Bulldogs To Take On West Georgia In Monday Matinee
The Starting 5
- The Georgia Bulldogs – the highest-scoring team in college basketball which also sports the nation’s largest scoring margin over its opponents – will host West Georgia on Monday in their final outing prior to a week-long holiday break.
- The Bulldogs are a perfect 34-0 against non-conference competition at Stegeman Coliseum during Mike White‘s four seasons at Georgia and are 48-13 (.787) overall at home under White.
- Georgia entered the weekend leading the nation’s 365 Division I teams in scoring offense (99.5 ppg), scoring margin (+27.9), fastbreak points (28.2 ppg) and blocks (8.0 bpg).
- As of last Friday, the Dunkyard Dawgs were scoring a nation-leading 22.8 percent of their field goals on dunks this season. Somto Cyril’s 30 dunks led the SEC and ranked No. 2 nationally.
- Georgia has topped the 100-point plateau in five of its first 11 games, already matching the program’s single-season program record of five century mark tallies during the 1990-91 campaign.
The Opening Tip
Georgia wraps up what to date has been an incredibly impressive pre-holiday slate by hosting West Georgia in a 2:00 p.m. Monday matinee at Stegeman Coliseum.
Georgia, 10-1 overall, is riding a 34-game winning streak against non-conference opposition at Stegeman, a stretch that coincides with head coach Mike White‘s arrival in Athens.
The Bulldogs have won nine straight home games dating back to last season’s victory over No. 3 Florida on Feb. 25. In the first 117 seasons of Georgia Basketball prior to White’s arrival, the Bulldogs posted eight double-digit home winning streaks. A victory over UWG would give Georgia its fourth stretch of double-figure home wins under White.
It would be hard to fathom a better beginning to the 2025-26 campaign for Georgia, at least statistically speaking.
As of last Friday, the Bulldogs were leading the all 365 Division I teams in scoring offense (99.5 ppg), scoring margin (+27.9), fastbreak points (28.2 ppg) and blocks (8.0 bpg). Among the 28 statistical categories tracked by the NCAA, Georgia was ranked in the top 10 in eight stats and within the top 25 in 15.
Georgia features the nation’s deepest Power Conference rotation while playing at a breakneck pace among the quickest in college hoops.
Among the 79 Power Conference programs, the Bulldogs are the only team with a 11 players averaging double-figure minutes with everyone seeing action in every game. According to the oft-used metric KenPom.com, Georgia entered last weekend ranked No. 2 nationally in average offensive possession length (14.1 seconds), as well as No. 5 nationally in adjusted tempo (75.4).
Georgia’s depth is not just in numbers but also in its offensive production.
Ten of the 11 Bulldogs playing double-digit minutes have combined to produce 47 double-figure scoring outputs. Jeremiah Wilkinson, who has topped 20 points in four of UGA’s last five games, is averaging 17.9 ppg. Blue Cain is contributing 15.7 ppg while grabbing a team-high 5.7 rpg. Marcus “Smurf” Millender is chipping in 10.2 ppg, including 13.0 ppg over the last six outings.
Scouting The Wolves
West Georgia sports a 6-5 record entering Monday’s matchup in Athens, with the Wolves coming off a 70-49 victory over Brewton Parker last Wednesday.
Shelton Williams-Dryden paces West Georgia both in scoring (17.0 ppg) and on the boards (8.9 rpg). Josh Smith supplies the other half a potent 1-2 scoring punch at 16.2 ppg, while Chas Lewless also is producing at a double-figure clip of 12.8 ppg.
UGA and UWG have face three common opponents. The Bulldogs defeated Tennessee Tech and Georgia Tech during the regular season and also beat Troy in an exhibition. The Wolves topped Troy in double overtime, split a pair of meetings with TTU and lost at Tech.
Series History With UWG
Monday’s matinee will be the first regular-season meeting between Georgia and West Georgia; however, the schools have played several exhibitions through the years.
Most recently, the Bulldogs bested the Braves, 98-59, at Stegeman Coliseum on Nov. 1, 2018. Tyree Crump knocked down six 3-pointers to account for all 18 of his game-high scoring output for Georgia.
West Georgia transitioned to the Division I level during the 2024-25 season. UWG has historically enjoyed great basketball success at the NAIA, Division III and Division II levels, including winning an NAIA national title in 1974 and an NCAA D-II South Region title in 2002.
Last Time Out
Jeremiah Wilkinson matched his season high with 26 points to lead a quintet of Bulldogs in double figures as Georgia topped Western Carolina, 112-82, last Friday at Stegeman Coliseum.
Marcus “Smurf” Millender added 17 points, Jordan Ross posted a season-high 15, Somto notched a double-double with a career-high 14 points and 10 boards and Blue Cain contributed 11 as Georgia recorded its school-record fifth 100-point performance of the season.
“It’s nice to get a ‘W,’ of course,” head coach Mike White said. “We scored. We made shots. Did a lot of good things offensively. We didn’t guard very well. We really wanted to take a step defensively in the right direction tonight, and I’m a little disappointed in our effort overall. Defensively, lack of communication, some miscues. It’s just not important enough to us right now. It’s got to be more important defensively, collectively, and we’ve got to be more committed collectively if we’re going to guard some high-level offenses in the SEC. We’ll get back to work tomorrow and hopefully defend at a higher level on Monday.”
Bulldogs Join AP Top 25
Georgia was ranked No. 25 in last week’s Associated Press poll. The Bulldogs were No. 26 in “receiving votes” in the coaches poll.
Georgia last appeared in the AP poll last season on Jan. 13 when the Bulldogs were No. 23 in both the AP and coaches polls. This is the first time Georgia has been ranked in the AP poll in consecutive seasons since the 2001-02 and 2002-03 campaigns.
Bulldogs Are Nation’s Top Offensive Team
Georgia entered last weekend ranked No. 1 nationally in scoring offense, scoring margin and fastbreak points. The Bulldogs are putting up 99.5 points per game, producing a scoring differential of +27.9 ppg. Of that scoring, 28.2 ppg are on fastbreaks.
Though bolstered by reaching 120 points twice, Georgia’s scoring has been consistent. In 22 halves of hoops, the Bulldogs scored 40 or more points 20 times, with 10 50-point periods and three 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 11 games this season, Georgia has topped 90 points in eight outings and surpassed the century mark in a school-record five contests.
A “Stegtacular” Home Court Advantage
Georgia’s home court advantage? It’s real and it’s Stegtacular.
The Bulldogs have compiled a 48-13 home mark under Mike White and are a perfect 34-0 versus non-conference competition in Stegeman over his four seasons at UGA.
White’s success at Stegeman is not confined to his UGA tenure. He was 7-1 in Athens as a visiting head coach, leading Louisiana Tech to a 2014 NIT victory at Stegeman and compiling a 6-1 mark at Florida. That makes White is a combined 55-14 (.797) as a head coach in Stegeman.
After producing just eight double-digit home winning streaks in 117 seasons of basketball, the Bulldogs have produced three double-digit winning streaks at Stegeman during Mike White‘s three seasons alone.
Georgia currently owns an nine-game winning streak at Stegeman that began with impressive victories last season over No. 3 Florida on Feb. 25 and Vanderbilt in the regular-season finale.
The Bulldogs were 15-3 in Athens last season, matching the program record for home wins in a single season. Georgia also won 15 home outings during both the 2013-14 and 2015-16 campaigns; however, those tallies include an NIT victory.
Georgia Among Nation’s Top-10 In Eight Stats
Peruse the NCAA basketball statistical leaders and you’ll find a multitude of categories featuring the Georgia Bulldogs at or near the top.
Entering last weekend, Georgia was ranked in the nation’s top-25 teams in 15 of the 28 stats the NCAA measures, including eight in the top 10 as outlined below.
| Top-10 Stats | ||
| Statistic | Rk. | No. |
| Scoring Offense | 1 | 99.5 |
| Scoring Margin | 1 | +27.8 |
| Fastbreak Points | 1 | 28.2 |
| Blocks Per Game | 1 | 8.0 |
| FTs Made Per Game | 3 | 22.2 |
| Bench Points | 7 | 42.0 |
| Rebounds Per Game | 8 | 43.6 |
| FTAs Per Game | 8 | 28.6 |
Georgia Features Nation’s Deepest Power Conference Rotation
Georgia is the only Power Conference team in the country that features an 11-player rotation with those players averaging double-figure MP and also seeing action in every game.
Clemson is the only other team among the 79 programs in the ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten and SEC with 10 players who have played in every game logging 10+ mpg.
Dogs Enjoy D-I’s Highest Scoring November Since ’18
Georgia’s scoring average of 99.9 points per game entering December was the highest by any Division I team in a traditional season since 2018.
The Bulldogs’ average was the largest since The Citadel was putting up 100.0 points through its November games during the 2018-19 campaign. Editor’s note: we skipped with 2020-21 campaign due to its late start…on Dec. 1, 2020, Murray State led the nation at 173.0 ppg after one contest.
Georgia Plays At One of the Nation’s Quickest Paces
The Bulldogs average possession length on offense is 14.1 seconds, which according to KenPom.com was the second-fastest in the nation entering last weekend. The Bulldogs also ranked No. 5 by KenPom.com in “adjusted tempo” at 75.4 possessions per 40 minutes.
Dunkyard Dogs Leading The Nation In Slams
According to BartTorvik.com, Georgia entered last weekend scoring a nation-leading 22.8 percent of its field goals this season on dunks – 88 of 373 the Bulldogs’ total FGs – as outlined below.
As of last Friday, Somto Cyril led the SEC and ranked No. 2 nationally with 30 dunks followed by Jake Wilkins with 14; Kareem Stagg with 13; Jeremiah Wilkinson with eight; Justin Abson and Kanon Catchings with seven each; Blue Cain with five; and Dylan James with four.
| Dunking It | |||
| Rank | Team | Pct. | |
| 1. | Georgia | 22.8 | |
| 2. | N. Carolina | 19.9 | |
| 3. | Duke | 19.4 | |
| 4. | Indiana | 18.7 | |
| 5. | Kentucky | 18.1 | |
| 6. | Cincinnati | 17.3 | |
| 7. | Arkansas | 17.2 | |
| 8. | Louisville | 16.9 | |
| 9. | Michigan | 16.8 | |
| Wake Forest | 16.8 | ||
Dogs Are SEC’s Best At Stealing, Swatting
With Georgia leading the SEC in both steals and blocks per game as of last Friday, it would be a reasonable assumption individual Bulldogs are also among the league’s best in those statistics.
Within Georgia’s SEC-best 10.6 steals per contest, Jeremiah Wilkinson was ranked No. 5 in the league (2.1 spg) and Blue Cain was No. 6 (2.0 spg). Also of note, Dylan James, who recorded 11 steals in 32 games last season, had 11 takeaways in the first nine contests this year.
The Bulldogs’ nation-leading 8.0 blocks per game as a team features Justin Abson and Somto Cyril tied for second in the SEC at 2.4 bpg, which also ranked them tied at No. 22 nationally entering last weekend.
Double-Digit Dogs’ Have Hit Double Figures
No less than 10 different Georgia Bulldogs recorded double-figure scoring outputs in the first nine games of the season.
Those Bulldogs have combined to produce 47 double-digit performances. Blue Cain leads that pack by scoring 10+ in each game, followed by Jeremiah Wilkinson with 11; Smurf Millender with six; Kanon Catchings, Somto Cyril and Jake Wilkins with four each; Jordan Ross with three; Justin Bailey and Dylan James with two; and Kareem Stagg with one.
Seven of the aforementioned Bulldogs scored in double digits against Morehead State on Nov. 9.
That marked the first time seven Bulldogs hit the 10-point plateau in a single game since a 99-72 decision over Tennessee Tech on Dec. 29, 1994 – a span of 979 contests. Georgia came within a bucket of repeating that feet against…Tennessee Tech when six Bulldogs topped 10 and both Jake Somto Cyril and Wilkins finished with eight points in a Nov. 29 date with TTU.
Georgia Rewriting Its Scoring Records
The Bulldogs produced two of their top-10 single-game scoring tallies ever during their first eight games of the 2025-26 season.
Georgia’s 123 points against Tennessee Tech and 120 versus Morehead State rank No. 3 and No. 7 all-time in program history.
The Bulldogs topped the century mark a school-record five times in their first 11 outings, matching the 1990-91 campaign for the most 100-point performances.
COMPLETE GAME NOTES PDF
Source link
editor's pick
latest video
Sports News To You
Subscribe to receive daily sports scores, hot takes, and breaking news!

