Georgia Continues Homestand Against Delaware State

2019-20 STATISTICS	GEORGIA	DELAWARE STATE
Points Per Game	93.0	64.0
Opp. Point Per Game	79.0	83.0
Scoring Margin	+14.0	-19.0
Field Goal Pct.	.464	.385
Opp. Field Goal Pct.	.418	.462
3-Point Pct.	.273	.277
3-Pointers Per Game	7.5	6.5
Opp. 3-Point Pct.	.343	.302
Free Throw Pct.	.683	.689
Free Throws Per Game	21.5	15.5
Rebounds Per Game	44.0	31.0
Opp. Rebound Per Game	42.0	42.0
Rebound Margin	+2.0	-11.0
Assists Per Game	16.5	10.5
Turnovers Per Game	11.5	18.0
Assist-to-Turnover Ratio	1.43	0.58
Turnover Margin	+5.5	-3.0
Steals Per Game	11.	6.0
Blocks Per Game	5.0	1.5

• Through Wednesday's games, UGA's 95- and 91-point productions were the most and third-most by an SEC team to date during the 2019-20 season.
• Six Bulldogs scored in double-digit against The Citadel. The last time UGA did so was a 92-62 win over Appalachian State on Dec. 22, 2002.
• The point tallies of Anthony Edwards (24) and Sahvir Wheeler (19) in the season opener were the second- and third-best ever by a freshman in their UGA debut.
• 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.
• For the first time ever, Georgia sold out its Stegeman Coliseum season ticket allotment. The Texas A&M and Alabama games are already total sellouts.

 
Georgia plays its second game in a four-day span on Friday when the Bulldogs host Delaware State at Stegeman Coliseum.

The Bulldogs are coming off a 95-86 win over The Citadel on Tuesday. Through games on Wednesday, Georgia's 95 points represented the most by an SEC team to date this season. In fact, the Bulldogs' 91 points versus the Western Carolina were the third-most by a league team on the young campaign.

Appropriately enough, Georgia led the SEC in scoring offense as of Thursday (93.0 ppg) and freshman Anthony Edwards was the league's leading scorer (26.5 ppg).
 
Among UGA's career Leaders

Tyree Crump is...
• 10 3FGs from co-No. 12s Ty Wilson and Ray Harrison
• 16 3FGs from No. 11 K. Caldwell-Pope
• 6 3FGAs from No. 12 Sundiata Gaines
• 33 FGAs from No. 11 Ray Harrison
 
Georgia is 2-0 all-time against Delaware State, winning a pair of home outings in 2007 and 2011.

Most recently, Dustin Ware scored 15 points and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Donte' Williams chipped in 12 points apiece to lead the Bulldogs in a 58-51 victory over the Hornets on Dec. 30, 2011.

Billy Humphrey's game-high 18 points paced Georgia in a 58-47 win over Delaware State in the series' first matchup back on Nov. 28, 2007.

That contest included a significant milestone for Sundiata Gaines. With his first rebound against the Hornets, Gaines joined Shandon Anderson as the only player in Georgia history to amass 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 300 assists. Since then, Charles Mann also has achieved that milestone.

Gaines finished his career with 1,469 points, 674 boards and 476 assists, tallies that are No. 11, No. 14 and No. 2 among UGA's all-time leaders.
 
Delaware State was featured in five editions of Joe Lunardi's offseason ESPN.com Bracketology from July 24-Oct. 3. The Hornets were left off of the Nov. 4 version and replaced as the MEAC representative by N.C. Central, another Georgia opponent this season that will visit Stegeman Coliseum on Dec. 4.

Through their first two games, four Hornets were averaging double figures in the scoring column, led by senior John Crosby and sophomore John Stansbury at 13.0 ppg.
 
Anthony Edwards' 29 points paced six Bulldogs in double figures as Georgia defeated The Citadel, 95-86, on Tuesday evening before 8,052 fans at Stegeman Coliseum.

While The Citadel never led, the contest was relatively tight from start to finish. Georgia gained its largest lead at 62-50 with 15:32 left, but The Citadel rallied to twice make it a one-possession game – at 74-73 with 9:42 remaining and at 87-85 at the 3:04 mark. A three-point play by Edwards ignited an 8-1 run for the Bulldogs to close out the contest.

"There was a lot of youth that came out tonight," Tom Crean said. "I'm glad we have numerous guys, and there's going to be lots of ways to win this year. Fortunately, we found a way to win this one."
 
Georgia will host arch rival Georgia Tech next Wednesday at 7:00 p.m.

The Bulldogs are in the midst of a four-game, double-figure winning streak over the Yellow Jackets. That's the first time Georgia has beaten Tech by double digits in four consecutive games since a streak covering the 1908-09 to 1013-14 seasons.

Last season, Georgia's five, four-year seniors finished their careers undefeated against Tech. That was a considerable milestone considering in the first 113 seasons of UGA Basketball, only four Bulldogs were perfect versus the Yellow Jackets.
 
A half-dozen Georgia players posted double-figure scoring outputs against The Citadel – the first time six Bulldogs scored 10 or more points in a game in just under 17 years.

On Tuesday, Anthony Edwards poured in 29 points, Tyree Crump and Donnell Gresham Jr. added 13 apiece and Rayshaun Hammonds, Amanze Ngumezi and Sahvir Wheeler chipped in 10 points each.

Prior to that, you had to go back to a 92-62 win over Appalachian State on Dec. 22, 2002 to find a contest with six Bulldogs in double figures. In that game, Steve Thomas scored 18 points, followed by Ezra Williams (13), Chris Daniels (12), Jarvis Hayes (11), Rashad Wright (11) and Jonas Hayes (10).
 
The Bulldogs' Nov. 5 contest against Western Carolina was the earliest opening contest in Georgia's 115 seasons of basketball. The previous mark for an initial outing was a 72-52 victory over Wofford on Nov. 8, 2013.
 
Anthony Edwards and Sahvir Wheeler poured in 24 and 19 points, respectively, in the opener against Western Carolina. Those tallies represent the second- and third-most points ever by a freshman in their first game as a Bulldog as outlined on the next page.

Edwards' tally was the most since Dominique Wilkins put up 26 points versus Troy on Nov. 20, 1979. Wheeler matched the No. 3 mark also established in 1979 by Terry Fair.

Since freshmen became eligible to compete in basketball beginning with the 1972-73 season, 23 Bulldogs have posted double figures in the scoring column during their first collegiate contest at UGA.
   

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 versus Western Carolina represented the most by a Georgia Bulldog in the season opener in nearly two decades. The double-dozen was the most since Ezra Williams' 26 points against Furman on Nov. 16, 2001.
 
Donnell Gresham Jr.'s 13-point evening against The Citadel was the graduate transfer's first 10-plus outing as a Georgia Bulldog...but the 30th of his collegiate career.

Gresham notched 29 double-digit scoring performances in his four seasons as a different breed of canine – a Northeastern Husky. Fifteen of those were last season when Gresham averaged 9.7 ppg and helped Northeastern finish with a 23-11 record and reach the round of 64 of the NCAA Tournament.
 
Anthony Edwards' 24- and 29-point outbursts in the first two games of the season gives him 53 points to date.

Dominique Wilkins put up 26 points in his debut versus Troy and followed that with 21 points versus Whittier, tallying 47 points in his first two games.

For those of you wondering, Wilkins began his career with a third-straight 20-point performance with 23 points against Eckerd, giving him 70 point in that trio of contests.

Edwards and Wilkins are the only two Bulldogs to begin their careers with a pair of 20-point performances.
 
For the first time in program history, Georgia sold out the season ticket allotment for Stegeman Coliseum.

Tom Crean announced the accomplishment during Stegmania II on Oct. 11.

"I think it's great," Crean said following Stegmania. "We're going to need them to be here and help us because we have a lot of growth to make with this team. You can't win without them in the sense of having a great home-court atmosphere, and there's no question that's something we're going to need. Having sold out of our season ticket allotment is a very good start to having just that this season and beyond."

The ticket-selling records continued when Georgia put single-game tickets on sale on Oct. 24. That day, the Texas A&M (Feb. 1) and Alabama (Feb. 8) officially outings became sellout contests.

That matched the mark for earliest sellouts in Georgia's history, established last year when the Florida and Kentucky games quickly became ticket-less events.

Prior to last season, Georgia had never sold out more than one game prior to beginning the regular season.

On Nov. 7, the Ole Miss (Jan. 25) and Arkansas (Feb. 29) games also became sellouts.
 
Georgia's recruiting class was consistently ranked among the nation's top-10 groups – No. 5 by ESPN.com, No. 6 by rivals.com and No. 10 by 247Sports.com.

Headlining the class 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 recruiting rankings for the class are believed to be unavailable but that year featured Wilkins along with other 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 UGA at No. 12 in 2011. Louis Williams signed with the Bulldogs as the No. 6 prospect in the 2005 composite but opted to enter the NBA Draft.

The Bulldogs' highest recruiting class ever was a quintet listed at No. 2 in 1992 when UGA inked four of the nation's top-100 prospects – Shandon Anderson, Terrell Bell, Pertha Robinson and McDonald's All-American Carlos Strong – in the fall. Georgia then added Cleveland Jackson, the national Junior College Player of the Year, in the spring.

Additional top classes in Georgia history include those in 1979 and 1980 which featured four McDonald's All-Americans between them. The Bulldogs signed Wilkins and Terry Fair in 1979 and followed that with Vern Fleming and James Banks a year later.
 
Georgia's five returning letterwinners scored exactly 1,000 points during the 2018-19 season. Rayshaun Hammonds led the way with 339 (12.1 ppg), while Tyree Crump added 292 (9.1 ppg), Jordan Harris chipped in 226 (7.8 ppg), Tye Fagan contributed 78 (2.5 ppg) and Amanze Ngumezi put up 65 (2.1 ppg).
 
Georgia's 31-game regular-season slate includes a minimum of 13 teams featured in the last preseason edition of Joe Lunardi's ESPN.com Bracketology for the 2020 NCAA Tournament 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 will meet Dayton in the Maui Jim Maui Invitational and will play road games at Auburn, Florida, Kentucky, LSU and Memphis. Georgia could two more teams tabbed to play in "March Madness" in Maui if the Bulldogs meet Michigan State or Kansas.
 
Anthony Edwards garnered an impressive list of accolades before playing his first official game for the Bulldogs. Edwards was tabbed preseason All-America by at least four news entities – Sporting News (second team), CBS Sports (third team), Jon Rothstein (third team) and The Athletic (honorable mention). The Atlanta native also was included on Watch Lists for Naismith, Wooden and NABC National Player of the Year honors, as well as the list of top candidates for the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award. Edwards was named first-team preseason All-SEC in balloting of both coaches and media. He became the first UGA freshman ever to be tabbed as such.
 
Tyree Crump continued a familiar theme during the first two games of the season, with five of his nine made field goals coming from behind the 3-point arc. More than two-thirds of Crump's made shots from the floor as a Bulldog have come on shots from 3-point range. Crump has knocked down 132 3-pointers in his three-plus seasons in Athens. That accounts for 68.0 percent of his 194 made field goals at Georgia. Crump already ranks among Georgia's top-20 career leaders in both 3-point makes (No. 14 with 132) and takes (No. 13 with 394) and is closing in on moving up on both ledgers. With similar numbers to last season, Crump would move into the Bulldogs' all-time top 10 in both stats.
 
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. I mean 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. And 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. That's what we're recruiting. We're recruiting basketball players."
 
Georgia's three returning letterwinners who are upperclassmen all enjoyed increased production and efficiency last season.

Most notably, junior Rayshaun Hammonds played almost the exact same average of minutes as his freshman year – 24.2 in 2017-18 and 24.3 in 2018-29 – but upped his scoring average by a whopping 80.6 percent – from 6.7 ppg to 12.1 ppg.

Seniors Tyree Crump and Jordan Harris also upped their point productions. Crump went from 6.5 ppg to 9.1 ppg, an increase of exactly 40.0 percent. Harris scored 3.5 ppg as a sophomore and 7.8 ppg as a junior, a 122.9 percent adjustment.

The improvements didn't stop in the scoring column.

The combined shooting percentages of those three Bulldogs also made considerable jumps in efficiency: +5.7 percent on field goals (from .389 to .446), +5.1 percent on 3-pointers (from .313 to .364) and +10.1 percent of free throws (from .709 to .810).

In other statistics, the trio provided significant increases of +40.3 percent on rebounds (from 236 to 331), +69.7 percent on 3-pointers made (from 66 to 112), +.36.4 percent on assists (from 99 to 135), +97.1 percent on steals (from 35 to 69) and +145.4 percent on blocked shots (from 11 to 27).
 
The Bulldogs will play seven games before Thanksgiving Day.

Georgia begins the season with a four-game home stand.

The Bulldogs will then trek to the Maui Jim Maui Invitational for the first time ever. Georgia will face Dayton in the opening round on Nov. 25, the first of three games in as many days in Maui. The field for the Invitational also features Michigan State and Virginia Tech in UGA's half of the bracket and Brigham Young, tournament host Chaminade, Kansas and UCLA on the other side.
 
The 2019-20 season marks the 30th anniversary of one of Georgia's greatest teams – the 1990 SEC Champions. Hugh Durham led the Bulldogs to a 20-9 finish and a 13-5 mark in league play to deliver an outright SEC title.

A net-cutting ceremony did not appear in the cards at the beginning of the 1990 conference campaign. After starting SEC play 3-3, the Bulldogs caught fire and won eight of their next nine games to surge to the top of the league standings. That put Georgia tied atop the SEC with LSU and set up a monumental showdown with No. 12 Tigers in Athens on Senior Day.

After trailing by 19 points early in the second half, Georgia rallied to win 86-85 behind All-American Alec Kessler, who scored 30 points and grabbed 16 rebounds while matched up against the Tigers' massive front line of Shaquille O'Neal and Stanley Roberts.

Georgia clinched a share of the league title when the Tigers lost at Florida three days later, and the Bulldogs secured the outright SEC crown with a decisive 94-79 victory at Auburn in the regular-season finale the next Saturday, where Litterial Green poured in a season-high 30 points.