The Starting 5

• Georgia hosts South Carolina on Saturday afternoon at 3:30 in a sold-out Stegeman Coliseum – a rematch of a contest six weeks ago in Columbia won by the Bulldogs, 75-70.
• The Bulldogs are one victory shy of posting three straight 20-win seasons for just the third time ever. It would be UGA’s 16th 20-win tally…but only the sixth time reaching that plateau in the regular season.
• The “Dunkyard Dawgs” lead the nation in percentage of field goals that are dunks at 18.4 percent (169 of 866 FGs). Individually, Somto Cyril is tied for the national lead in dunks with 72 rim rattlers.
• During the Texas win, Somto Cyril passed the 100 FG minimum to qualify for UGA’s single-season records. He is shooting a school-record 74.5 percent, 10.2 percent better than the previous mark.
• Blue Cain, who is 25 points of 1,000 for his career, is the only Bulldog to start every game this season. He has now started 69 straight contests dating back to the last eight outings of his freshman year.

Keeping An Eye On…

Entering Today’s Game – Among UGA’s Career Leaders

Blue Cain is…

• 4 3-pointers from No. 15 Jabri Abdur-Rahim

• 7 3-pointers from co-No. 13s Ty Wilson and Ray Harrison

• 17 3-point attempts from No. 12 Ray Harrison

• 25 points from becoming UGA’s 49th 1,000-point scorer and the first since Yante Mateo in 2017

Somto Cyril is…

• 3 blocks from co-No. 7 Willie Anderson and Nicolas Clayton

• 16 blocks from No. 6 Donte Williams

Entering Today’s Game – Among UGA’s Season Leaders

Somto Cyril is…

• 7 blocks from No. 6 Lavon Mercer (’80)

• 12 blocks from No. 5 Nicolas Claxton (’19)

The Opening Tip

Georgia hosts South Carolina on Saturday looking for a key late-season victory . . . and to make a little history in the process.

The Bulldogs are one victory shy of their third-consecutive 20-win campaign, a feat Georgia Basketball has only accomplished two other times during its 120 previous seasons of competition (also from 1996-98 and 2014-16).

A win would push the Bulldogs to the 20-win plateau for the 16th time overall but for only the sixth occasion during the regular season.

According to bracketmatrix.com, Georgia is a unanimous pick for the NCAA Tournament, with the Bulldogs appearing in all 118 projections for “March Madness” by various bracketologists as of Thursday.

Georgia’s statistical resume for the 2025-26 campaign is quite impressive.

As of Friday, the Bulldogs led all 365 Division I programs in both fastbreak points (20.3 ppg) and blocks (6.3 bpg) and also were ranked among the top-10 nationally in scoring (No. 5 at 89.8 ppg) and bench points (No. 8 at 34.3 ppg).

Georgia has a deep rotations playing at a pace among the country’s quickest.

Eleven Bulldogs are averaging double-figure minutes, and they have combined to record 114 double-figure scoring outputs this season. Jeremiah Wilkinson is averaging a team-high 17.7 ppg, while Blue Cain is contributing 13.7 ppg, Marcus “Smurf” Millender is chipping in 11.8 ppg and Kanon Catchings is adding 10.9 ppg.

Scouting The Gamecocks

After opening the campaign with a 9-4 start in non-conference play, South Carolina has slipped to 12-16 overall and 3-12 in SEC play entering Saturday’s game in Athens.

Meechie Johnson leads the Gamecocks in both scoring at 17.1 ppg and assists at 4.3 apg. With 139 made shots from the floor and 121 passes-to-points, Johnson has a direct hand in 260 of South Carolina’s 718 made field goals – 36.2 percent of the shots going through the net.

Three more Gamecocks are double-figure scorers – Mike Sharavjamts at 11.1 ppg, Elijah Strong at 10.7 ppg and Kobe Knox at 10.6 ppg.

Series History With Carolina

After Georgia victories in four of the last five matchups, South Carolina now owns a slim 64-63 edge in all-time matchups between UGA and USC.

The Bulldogs and Gamecocks met six weeks ago in Columbia on Jan. 10 when Kanon Catchings’ 20 points and Somto Cyril’s career-high 18 points led No. 18/20 Georgia to a 75-70 victory over South Carolina.

The back-and-forth contest featured nine ties and 11 lead changes before the Bulldogs surged ahead for good on a pair of free throws from Cyril with 5:27 remaining.

In the most recent meeting in Athens on Jan. 28 last season, Asa Newell’s double-double of 17 point and 10 rebounds led the Bulldogs in a 71-60 victory over the Gamecocks.

Dylan James also played a key role, scoring 10 points and grabbing five rebounds in what was then a season-high 21 minutes. He scored eight straight points in a span of 68 just seconds late in the first half to help Georgia push a five-point lead with 4:55 left in the period to 14 at the intermission. The Bulldogs then led by double figures for all but 25 seconds of the second stanza.

Last Time Out

No. 25/21 Vanderbilt raced to a 35-15 lead and then withstood a courageous rally attempt by Georgia to secure an 88-80 win at Memorial Gymnasium on Wednesday night.

The Bulldogs closed the gap to seven points by halftime and knotted the score on three occasions in the second stanza. Twice, Georgia has possession down one but a turnover on the first chance and a missed dunk on the second kept the Commodores on top each time.

“You come into Vandy against a top-25 defense, and you score 80, you’re doing some good things,” head coach Mike White said. “Our attention to detail offensively wasn’t great either. Our ATO focus has got to get better against high-level defenses, something that we’ll address tomorrow. We’ll start with film. Got to get on the same page. We’ve got to communicate better offensively. Again, the biggest problem was just being able to generate stops defensively and keep them off the foul line, all part of it.”

Bulldogs Searching For Third-Straight 20-Win Campaign

Georgia is one victory shy of reaching the 20-win plateau for a third-straight season.

Over its first 120 seasons, Georgia has only posted three straight 20-win tallies just twice – from 1996-98 and from 2014-16. Only 12 Bulldogs have ever played on three 20-win teams – five from 1996-98 and seven between 2014-16. That fraternity could initiate a quintet of new members this season in Blue Cain, Dylan James, Brandon Klatsky, Jaden Newell and Markel Jennings.

Georgia has produced 15 20-win efforts overall but only six of those teams reached that mark during the regular season – 1931, 1986, 1997, 2011, 2015 and a year ago.

Georgia Breaks Season Swats Record

With his second blocked shot of the night at the 17:03 mark of the second half at Vanderbilt, Somto Cyril pushed the 2025-26 Bulldogs into the record books for the most rejections ever by a Georgia basketball team.

Cyril’s swat gave these Bulldogs 176 blocks, besting Georgia’s previous season record of 175 rejections established during the 2015-16 campaign.

That record is no surprise considering the Bulldogs have led the nation in swats per game pretty much since rejecting 24 opponent attempts in the first three contests of the season.

Georgia Putting Up Points At A Record-Breaking Pace

The Bulldogs are well on their way to shattering the program’s all-time scoring record.

Georgia is averaging 89.8 points per game, an extremely healthy 7.1 ppg better than the Bulldogs’ current best-ever effort of 82.7 ppg en route to winning the 1990 SEC Championship.

Those Bulldogs scored 2,399 points over 29 games. During 27th contest of this season against Texas, Georgia passed that mark. These Bulldogs have now scored 2,515 points, 249 shy of the most ever by Georgia – 2,764 in 37 games played during the 2023-24 campaign.

Somto Shatters UGA’s FG Percentage Mark

During his 5-of-7 night from the field against Texas, Somto Cyril met the 100 FG made minimum tally to qualify for Georgia’s single-season leaders’ ledger…and shattered the Bulldogs’ field goal percentage record.

The sophomore from Enugu, Nigeria has now connected on 74.5 percent (105-of-141) of his shots from the field this season – 10.2 percent better than the previous record by a Bulldog as outlined to the right.

Almost unfathomably, Cyril could miss his next 22 shots and would still own the record.

Dunkyard Dawgs, Cyril Lead The Nation In Slams

According to BartTorvik.com, Georgia entered this weekend leading the nation in percentage of its field goals that have been dunks at 18.4 – 169 of 866 the Bulldogs’ FGs this season – as outlined below

Somto Cyril’s 72 dunks is tied for the most in the nation and is a whopping 29 more than any other SEC player. Kareem Stagg is second among Bulldogs with 19 dunks; followed by Jake Wilkins with 18; Jeremiah Wilkinson with 13; Justin Abson, Blue Cain, Kanon Catchings all with 12; and Dylan James with 11.

Dunking It
Rank	Team	Pct.
1.	Georgia	18.4
2.	N. Carolina	16.6
3.	Duke	15.9
4.	Florida	15.7
5.	Arkansas	15.5
6.	Michigan	15.2
7.	Kansas	15.1
8.	Indiana	15.0
9.	Kentucky	14.5
10.	Providence	14.4

Dogs Among Top Scoring Teams In Several Ways

Georgia entered this weekend ranked No. 5 in D-I in scoring offense at 89.8 points per game.

Much of Georgia’s production has come either in a hurry or while standing still.

The Bulldogs lead the country in fastbreak points (20.3 ppg) and are No. 20 free throws made (18.6 ppg). That equates to roughly 43.3 percent (38.9 of 89.8 ppg) of Georgia’s offensive output.

Georgia’s scoring has been consistent. In 56 halves of hoops, the Bulldogs scored 40 or more points 42 times, with 11 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 28 games this season, Georgia has topped 90 points in 13 outings and surpassed the century mark in a school-record seven contests.

Resilient Dogs Rally From Double-Digit Deficits

Georgia certainly didn’t look like it was headed to a double-figure victory at LSU on Feb. 7 when the Bulldogs trailed by 15 points just after the midway point of the first half in Baton Rouge.

After falling behind 31-16, Georgia outscored the Tigers 67-40 the rest of the way.

That marked the fourth game this season the Bulldogs overcame a double-digit scoring gap en route to victory, also doing so against Cincinnati, LIU and South Carolina.

The Bulldogs fought back in three more games that fell short on the scoreboard.

At Vanderbilt, Georgia rallied from 20 points down to tie the game three times and have possession down one of two more occasions but could not get over that hump. In two more outings – Clemson and Ole Miss – UGA recovered from 10+-point deficits to take the lead before eventually losing in overtime.

Smurf’s Game Gets Bigger

After a slow start early in the season, Marcus “Smurf” Millender has nearly doubled his production and shooting efficiency over the last 23 games.

Millender averaged 6.8 points in Georgia’s first five games, but is nearly doubling that to 12.9 ppg since. He connected on just 26.2 percent (11-of-42) overall and 21.7 percent (5-of-23) from 3-point range in the first five games, but has upped those tallies to 50.7 percent (102-of-201) overall and 43.4 percent (46-of-106) on 3-pointers thereafter.

Millender has now put up double-digit scoring tallies in 17 of 23 games and distributed five or more assists in nine of those contests. At Kentucky, he delivered eight assists – the single-game high of any Bulldog this season – while committing just one turnover

The stretch includes two dramatic game winners. Millender canned a clutch 3-pointer with 11 seconds left against Xavier in the opening round of the Shriners Children’s Charleston Classic on Nov. 21 and converted a three-point play with 5.5 seconds left at Missouri on Jan. 20.

Somto Surging On Bulldogs Blocks Ledgers

Sophomore Somto Cyril is quickly ascending on Georgia’s single-season and career leaders lists for blocked shots.

In 28 contests this season, the Enugu, Nigeria native has already blocked 69 shots. That’s the No. 7 season mark by a Bulldog.

Cyril’s numbers are bolstered two career-high outputs in SEC play – six against Auburn and eight versus Arkansas.

In 33 games last season, Cyril swatted 51 shots, which was the second-most ever by a Georgia freshman.

Cyril joined Georgia’s top-10 career blocks leaders at Vanderbilt on Feb. 25. His 120 rejections is tied for No. 9 all-time among Bulldogs and is just three away from No. 7.

Millender Tops Millennium Mark; Cain, Wilkinson Nearing Plateau

Houston native Marcus “Smurf” Millender reached 1,000 career points with approximately 30 family and friends on hand for his return to the Lone Star State at Texas on Jan. 24.

Millender scored his 1000 points at three different schools, with 309 as a freshman at South Alabama, 461 as a sophomore at UT San Antonio and 230 in his junior campaign as a Bulldog.

Blue Cain and Jeremiah Wilkinson also are on pace to reach 1,000 career points this season.

Cain and Wilkinson have scored 975 and 944 points, respectively. At their current averages, both Bulldogs would reach 1,000 points this season.

Cain would become the first player to score 1,000 points exclusively for Georgia since Yante Maten reached that plateau on Jan. 4, 2017.

Dogs’ Dishing, Ball Control Much Better

Mike White has called the 2025-26 Bulldogs one of the better passing teams he’s coached.

A year ago, the Bulldogs ranked No. 262 nationally in assists per game at 12.5 and No. 298 in assist-to-turnover ratio at 0.96. This season, Georgia entered this weekend well over 100 spots better in each stat – No. 133 in assists (14.6 apg) and No. 93 in assist-to-turnovers (1.38).

A large part of that is the performance of the four guards Georgia added via the transfer portal during the offseason – Justin Bailey, Marcus “Smurf” Millender, Jordan Ross and Jeremiah Wilkinson. That quartet has delivered a combined 240 passes-to-points while committing just 118 turnovers – equating to 8.6 apg and a stellar ratio of 2.03 assists-to-TOs.

Cain Joins Georgia’s Season, Career Free Throw Leaders

Blue Cain has met the minimums to be included in Georgia’s single-season and career leaders in free throw percentage.

The minimum to qualify for UGA’s career free throw leaders percentage leaders is 125 made attempts, which Cain achieved with two free throws at Florida on Jan. 6. Cain is now 143-of-171 and his 83.6 conversion rate is now the second-best ever by a Bulldog.

The minimum to qualify for Georgia’s single-season free throw percentage leaders is 50 made attempts, which Cain reached with two makes at South Carolina on Jan. 19. Cain is currently 67-of-75 and his 89.3 conversion rate is the third-best ever by a Bulldog.

Double-Digit Dogs’ Have Hit Double Figures

No less than 10 different Georgia Bulldogs recorded double-figure scoring outputs in the first five games of the season. Those Dogs have now combined to produce 114 double-digit tallies.

Blue Cain leads that pack at 23 contests, followed by Jeremiah Wilkinson with 22; Smurf Millender with 18; Kanon Catchings with 15; Somto Cyril with 13; Jordan Ross with eight; Jake Wilkins with five; Dylan James with four; Justin Bailey and Kareem Stagg both with three.

Stagg’s Impact Takes Dramatic Upswing

Kareem Stagg’s PT and production has skyrocketed in the Bulldogs’ five most recent outings.

The freshman from Chesapeake, Va., scored six points in just over 64 minutes of action in Georgia’s first 10 SEC outings – easy to commute averages of 0.6 ppg and 6.4 mpg.

Over the last five games, Stagg has scored 29 points (5.8 ppg) while logging 104 minutes (20.8 mpg), including his first SEC double-figure output of 10 points at Oklahoma.

COMPLETE GAME NOTES PDF

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