice, he bumped knees in a scrimmage, lost footing and went down awkwardly. “This is such a major blow to us because P.J. was playing so well and showing great leadership as our leading returning player, but more so because he is such a great person and one of the finest people I’ve ever coached. He cares about his teammates deeply. “The future is definitely in grasp. The goal is to finish his master’s, rehab consistently and be the leader we need him to be. A full recovery is expected and anticipated. He will continue to be a DIFFERENCE MAKER in all that he does. We love P.J.”

Through Saturday’s games, Aaron Cook ranked No. 2 in the SEC and No. 7 nationally in average assists per game.

The “super senior” from St. Louis has distributed 59 passes-to-points in the nine games he’s played this season, an averaged of 6.6 apg.

Though only a third of the way through the season, Cook’s apg tally is on pace to be the second-best ever by a Bulldog. In fact, he has a nice cushion between the current No. 2 – 6.3 apg by Pertha Robinson in 1994-95.

Cook also is No. 2 in the SEC in total assists. He’s No. 27 nationally, with that dip largely due to his missing the Memphis game because of an illness.

It’s probably glossed over too much that this fall is the first time Jabri Abdur-Rahim has played extended minutes in nearly two years. He suffered a foot injury during his senior season at Blair Academy and only played in two games.

It appears the Jabri who was ranked as one of the nation’s top-40 prospects in the Class of 2020 has re-emerged in Georgia’s last three outings.

Abdur-Rahim exploded for a career-high 20 points against Wofford and followed that with a 15 and 10-point showings versus No. 18 Memphis and Jacksonville, respectively. Equally impressive as the totals was the efficiency in which he scored.

In those three games, Abdur-Rahim scored more points, connected on more shots and upped his shooting percentages by massive amounts than in his 14 previous career outings.

Abdur-Rahim’s Increases
Stat	1st 14	Next 3	Diff.
Total Points	32	45	+13
Scoring Average	2.3	15.0	12.7
FGs Made	9	13	+4
FG Percentage	.214	.650	+.436
3FGs Made	3	9	+6
3FG Percentage	.125	.600	+.475

Tom Crean secured his 400th career victory with Georgia’s upset of No. 18 Memphis on December 1.

Prior to arriving in Athens, Crean compiled 366 W’s in his first 18 campaigns as a collegiate head coach. He earned his first 190 victories in nine seasons at Marquette from 1998-2008 and added 166 more in nine campaigns at Indiana between 2008-17 before arriving in Athens and securing the final 44 of his 400.

Tom Crean‘s Milestone Wins
No. 1 – Nov. 20, 1999 – Marquette defeats Chicago State, 62-43, in Tom Crean‘s first game as a collegiate head coach.
No. 100 – March 6, 2004 – Freshman Dameon Mason’s three-point play with eight-tenths of a second left lifts Marquette over No. 25 Louisville, 81-80.
No. 200 – Dec. 8, 2009 – Indiana knocks off Pittsburgh, 74-64, in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.
No. 250 – Nov. 20, 2012 – A day after beating Georgia, 66-53, in the first round, IU tops Georgetown, 82-72, to win the Progressive Legends Classic.
No. 300 – Dec. 20, 2014 – Indiana tops No. 23 Butler, 82-73, as Yogi Ferrell became IU’s 48th 1,000-point scorer.
No. 400 – Dec. 1, 2021 – Kario Oquendo’s 24-point outburst paces UGA in an 82-79 upset of No. 18 Memphis at a raucous Stegeman Coliseum.

Freshman Christian Wright started at point guard against No. 18 Memphis for Aaron Cook, who was out of action due to an illness. That task was taller considering the Tigers entered the game forcing an average of 18.0 turnovers per game.

While Wright’s career-high totals of 17 points, six boards and 38 minutes tallies drew significant attention, his turnover tally – a meager one TO – was the most significant digit in his linescore. And he did so logging the most PT of any Bulldog in any game this season to date.

Also of note, Wright drew seven fouls, including two on the offensive end, and converted on 6-of-7 free throw attempts.

…when Georgia tipped off against No. 18 Memphis, Kario Oquendo was ready for a breakout performance. There were pretty good indicators on record.

Last season, the Titusville, Fla., native averaged 13.5 points while shooting 55.4 percent from the field for the Florida SouthWestern College.

In Buccaneers’ four contests against ranked opponents, those stats jumped to 22.0 points and 63.6 percent.

The trend of big nights against ranked foes continued against Memphis, with Oquendo pouring in 24 points while shooting 69.2 percent (9-of-13) from the floor.

…the Bulldogs’ upset of No. 18 Memphis was a likely occurrence. Georgia’s quartet of victories over ranked teams under Tom Crean all came against Tigers.

Georgia has now one four consecutive matchups against ranked Tigers, with the Bulldogs besting No. 9 Memphis on Jan. 4, 2020, No. 13 Auburn on Feb. 19, 2020 and No. 20 Missouri on Feb. 16, 2021 prior to defeating Memphis.

Tip of the cap to stats guru Dave McMahon (@dave_mc_stats) for being the first to notice the coincidence.

If it’s a Tuesday and the Bulldogs are playing, go ahead and set your DVR for SportsCenter if you want to see a Kario Oquendo dunk.

On Tuesday, Nov. 16, Oquendo came in at No. 3 on SportsCenter’s top-10 plays after his third highlight reel effort against S.C. State. He stole the ball at midcourt and windmilled home an uncontested dunk.

Oquendo posterized effort on Tuesday, Nov. 23 was tabbed No. 6. The Titusville, Fla., native, who’s 6-4, gathered a steal in the Northwestern lane and drove the length of the floor before delivering a thunderous dunk over 6-9 Robbie Beran. If you want to rate Oquendo’s SportsCenter dunks, you can find the S.C. State slam at gado.gs/kariosctop1116 and the Northwestern effort at gado.gs/kariosc1123.

The phrase “defense travels” is a well-known in the sports world.

The slogan “experience has traveled” may become a more appropriate for the 2021-22 Georgia Bulldogs.

Georgia’s lineup is anchored by five D-I transfers, sixth-year “super seniors” Aaron Cook and Jailyn Ingram, graduate transfer seniors Noah Baumann and Braelen Bridges and sophomore Jabri Abdur-Rahim.

That quintet has accounted for 35 of 50 (70.0 percent) of Georgia’s starting nods and the majority of its production in virtually every stat.

D-I transfer contributions
Minutes	2000	1124	56.2
Scoring	680	434	63.8
Rebounds	309	182	58.9
Assists	138	98	71.0
Blocks	26	11	42.3
Steals	57	29	50.9

Aaron Cook blew past the 1,000-point career scoring mark on Nov. 16 against South Carolina State.

The “super senior” was eight points shy of entering the game and inched past the milestone with 2:21 left in the first half. He finished with 22 points, three off his career high versus Indiana State on Jan. 24, 2018.

Cook scored 845 points at Southern Illinois from 2016-20 and added 127 points during Gonzaga’s en route to their NCAA runner-up finish last season.

Noah Baumann had an eventual Sunday, November 14. The graduate transfer from Southern Cal proposed to his longtime girlfriend, Mackenzie Moore, beside Lake Herrick at the intramural fields on the UGA campus.

Baumann and Moore have known each other since they were 7th graders at Akimel (pronounced ah-kee-mull) Middle School and started dating during their senior year at Desert Vista High School in Phoenix.

They have endured a long-distance relationship for the past four years.

Moore was a four-year starter on the Miami (Ohio) softball team, batting .279 with seven homers and 66 RBI. She was named second-team All-MAC as a senior, leading the RedHawks to a 46-10 finish, the MAC Championship and an NCAA Tournament bid.

Aaron Cook blew past the 1,000-point career scoring mark on Nov. 16 against South Carolina State.

The “super senior” was eight points shy of that plateau entering the game. He inched past the milestone on a jumper with 2:21 left in the first half. Cook finished the night with 22 points, three of his career high versus Indiana State on Jan. 24, 2018.

Cook scored 845 points at Southern Illinois from 2016-20. He competed for four seasons at SIU, including a redshirt campaign in 2019-20 due to a broken hand.

Cook transferred to Gonzaga and added 127 points for the Bulldogs en route to their NCAA runner-up finish last season.

Cook scored 10 points in each of his first two outings at UGA, pushing him to 992 prior to the S.C. State matchup.

Kario Oquendo and Dalen Ridgnal have been ranked among the top junior college transfers expected to make the biggest marks at the Division-I level this season.

On August 25, bustingbrackets.com ranked the top-25 junior college players moving to the “high-major” level. Ridgnal was tabbed No. 2 on that ledger, while Oquendo was ranked No. 23.

On Nov. 1, college basketball guru Jon Rothstein tabbed his top-10 “JUCOs to watch” that also included Ridgnal.

Aaron Cook arrived in Athens having already participated in 133 games. Cook logged action in 103 contests in four seasons at Southern Illinois, including six in a 2019-20 redshirt campaign. He then played in 30 contests last season at Gonzaga.

Cook’s was the third-most experienced player – game wise – in Division I entering this season as outlined in the next column.

As a point of reference for Georgia’s record for career games played is 133 contests by Marcus Thornton from 2011-15. Thornton’s tally covers five seasons, including a redshirt season with nine GPs.

In addition, Jailyn Cook ranked among D-I’s top-50 players in career outings entering 2021-22, having played in 122 contests at FAU prior to joining the Bulldogs.

D-I’s career GPs Leaders
Rk.	Player, School	Games
1.	Jordan Bohannon, Iowa	142
2.	Chevez Goodwin, USC	138
3.	Aaron Cook, Georgia	133
	Garrison Brooks, Miss. St.	133
	Jalen Coleman-Lands, Kansas	133
	Justin Kier, Arizona	133

Of the 10 newcomers on the Bulldogs’ roster seven are transfers – five from the Division I level (Jabri Abdur-Rahim, Noah Baumann, Braelen Bridges, Aaron Cook and Jailyn Ingram) and a pair from the junior college ranks (Kario Oquendo and Dalen Ridgnal).

Those players arrived in Athens having already scored 4,782 points at their previous schools. That represents the largest addition of scoring by any Division I program for the 2021-22 season as outlined below.

In their previous stops, the D-I quintet of the group also logged 8813 minutes in 404 games played, while grabbing 1283 rebounds, dishing 643 assists, swatting 116 blocks and collecting 304 steals.

Top Scoring Influx’s In D-I hoops
Rk.	School	Players	Points
1.	Georgia	7	4782
2.	Duquesne	5	4695
3.	Florida	5	4144
4.	Arkansas	6	4125
5.	Penn State	7	5183
6.	Washington St.	4	3785
7.	SMU	4	3733
8.	Kentucky	4	3538
9.	Utah	6	3175
10.	Arizona St.	3	3132

While Georgia welcomed a huge influx of college scoring from its newcomers, the Bulldogs returned a minuscule portion of their scoring from last season.

P.J. Horne was Georgia’s only returning starter but was lost for the season after suffering a knee injury during preseason practices. The Tifton, Ga., native put up 222 points – 8.5 ppg – last season, largely due to connecting on a team-high 46 3-pointers.

“This is such a major blow to us because P.J. was playing so well and showing great leadership as our leading returning player, but more so because he is such a great person and one of the finest people I’ve ever coached,” Tom Crean tweeted on Oct. 20. “He cares about his teammates deeply.”

With that, the four returning Bulldogs accounted for only 1110 of Georgia’s 2014 points a year ago, or 5.5 percent. Walk-on Jaxon Etter is the top returning point producer with 47 points.

Georgia has certainly been keeping scoreboard operators busy since Tom Crean arrived in Athens in 2018.

The Bulldogs reached the 90-point plateau 15 times in 90 games during Crean’s first three seasons. That’s a relatively healthy 16.7 percent of the team’s total contests.

By comparison, Georgia scored 90 or more points just 15 times in 387 games before Crean’s arrival, or .038 percent of the outings in a span that dates back a dozen seasons to the 2006-07 campaign.

The big numbers by the Bulldogs aren’t just a single-game thing.

In three seasons under Crean, the Bulldogs have averaged two of their top-5 scoring outputs of the 2000s.

Top Scoring Averages In 2000s
Rk.	Season	Points	Games	Avg.
1.	2002-03	2138	27	79.2
2.	2020-21	1944	25	77.8
3.	2001-02	2444	32	76.4
4.	2019-20	2428	32	75.9
5.	2006-07	2477	33	75.1

You may notice on Georgia’s roster that the Bulldogs have gone away from listing traditional positions – guard, forward and center. All 15 players are now simply listed as “B” for “Basketball Player.”

Tom Crean is a proponent for “position-less basketball.”

“That’s what they are,” Crean said. “It’s not valid to call them centers and power forwards and things like that as much with the way that we’re trying to play. They’re being trained as basketball players, every day… in the sense of how we train with the ball handling, the driving, the shooting – all those type of things. That’s big to me.”