2023-11-24 04:26:57
Georgia Bulldogs
Head Coach: Mike White
Record at UGA: 18-19 (2nd season)
Career Record: 261-147 (13th season)
Winthrop Eagles
Head Coach: Mark Prosser
Record at WU: 42-28 (3rd season)
Career Record: 84-104 (7th season)
INDIVIDUAL
TEAM
STATISTIC
TEAM
INDIVIDUAL
Abdur-Rahim
14.0
69.4
Points Per Game
77.8
14.0
Talford
DeLoach
.500
.384
Field Goal Pct.
.482
.667
Talford
Abdur-Rahim
2.2
7.4
3-Pointers Per Game
6.8
1.8
McMahon
Hill
.357
.294
3-Point Pct.
.360
.500
Van Bibber
Abdur-Rahim
.879
.692
Free Throw Pct.
.724
.909
Van Bibber
Tchewa
5.4
35.8
Rebounds Per Game
34.0
5.0
Timmerman
Hill
2.6
10.6
Assists Per Game
10.0
3.5
Harrison
Hill
3.25
0.87
Assist-to-Turnover Ratio
0.81
2.63
Harrison
Demary Jr.
2.2
7.0
Steals Per Game
7.7
1.8
Harrison/Johnson
Cain/Moncrieffe
0.6
2.4
Blocks Per Game
2.5
0.7
Claxton
Thomasson
30.1
Minutes Per Game
28.8
Harrison
The Starting 5…
Georgia hosts Winthrop on Friday to open a span in which the Bulldogs will play seven home games in eight outings. Georgia will travel to Florida State next Wednesday before six consecutive contests at Stegeman Coliseum throughout December.
Georgia is the nation’s only Power conference team to: 1) open its season with back-to-back games versus Power conference programs (Oregon and Wake Forest); and 2) face four Power conference foes in its first five outings (UO, WFU, Miami and Providence).
According to kenpom.com through games of Nov. 22, Georgia has the best adjusted tempo in the SEC (No. 42 nationally) and has played the league’s second-toughest schedule to date (No. 44 nationally).
Georgia’s freshman and transfer recruiting classes both were ranked as high as No. 11. The Bulldogs were only one of three teams to have both of those groups ranked top-20 nationally by On3.com.
In Mike White’s first season at Georgia, the Bulldogs upped their win total from 2021-22 by 10 victories. That equaled the second-biggest increase in regular-season wins by any Power conference men’s hoops program and represented just the sixth time in the last decade an SEC team improved its win total by double digits in the regular season.
The Opening Tip
After playing three of their first five games away from Athens, the Georgia Bulldogs open a home-heavy portion of their schedule on Friday by hosting the Winthrop Eagles at 5:00 p.m. at Stegeman Coliseum. The Bulldogs will play seven of eight games at Stegeman Coliseum to close out the 2023 calendar.
Georgia will travel to Florida State next Wednesday as part of the inaugural ACC/SEC Challenge before returning to Stegeman for six straight home dates in December.
The Bulldogs are 2-3 following a demanding slate to begin the 2023-24 campaign. Georgia was the only power conference team in the nation to begin the year by facing four power conference foes in its first five games.
Winthrop arrives in Athens with a 4-2 record. Last weekend, the Eagles swept Holy Cross, IUPUI and Elon as part of the Rock Hill Classic.
Scouting The Eagles
Winthrop is 4-2 on the young season. The Eagles opened the year with a 78-56 setback at Clemson. Last weekend, Winthrop won all three of its outings as part of the Rock Hill Classic.
Skip Prosser is in his third season with the Eagles. In 2021-22, his first season in Rock Hill, Prosser led Winthrop to the Big South regular-season championship and a 23-win campaign that included a perfect 13-0 home mark.
Winthrop sports no less than five double-digit scorers. Kelton Talford paces the Eagles at 14.0 ppg, followed by K.J. Doucet at 11.8 ppg, Nick Johnson at 11.2 ppg, Noah Van Bibber at 11.0 ppg and Sin’Cere McMahon at 10.0 ppg. Alex Timmerman leads Winthrop at 5.0 rpg.
Series History With Winthrop
Georgia owns a 6-1 lead in its all-time series with Winthrop, including a 5-1 mark at Stegeman Coliseum.
In the most recent matchup on Dec. 5, 1017, Georgia defeated Winthrop 87-82 on Dec. 5 in a high-scoring, back-and-forth contest featuring 12 ties and 10 lead changes.
In the eighth game of the season, Yante Maten posted eighth consecutive double-digit scoring game and his fourth double-double of the season with 25 points and 11 rebounds. Maten went on to earn 2018 SEC Player of the Year honors from the AP.
Last Time Out
Providence scored the game’s final six points en route to a 71-64 win over Georgia in the consolation contest of the Baha Mar Hoops Bahamas Championship last Sunday.
In a contest that featured no less than 11 ties and 14 lead changes, the Friars’ 6-0 surge over the final 32 seconds also provided them with largest lead either team enjoyed on the day. Providence was clutch at the line. Leading 65-64, the Friars converted on both ends of a pair of one-and-one opportunities with 32 and 19 seconds remaining.
Noah Thomasson led Georgia with a game-high 19 points, while RJ Melendez chipped in a season-high 15.
“I liked our competitiveness here against two really good teams,” head coach Mike White said. “We did a lot of good things today. We’ve got to do a better job obviously with our offensive connection and role definition, and that starts with me. We’ve got to figure some things out, but we’re good at times and at times we look disconnected offensively.”
Eagles’ Roster Features Great Name In Georgia Hoops history
Winthrop forward Chase Claxton is the son of former Georgia All-SEC center Charles Claxton and brother of former Bulldog All-SEC forward and current Brooklyn Net Nic Claxton.
Chase is in his fifth season with the Eagles, starting 55 of 115 games played and helping Winthrop to back-to-back Big South Tournament titles in 2020 and 2021 and an NCAA Tournament bid in 2021 (the 2020 tourney was canceled due to COVID-19).
Charles Claxton played for the Bulldogs from 1991-95, starting 114 of 116 games played. Among Georgia’s career leaders, he ranks No. 22 in scoring (1,274 points), No. 6 in rebounds (840), No. 2 in blocked shots (247) and No. 5 in field goal percentage (.542).
Nic played two season at Georgia from 2017-19 before declaring for the NBA Draft. In 2018-19, he produced the No. 12 single-season rebounding count (274) and No. 5 tally of blocked shots (81) in school history.
Nic was with the No. 31 overall selection and first pick of the second round by the Nets and has emerged as one of the NBA’s most efficient offensive and productive defensive players. Last season, he led the league in field goal percentage (.705) and ranked second in blocks (189=2.5 bpg).
Charles and Nic both earned second-team All-SEC honors in balloting of league coaches – Charles in 1993 and Nic in 2019. The Claxtons were only the second father-son All-SEC hoops duo from the same school in league history. Vanderbilt’s Frank and Luke Kornet were named All-SEC in 1989 and 2017, respectively.
Hill Is Familiar With Eagles
While Friday’s game is Georgia’s first against Winthrop six years, Bulldog guard Justin Hill faced the Eagles five times in his two season at Longwood.
In fact, Hill notched career highs of 29 points, 12 free throw makes and four steals against Winthrop in a 92-88 win over Winthrop on Jan. 29, 2022. He also recorded nine points, eight rebounds, five assists and two steals against the Eagles in a 79-58 victory later that season in the Big South Tournament championship game.
Hill started 40 of 58 games at Longwood before transferring to Georgia prior to last season. He scored 738 points, grabbed 262 rebounds, dished out 214 assists and collected 71 steals for the Landers. In a quintet of outings against Winthrop, Hill averaged 14.0 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 2.6 apg and 1.6 spg in 27.4 mpg.
Abdur-Rahim Converting FTs At One Of Best Rates Ever By A Bulldog
Senior Jabri Abdur-Rahim has connected on 29-of-33 trips to the free throw line this season, a stellar 87.9 percent conversion rate.
Abdur-Rahim’s hot start at the line has him within reach of joining Georgia’s all-time single-season free throw percentage leaders. A minimum of 50 made FTs is required for inclusion on the Bulldogs’ single-season FT percentage leaders. Abdur-Rahim’s 29 makes in the season’s five games has him almost 60 percent of the way to that standard. His current percentage of .879 would rank third all-time at UGA behind only Channing Toney (.910 in 2004-05) and Joe Ward (.902 in 1983-84).
Demary Gets To Defensive Boards
Freshman guard Silas Demary Jr. has been the third-best Bulldog getting to the boards to date, averaging 5.0 rpg. That trails only Georgia’s two primary players at the ‘5’ – 7-0 Russel Tchewa and 6-9 Jalen DeLoach.
All 22 of Demary’s rebounds have been on the defensive end, three more than any other Bulldog.
Demary grabbed a team-high eight boards against No. 12/11 Miami, the second-best single-game output by any Georgia player this season.
Bulldogs Flip The Specialty Scripts
After being outperformed by Oregon in all four specialty stats in the season opener, the Bulldogs have done considerably better in their next four outings.
The most dramatic difference is off the bench. Since the Ducks’ reserves outscored Georgia’s bench, 28-22, the Bulldogs have outscored each of their next three foes in bench points. Georgia now sports a +42 scoring margin in that category – a 48-point swing.
The Bulldogs have done considerably better in paint scoring since the opener. The Ducks scored 28 more points in the paint, 48-20. Georgia has trimmed that margin to -10.
BEWARE: Barking Bench Means Bulldogs May Bite Getting “three stops in a row” is an extremely popular analytical indicator quoted by basketball coaches competing on just about every level. At Georgia, a sequence of three stops in a row is recorded as a “bite” for the Bulldogs.
If you notice various members of the bench barking loudly while Georgia is on the defensive end of the floor, that indicates that the Bulldogs have already posted two consecutive defensive stops and are just shy of taking a “bite” out of their opponent’s offensive efforts.
A Challenging Slate Out Of The Gate
Georgia is the only Power conference team that opened the 2023-24 season with back-to-back outings against other Power conference programs. The Bulldogs began the year against Oregon from the Pac 12 in a Naismith Hall of Fame Series date at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas before hosting Wake Forest from the ACC in the home opener.
The Power heavy schedule doesn’t stop there.
All told, Georgia will play four of its first five, five of its first seven and six of its first nine games against Power conference foes.
Following the win over N.C. Central, Georgia faced Miami, a 2023 Final Four participant, in the opening round of the Baha Mar Hoops Bahamas Championship followed by Providence, another NCAA Tournament team last March.
The Bulldogs other two Power conference dates in non-conference action are both versus ACC competition – at Florida State on Nov. 29 and versus Georgia Tech on Dec. 5.
All told, 24 of Georgia’s 31 regular-season games (.774) are against Power conference teams.
Georgia Impressive In Stegeman Openers
With last Friday’s win over Wake Forest, Georgia improved to 55-6 in home openers at Stegeman Coliseum.
The matchup with the Demon Deacons represented the first time since the 2017-18 season that Georgia’s home opener was not also the initial outing of the season.
The Bulldogs are now 17-1 in Stegeman openers that were not season openers.
Cain, Demary Make Their Marks In Collegiate Debuts
Blue Cain and Silas Demary Jr. made key contributions for Georgia in their collegiate debuts against Oregon in the Naismith Hall of Fame Classic.
Demary became the first true freshman to get a starting nod for the Bulldogs in a season opener since Anthony Edwards in 2019. The Raleigh, N.C., native produced a thorough linescore of eight points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Cain became the first true freshman to notch a double-digit scoring output in the season opener since Edwards and Sahvir Wheeler did so in 2019. Cain posted 12 points off the bench by connecting on 5-of-11 shots from the field and matched Demary for the team high with two steals.
Georgia Signs Top-10 Prospect Asa Newell
Georgia opened the NCAA’s early signing period with a bang on Nov. 6 when the Bulldogs signed Asa Newell, the No. 8 overall prospect in the 247Sports.com composite rankings for the Class of 2024.
Newell is the fifth top-100 prospect to sign with Georgia in the last two classes.
The younger brother of current Bulldog Jaden Newell, Asa is a 6-10, 215-pound power forward and a consensus five-star recruit. Asa is the second-highest ESPN.com and third-highest 247Sports.com ranked recruit to sign with Georgia during the internet era. He trails only Anthony Edwards (No. 4 in 2019) on the ESPN.com ledger and only Edwards (No. 2) and Lou Williams (No.6 in 2005) in the 247Sports.com composite. Edwards went on to become the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, while Williams elected to turn pro and has enjoyed a 17-year NBA career that includes three NBA Sixth Man of the Year awards.
Newell was a member of USA National Teams for FIBA World Cup tournaments during the past two summers, helping the USA capture a Gold Medal at the 2022 U17 tourney in Malaga, Spain and finish fourth at the 2023 U19 event in Debrecen, Hungary.
Newell is in his second season at Montverde Academy in Montverde, Fla., which finished 23-3 and finished No. 2 nationally in the SCNext Top 25 high school boys’ basketball rankings last season.
Both Packs of New Bulldogs Highly Rated
Georgia was one of three programs with both its freshman and transfer recruiting classes ranked among the nation’s top-20 groups by On3.com. The Bulldogs’ five transfer were tabbed as at No. 11, while the freshmen were featured at No. 18.
All four of Georgia’s freshmen were rated as top-100 prospects in the Class of 2023 by various recruiting services. The highest rankings were: Blue Cain at No. 53 by On3.com, Silas Demary Jr. at No. 56 by Rivals.com, Dylan James at No. 78 in the 247Sports.com and Mari Jordan at No. 87 by ESPN.com.
As a class, the freshman were ranked No. 11 by Rivals.com, No. 15 in the 247Sports.com composite, No. 18 by On3.com and No. 20 by 247Sports.com. Georgia’s freshmen were the second-highest ranked class in the SEC 247Sports.com’s composite ledger of the average ranking of those recruiting services. Ten of 14 SEC schools were ranked among the nation’s top-50 freshman classes in the 247Sports.com composite.
A “March Madness” Pedigree
Seven Georgia players have played in the NCAA Tournament at previous schools.
Third-year Bulldog Jabri Abdur-Rahim was a member of Virginia’s roster in 2021 when the Cavaliers won the ACC regular-season title en route to March Madness.
Frank Anselem-Ibe, Justin Hill and Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe, who are in their second seasons in Athens, also reached the Big Dance. Anselem-Ibe helped Syracuse reach the 2021 Sweet 16. Hill led Longwood to the 2022 tournament. Moncrieffe played in the 2021 NCAA Tournament while at Syracuse.
Georgia newcomers Jalen DeLoach, RJ Melendez and RJ Sunahara bring NCAA Tournament experience as well. DeLoach helped VCU earn an NCAA bid last spring. Melendez was on Illinois teams that reached the 2022 and 2023 tourneys. Sunahara played in a trio of Division II tournaments at Nova Southeastern, including the Sharks perfect 36-0 march to the 2023 national title.
In addition, Russel Tchewa’s Texas Tech team was on the NCAA bubble in 2020 before the championship was canceled due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sunahara Takes One For the Team…accepts new nickname
It’s not uncommon for basketball teams to have multiple players with the same first name, but that usually occurs with a rather common name. When a pair of “RJ’s” transferred to Georgia during the offseason, it left the coaching staff scratching their heads.
“We’re going to have to figure this out,” Mike White quipped to the media when discussing the Bulldogs’ summer trip to Italy.
It didn’t take long for RJ Sunahara to become “Sunny”…at least while he’s on the basketball court. Even though his name is pronounced “soon-ah-hara,” the 2023 Division II National Player of the Year is now “Sunny.” Actually, the nickname fits quite well with Sunahara’s Hawaiian heritage.
Bulldogs Tops A-Sun Favorite EKU In Exhibition
Six Bulldogs scored in double figures at Georgia defeated Eastern Kentucky, 99-82, in an exhibition game benefiting the American Red Cross at Stegeman Coliseum on Oct. 30.
EKU returns four starters and 11 letterwinners from a 23-14. The Colonels are the preseason favorite of both media and coaches to win the Atlantic Sun Conference this season and have been a consistent member of ESPN’s Bracketology throughout the summer and preseason.
RJ Melendez Georgia with 21 points and added nine rebounds, while Russell Tchewa notched a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds. In addition, Noah Thomasson added 15 points and Jabri Abdur-Rahim, Blue Cain and Silas Demary Jr. all chipped in 12.
As a team, Georgia shot 54.8 percent from the field.
“I thought we did some good things and we’ve got a lot to work on,” head coach Mike White said. “I was very pleased with their tenacity defensively, and progression and tempo offensively. It was a really fast-paced game.”
Georgia opened the game with a 6-0 surge 73 seconds into the contest and lead throughout the entire opening half. The Bulldogs kept the Colonels at bay, ending the half on a 13-3 run and carrying a 21-point lead headed into the locker room. From there, Georgia controlled the second half and was ahead by as many as 24 points.
Forza Dogs…Georgia’s Tour Of Italy
Georgia got a jump on preparations for the 2023-24 season during the summer when the Bulldogs ventured to Italy for a three-game international tour from July 20-29.
On the the hardwood, Georgia defeated different teams from the Italian Club Orange Basket Bassano by 39.3 points per game. Each Bulldog dressed out for two of the three games, with nine different players recording one or more double-figure scoring outputs.
Away from basketball, Georgia spent four days in Rome, one day in Florence and two days in Sorrento. The team toured the traditional sites such as Vatican City, The Colosseum, The Forum, Pompeii, Amalfi and Positano. The Bulldogs also enjoyed a cooking class where they prepared – and then dined on – their own pasta and tiramisu.
Designer Genes
We believe that Georgia Basketball’s family tree may be the most athletic in the country. Almost every Bulldog has immediate family who competed at the collegiate or professional levels, including:
Jabri Abdur-Rahim – his dad, Shareef, was a 2000 Olympic Gold Medalist, 2002 NBA All-Star and current president of the NBA’s G League; and five of his uncles (Amir, Muhammad, Tahir, Bilal and Malik) played college basketball.
Blue Cain – his mom, the former Myriah Lonergan, played basketball at George Washington and is in GWU’s Athletic Hall of Fame; his dad, Chris, played golf at Duke; and his sister, Sophie, is a senior setter on Appalachian State’s volleyball team.
Jalen DeLoach – his brother, Kalen, is in his third season as a starting linebacker at Florida State; and his sister, Taylor, was a Big Ten champion in the 400-meter relay at Ohio State.
Silas Demary Jr. – his dad, Silas Sr., played at Virginia State and was the 2005 Arena Football League Defensive Player of the Year for the L.A. Avengers.
Justin Hill – his dad, Keith, played basketball at Michigan State and New Mexico State, where he helped the Aggies reach the NCAA Tourney; his mom, the former Donna Holt, played basketball at Virginia, where she was 1988 ACC Player of the Year and was named to the ACC’s Silver Anniversary team in 2002;
Dylan James – his brother, Dorian, is a redshirt senior of North Florida’s basketball team; and two additional siblings – brother Darius and sister Charla – played basketball at Lynn University.
Markel Jennings – is distant cousins on his dad’s side with NFL players Vernon and Vontae Davis, who both were multiple Pro Bowl selections.
Brandon Klatsky – his dad, Brian, played college basketball at DIII Skidmore; and his brother, Alex, is a redshirt senior on Florida’s basketball team.
Jaden Newell – his brother, Asa, the No. 8 overall prospect in 247Sports.com Class of 2024 composite rankings, has signed to join him in Athens next season.
RJ Sunahara – his dad, Reed, was a two-time All-American in volleyball at UCLA and is the current women’s volleyball coach at West Virginia; his mom, the former Laura Rekstis, played volleyball at Cincinnati; his grandfather, Peter Rekstis, played football at Cincinnati; his uncle, Chet Moeller, played football at Navy and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2010.
Noah Thomasson – his dad, Leon, played football at Texas Southern and for the Atlanta Falcons; and he’s distant cousins with Spud Webb on his mom’s size.
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