UGA Men’s Basketball: Dawgs Return To Sold-Out Stegeman To Host Auburn

 

 

2019-20 STATISTICS	GEORGIA	AUBURN
Points Per Game	75.8	79.9
Opp. Point Per Game	75.1	71.2
Scoring Margin	+0.7	+8.8
Field Goal Pct.	.448	.437
Opp. Field Goal Pct.	.450	416
3-Point Pct.	.298	.305
3-Pointers Per Game	7.0	8.2
Opp. 3-Point Pct.	.327	.328
Free Throw Pct.	.699	.672
Free Throws Per Game	14.2	18.7
Rebounds Per Game	38.3	41.9
Opp. Rebound Per Game	36.5	35.2
Rebound Margin	+1.8	+6.7
Assists Per Game	13.8	13.0
Turnovers Per Game	15.3	12.8
Assist-to-Turnover Ratio	0.90	1.02
Turnover Margin	-1.5	+0.4
Steals Per Game	7.6	6.0
Blocks Per Game	3.4	5.2

 

• Anthony Edwards 474 points is the fourth-most ever by a UGA freshman and is just seven points away from the current No. 3, Litterial Green.
• Tyree Crump has 169 3-pointers, three shy of UGA’s top-10 career leaders in successful shots from behind the arc. The current No. 10 is Jody Patton.
• UGA is just 14,834 fans shy of its total attendance record of 148,700 set last season. The current record should fall vs. Arkansas…with a game to spare.
• Seven of UGA’s nine SEC home games have sold out of reserved seat tickets – Kentucky, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Alabama, Auburn, Arkansas and Florida.
• Georgia’s celebrated freshman class – ranked among the top-10 groups nationally by every recruiting service – features five of the nation’s top-100 prospects.

 

Georgia returns to Stegeman Coliseum on Wednesday night to host No. 13/12 Auburn before a sold-out crowd. The contest became the Bulldogs’ seventh sellout of the season when the last remaining tickets were sold last weekend.

Georgia is 12-13 overall this season, including an impressive a 10-4 mark in home outings. The Bulldogs are averaging 81.0 points per game at Stegeman Coliseum and own a +9.8 scoring margin in home dates.

Fan support has been a major contributing factor to the Bulldogs’ success in Athens. Georgia’s average home attendance this season is 9,562, which is on pace to be the second-best tally in program history (trailing only 9,857 in 2002-03).

And while the Bulldogs will fall just shy of the average attendance record, they will no doubt establish a new total attendance record for the second-consecutive season.

A year ago, 148,700 fans came through the Stegeman turnstiles to break the previous record by more than 9,000.

Georgia’s total attendance this season is 133,866. That’s 14,834 shy of the current record with three home games left. With a possible ninth 10,000-plus crowd this season at the Auburn game, the Bulldogs are all but certain to set a new record with their Feb. 29 matchup against Arkansas, which is also sold out.

Anthony Edwards, one of only two freshmen included on the 20-player late-season Wooden Award Watch List, is the nation’s top-scoring freshman at 19.0 ppg. The Atlanta native has reached double figures in the scoring column in 21 of 25 games to date, with 11 20-point outings and two 30-point performances.

The first 1,250 UGA students at Wednesday’s game will receive a free No. 33 replica jersey t-shirt and pizza.

In addition, the ultra-popular “Red Panda” will perform at halftime of the contest.

Tyree Crump is…
• 3 3FGs from No. 10 Jody Patton
• 11 3FGs from No. 9 Bernard Davis • 28 3FGAs from No. 7 Dustin Ware.

Among UGA’s Freshman Leaders – Anthony Edwards is…
• 7 points from No. 3 Litterial Green
• 42 points from No. 2 Jumaine Jones • 172 points from No. 1 Jacky Dorsey

Among UGA’s Freshman Leaders Sahvir Wheeler is…
• 24 assists from No. 1 Litterial Green

Georgia owns a 61-27 advantage in all-time meetings with Auburn in Athens. The Tigers own a slim 96-94 edge in overall meetings between UGA and AU on the hardwood.

In the most recent matchup at Stegeman Coliseum last Feb. 27, Chuma Okeke’s long 3-pointer with 26 seconds left was the deciding factor in Auburn’s 78-75 win over the Bulldogs.

The Tigers led by as many at 14 points late in the first half before Georgia rallied. The Bulldogs used a 13-0 run in the second period to go up 58-57 with 11:07 left.

Following seven more lead changes and a pair of ties, the Tigers went back on top on Okeke’s 3-pointer from the right wing as the shot clock buzzer sounded. Tyree Crump’s 3-point attempt to force overtime was off the mark as time expired.

Earlier this season on Jan. 11 at Auburn Arena, No. 5 Auburn responded after a quick start by the Bulldogs to earn an 82-60 win.

After Georgia went up 14-6, Auburn surged ahead 18-16 just over four minutes later.

Following a Rayshaun Hammonds 3-pointer, the Tigers took the lead for good on a pair of free throws at the 5:33 mark of the first half.

Auburn enters this week’s action at 22-3 overall and 9-3 in the SEC.

Samir Doughty paces a quartet of double-figure scorers for Auburn at 16.0 ppg. Austin Wiley’s 10.5 ppg average bookend that group, and he also leads the team on the boards at 9.4 rpg.

Freshman Isaac Okoro, who is scoring at a 13.1 ppg clip, suffered a hamstring injury in last week’s win over Alabama and did not travel to Saturday’s game at Missouri.

Texas A&M rallied in the closing minutes to secure a 74-69 win over Georgia last Saturday in College Station. The victory avenged a 15-point win by the Bulldogs just two weeks earlier in Athens.

Georgia led for 28:34 of the contest and never trailed in the second half until a pair of free throws by Emanuel Miller made it 61-59 with 3:48 remaining. The Aggies went up five on a 3-pointer on their next possession.

The Bulldogs closed the gap to 64-63 at the 2:12 mark and gained possession with a chance to regain the lead; however, a steal and bucket on the other end opened a 10-6 A&M surge to end the contest.

Georgia’s current attendance average of 9,562 would be the second-best effort in school history (trailing only an average of 9,857 in 2002-03).

The Bulldogs are well on their way to shattering their all-time total attendance record for the second consecutive season.

A year ago, Georgia established a new record of 148,700.

This year, 133,866 spectators have attended Georgia’s 14 home dates so far. That is 14,834 shy of the current mark with three home games left, meaning an average of just 4,945 would top the existing record.

Tom Crean has credited fan support as an integral part of UGA’s home success, most notably after a December win over SMU.

“We don’t win this game without this crowd,” Crean said bluntly in his postgame press conference. “We do not win this game without this incredible, passionate, stick-with-us, not let us drop crowd. I reminded the players a few times that we’re sitting here in basically a sold-out game, and these fans are not giving up on you, so don’t give up on yourself. I’m extremely proud of how we found a way to win, and I’m unbelievably thankful for our fans.”

Tyree Crump is three 3-point field goals and six free throws away from joining Georgia’s top-10 career leaders in made shots from behind the arc and successful conversion at the charity stripe as outlined in the next column.

The Bainbridge, Ga., native has made 169 3-pointers in his Georgia career, three away from the current No. 10 effort of Jody Patton.

Crump has converted on 119-of-149 trip to the free throw line, a success rate of 79.9 percent. With six more made three throws – and maintaining that shooting percentage – Crump will reach the minimum of 125 free throws to qualify for Georgia’s career records.

Crump’s current effort would place him at No. 7 on the career list below.

UGA Career 3FGA Leaders
Rk.	No.	Player	Seasons	3FGAs
1.	261	Levi Stukes	2003-07	683
2.	231	D.A. Lane	1999-01	583
3.	215	Litterial Green	1989-92	544
4.	213	Ezra Williams	2001-03	582
	213	Kenny Gaines	2013-16	569
6.	204	J.J. Frazier	2014-17	576
7.	194	Dustin Ware	2009-12	536
8.	193	G.G. Smith	1996-99	500
9.	184	Bernard Davis	1991-94	453
10.	172	Jody Patton	1987-91	387
11.	501	Tyree Crump	2016-19	166
UGA Career 3FG Leaders
Rk.	No.	Player	Seasons	FT-FTAs
1.	.841	J.J. Frazier	2014-17	450-533
2.	.831	Dick McIntosh	1966-68	162-195
3.	.828	Juwan Parker	2014-18	227-274
4.	.822	Jerry Epling	1968-70	221-269
5.	.804	Jimmy Pitts	1963-65	344-428
	.804	Dustin Ware	2009-12	201-250
7.	.791	D.A. Layne	1999-01	246-311
8.	.787	Joe Ward	1984-86	159-202
9.	.784	Willie Anderson	1985-88	221-282
10.	.777	Terrance Woodbury	2006-09	161-207

 

Former Bulldog Willie Anderson is set to be enshrined in the State of Georgia Sports Hall of Fame this weekend in Macon.

Anderson is one of eight inductees this year, a class that included UGA baseball standout Jeff Treadway. He will be Georgia Basketball’s third representative in the hall, joining coach Hugh Durham and Alec Kessler.

The Atlanta native blossomed into one of the country’s most diverse talents in the late-80s and was a two-time, first-team All-SEC honoree. As a junior, he averaged 15.9 points, 5.0 assists and 1.4 steals per game in 1986-87. In his final season, Anderson averaged 16.7 points, 4.0 assists and 1.9 steals while leading the Bulldogs to a 20-win finish.

Anderson earned a spot on the 1988 U.S. Olympic Team and won a Bronze Medal.

Anderson was drafted by San Antonio Spurs with the No. 10 overall pick of the 1988 NBA Draft and earned a spot on the first team of the NBA’s All-Rookie team in 1989. He went on to play nine seasons in the NBA, the first seven with the Spurs followed by stints with the Raptors, Knicks and Heat.

The Hall of Fame will officially induct its 64th class on Saturday evening at the Historic Macon City Auditorium.

Anthony Edwards joined Georgia Basketball’s top-10 season scoring efforts by a freshman in just the 18th game of the season at No. 15 Kentucky.

Over the next four outings, Edwards ascended all the way up to the No. 4 position as outlined below.

The Atlanta native’s 16 points at Rupp Arena on Jan. 21 pushed him past the previous No. 10 freshman effort by Eric Marbury. He moved to No. 9 against Ole Miss to No. 8 at Missouri to No. 6 versus Texas A&M and to No. 4 at Florida.

Edwards’ current scoring pace of 19.0 ppg would be the second-best in UGA history and would put him at 588 points at the end of the Bulldogs’ 31-game regular-season slate.

UGA’s Top-10 Freshman Scorers
	Player	Pts.	Year	G	Avg.
1.	Jacky Dorsey	646	1975	25	25.8
2.	Jumaine Jones	515	1998	35	14.7
3.	Litterial Green	481	1989	31	15.5
4.	Anthony Edwards	474	2020	25	19.0
5.	Cedric Henderson	433	1985	28	15.5
6.	K. Caldwell-Pope	422	2012	32	13.2
7.	Walter Daniels	404	1976	27	15.0
8.	D.A. Layne	381	1999	30	12.7
9.	Terry Fair	368	1980	27	13.6
10.	Trey Thompkins	354	2009	28	12.6

 

Sahvir Wheeler’s eight assists against Alabama on Feb. 8 gave him exactly 100 passes-to-points this season.

Wheeler became just the sixth Georgia freshman to record 100 assists and the first to do so in just over a decade, since Dustin Ware did so during the 2008-09 season.

Wheeler’s has since climbed to the No. 2 spot among Georgia’s freshman assist leaders and his average of 4.5 apg is better than any other freshman has contributed for the Bulldogs as outlined below.

Wheeler’s current pace would give him 136 assists at the end of the regular season.

UGA’s Top-10 Freshman Assists
Rk.	Player	Ast.	Year	G	Avg
1.	Litterial Green	133	1989	31	4.3
2.	Sahvir Wheeler	109	2020	24	4.5
3.	Dustin Ware	108	2009	32	3.4
4.	Moses White	105	2000	29	3.6
5.	Rashad Wright	103	2001	31	3.3
6.	Bryan Drafts	100	1974	26	3.8
7.	Charles Mann	92	2013	32	2.9
8.	Vern Fleming	86	1981	30	2.9
9.	Sundiata Gaines	78	2005	27	2.9
10.	Walter Daniels	77	1976	27	2.9

 

Toumani Camara, who moved into the Bulldogs’ starting lineup in the 10th game of the season against SMU, has seen a massive up-tick in his production over the last 19 outings.

The freshman from Brussels has nearly doubled his scoring, rebounding and minuted played totals from the first six games of the season as outlined below.

During that span, Camara also posted career highs of 16 points vs. Georgia Southern, nine rebounds vs. Austin Peay and 34 minutes of playing time vs. SMU.

Camara’s Increased Efforts
Stat	First 6	Last 16
Points per game	4.0	6.8
Rebounds per game	2.5	4.8
Minutes per game	13.2	26.2

 

Freshman Christian Brown has made a relatively immediate impact off the bench in Georgia’s last two road games.

At Florida on Feb. 5, Brown scored six points in five minutes, connecting on 2-of-3 3-point attempts.

At Texas A&M on Feb. 15, Brown contributed eight points in eight minutes, making 3-of-5 shots from the floor and converting on his two attempts at the line.

Through games of Feb. 17, Anthony Edwards and Sahvir Wheeler were among the nation’s top freshmen in scoring and assists, respectively, as outlined below.

Edwards was the top scorer among all Division-I freshmen and one of only three included among the top-100 scoring leaders.

Wheeler sported the seventh-best average assists tally by a freshman.

Top Freshman Scoring Averages
Rk.	Player, school	GP	Avg.
50.	Anthony Edwards, Georgia	25	19.0
89.	Landers Nolley, Va. Tech	25	17.6
99.	Vernon Carey, Duke	25	17.2
Top Freshman Assist Averages
Rk.	Player, school	GP	Avg.
40.	Nico Mannion, Arizona	25	5.3
46.	Yuri Collins, Saint Louis	25	5.3
72.	Ellis Magnuson, E. Wash.	25	4.7
74.	Rylan Jones, Utah	24	4.7
77.	Sean East, UMass	25	4.6
89.	Isaiah Stevens, Colorado St.	27	4.6
92.	Sahvir Wheeler, Georgia	24	4.5
98.	Ethan Anderson, USC	26	4.5

 

Georgia’s endured a brutal stretch of games to open SEC play.

The Bulldogs began league action by facing six straight 2019 NCAA Tournament teams – Kentucky, Auburn, Tennessee, Mississippi State, Kentucky (again) and Ole Miss.

Tom Crean has undergone some serious hazing from the scheduling Gods since arriving in Athens. A year ago, Georgia opened SEC play with consecutive Saturday road trips to the defending league co-champions from the previous year – Tennessee and Auburn.

Sahvir Wheeler returned to the court against Texas A&M on Feb. 1 after missing a Jan. 28 game at Missouri.

Wheeler, who leads Georgia in assists and is third in scoring, suffered an upper body injury in practice on Monday, Jan. 27, before the team departed for Columbia.

He played three of his best games of the season immediately after his return.

The Houston native had a strong linescore against the Aggies, with nine points, five assists, four boards and two steals. Wheeler followed that with 16 points and four assists at Florida. Against Alabama, he recorded career-high tallies of 24 points and eight assists (for the third time this season) in a career-most 42 minutes of playing time.

Tyree Crump continued a familiar theme to his scoring this season, with 42 of his 57 field goals (73.7 percent) being 3-pointers.

More than two-thirds of Crump’s made shots from the floor at Georgia have come from 3-point range. He has connected on 169 3s as a Bulldog, which accounts for 69.8 percent of his total 242 made field goals.

In his 61 games played as a freshman and sophomore, Rayshaun Hammonds had two 20-point performances, four double-figure rebounding outputs and two double-doubles.

In the first 23 games this season, Hammonds notched five 20-point outputs, six double-digit rebound counts and four double-doubles.

Anthony Edwards was named to updated Watch Lists for the Wooden and Jerry West Awards released in early February.

On Monday, Feb. 3, Edwards was the only SEC player and one of just two freshmen featured on the new top-20 list of candidates for the Wooden Award.

On Tuesday, Feb. 4, Edwards was one of two freshmen and four SEC players on the top-10 list for the West Award, which is given to the nation’s top shooting guard.

Anthony Edwards was tabbed SEC Freshman of the Week on Feb. 3 after averaging 26.0 points and 12.5 rebounds in Georgia’s outings against Missouri and Texas A&M.

Bulldogs have now been named SEC FOTW three times this season. Previously, Edwards and Sahvir Wheeler were honored on Dec. 1 and Dec. 23, respectively.

Against Mizzou and TAMU, Edwards became the first Bulldog freshman to post consecutive double-doubles since Jumaine Jones in 1997-98. Edwards’ 15 rebounds against Texas A&M were the most by a Georgia freshman since Jones’ 16 versus Penn State in the semifinals of the 1998 NIT.

Edwards was first honored – and also was tabbed National Freshman of the Week by CBSsports.com – following the Maui Jim Maui Invitational. Most notably, he poured in 37 points against No. 3 Michigan State on Nov. 26, including 33 points in the second half. Edwards’ effort represented the most points by a Bulldog freshman since Jacky Dorsey’s 41 versus LSU on Jan. 20, 1975.

Wheeler was honored after he scored layups in the final five seconds of both the first and second overtime periods of UGA’s versus SMU. He scored with four seconds remaining in the first OT to tie the score. In the second extra session, Wheeler’s layup with 1.9 seconds left supplied Georgia with the victory.

Sophomore Tye Fagan scored 14 points at No. 15 Kentucky on Jan. 21 by connecting on all six of his shots from the field (including a 3-pointer) and his one attempt at the free throw line.

Fagan has now scored in double figures three times this season and has done so in an extremely efficient fashion. In that trio of contests, Fagan has connected on 81.0 percent (17-of-21) of his shots from the floor.

Fagan recorded his first double-digit scoring output with 11 points against Dayton in the opening round of the Maui Jim Maui Invitational. He connected on 5-of-5 shots from the field, including his only 3-point attempt, against the Flyers.

The sophomore from Logtown paced Georgia with 15 points at Arizona State on Dec. 14. Fagan did most of his damage in the second half in Tempe with 11 points in 10 minutes.

Before that, Fagan’s top offensive performances were early last season. He notched eight points in three of the first four games of his freshman year.

Freshmen Toumani Camara, Anthony Edwards and Sahvir Wheeler all started for the Bulldogs at No. 5 Auburn on Jan. 11. That marked the first time Georgia started a trio of freshmen in a decade and 11 days.

To find the last contest when three first-year Bulldogs got the nod you have to venture back to a date with Kennesaw State on New Year’s Eve in 2008 when Travis Leslie, Trey Thompkins and Dustin Ware all started.

All told, four members of the Bulldogs’ top-10 recruiting class have now started at some point this season. Rodney Howard did so against N.C. Central and Arizona State.

Georgia is 4-2 this season in games decided by four points or less.

That’s a dramatic difference last season when UGA was 0-6 in such outings, with all six setbacks coming to NCAA tourney teams.

Georgia’s non-conference effort in 2018-19 featured four- and two-point setbacks to Temple and Arizona State, respectively.

In SEC play, the Bulldogs dropped four consecutive extremely excruciating losses by a combined nine points between Feb. 16-27 – to LSU (83-79), Mississippi State (68-67), Ole Miss (72-71) and Auburn (78-75).

This season, Georgia defeated Georgia Tech (72-68), Chaminade (80-77), SMU (87-85) and No. 9 Memphis (65-62) before the Bulldogs suffered tight-score setbacks against Missouri (72-69) and Alabama (105-102).

While most of the SEC opened league play on Saturday, Jan. 4, Georgia was earning a historic road win at No. 9 Memphis.

That was: 1) just the second road victory over a ranked non-conference foe in Georgia Basketball history; and 2) just the second road win over a ranked foe by any SEC team this season…South Carolina’s upset of No. 9 Virginia on Dec. 22 being the other.

The victory also represented UGA’s first:

• win over a top-10 foe since defeating No. 10 Kentucky, 77-70, on Jan. 8, 2011.
• road win over a top-10 opponent since beating No. 5 Kentucky, 65-57, at Rupp Arena on Jan. 17, 2004.
• road win over a ranked, non-conference foe since topping No. 7 Louisville, 73-70 in overtime, on Dec. 29, 1977.

Georgia’s freshman class features five of the top-100 prospects from 2019 and was consistently ranked among the nation’s top recruiting classes – No. 5 by ESPN.com, No. 6 by rivals.com and No. 10 by 247Sports.com.

Headlining the quintet is Anthony Edwards. The Atlanta native, who tabbed the nation’s best prospect by some, announced his commitment on national television on Feb. 11. He is the Bulldogs’ highest rated recruit ever.

Dominique Wilkins was the most hyped recruit in Georgia history in 1979. Individual rankings for that class are believed to be unavailable, but it also featured future stars such as Ralph Sampson, Isiah Thomas, James Worthy, Clark Kellogg and Sam Bowie.

In the internet age, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is the highest ranked player in the 247Sports.com composite to enroll at Georgia at No. 12 in 2011. Louis Williams signed with the Bulldogs as the No. 6 prospect in the nation in the 2005 composite but opted to enter the NBA Draft.

The Bulldogs’ highest recruiting class ever was No. 2 in 1992 when UGA inked four top-100 prospects – Shandon Anderson, Terrell Bell, Pertha Robinson and McDonald’s All-American Carlos Strong – in the fall and added then added Cleveland Jackson, the National JUCO Player of the Year, in the spring.

Additional top classes at Georgia include those in 1979 and 1980 which featured four McDonald’s All-Americans between them – Wilkins and Terry Fair in 1979 and Vern Fleming and James Banks a year later.

The Bulldogs’ class of nine freshmen – seven scholarship and two walk-ons – ranks as the third-largest in D-I hoops.

Navy, TCU and Utah sport a nation-leading 11 freshmen on their rosters. Air Force has 10 freshmen. In addition to Georgia, Louisville also has nine freshmen.

On this list, “freshman” is defined as a player who is a freshman eligibility wise and competing at that school for the first time this season…so there are some redshirts.

Anthony Edwards and Sahvir Wheeler poured in 24 and 19 points, respectively, in the season opener against Western Carolina on Nov. 5 – the second- and third-most points ever by a freshman in their Bulldog debut.

Since NCAA rules changed to allow freshmen to compete in basketball in 1972, 23 Bulldogs have scored in double figures during their first collegiate contest.

Edwards came within a bucket of Dominique Wilkins’ school record against Troy on Nov. 30, 1979 as outlined below.

Top Tally Debuts By UGA Freshmen
Year	Player	Points
1979	Dominique Wilkins	26
2019	Anthony Edwards	24
1979	Terry Fair	19
2019	Sahvir Wheeler	19
1998	D.A. Layne	18
2007	Jeremy Price	18
2004	Sundiata Gaines	17
2017	Rayshaun Hammonds	17
2011	Kentavious Caldwell-Pope	15

 

Anthony Edwards’ 24 points against Western Carolina were the most by a Bulldog in an opener in nearly two decades – since Ezra Williams’ 26 versus Furman on Nov. 16, 2001.

You may have noticed Georgia’s roster has gone away from listing traditional basketball positions of guard, forward and center.

Tom Crean is a proponent for “position-less” basketball so players are now simply listed as the position “B”…which stands for “Basketball Player.”

“That’s what they are,” Crean said. “It’s not valid to call them centers and forwards and things like that with the way that we’re trying to play. They’re being trained as basketball players, every day. If you came out there to practice (6-11) Rodney Howard, a lot of times is doing the same things that (5-10) Sahvir Wheeler’s doing in the sense of how we train ball handling, driving, shooting…all those type of things. That’s what we’re recruiting. We’re recruiting basketball players.”

The Bulldogs signed four standouts to letters-of-intent during the NCAA’s early signing period, Tom Crean announced on Nov. 18.

Georgia’s incoming recruiting class was listed at No. 24 nationally in the 247Sports.com composite rankings.

Two in-state prep prospects – Kadarius “K.D.” Johnson from Decatur and Josh Taylor from Norcross – and a pair of Eastern Florida State College teammates – Jonathan Ned and Mikal Starks – will play for the Bulldogs beginning next season.

Georgia’s 31-game regular-season slate includes 14 games against teams featured in the last preseason edition of ESPN.com’s Bracketology released on Nov. 4.

The Bulldogs will host games against seven teams in the predicted field and take on six more away from Stegeman Coliseum.

In Athens, Georgia will entertain Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia Southern, Kentucky, N.C. Central and Tennessee.

The Bulldogs met Dayton and Michigan State in the Maui Jim Maui Invitational and will play road games at Auburn, Florida, Kentucky, LSU and Memphis.