Basketball Dogs host Citadel at Stegeman

The Georgia Bulldog basketball team is back in action tonight: the second game of the young season pits the Dogs against Citadel. It tips at 7 o'clock at UGA's Stegeman Coliseum.

From Mike Mobley, UGA Sports Communications…

• The Bulldogs will face off against The Citadel for the first time since Dec. 3, 1962, which falls just three weeks shy of a 59-year span between matchups.

• 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.

• Anthony Edwards is the highest rated recruiting in UGA history. He was tabbed No. 1 by 247Sports.com, No. 3 by rivals.com and No. 4 by ESPN.

• 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.

The Opening Tip

The Georgia Bulldogs return to action for the first time in a week when they host The Citadel on Tuesday evening at Stegeman Coliseum at 7:00 p.m.

Series History

Georgia and The Citadel will meet for the first in just under 59 years.

The last double-Bulldog battle took place on Dec. 3, 1962, when Georgia secured an 89-72 victory in Charleston, S.C.

Georgia and The Citadel split their previous four meetings, all played within a five-season span from 1958-62.

Georgia won the only meeting in Athens, 91-86, on Feb. 6, 1962. That contest was played at old Woodruff Hall, the Bulldogs' home from 1925-63 before moving into the Coliseum.

The first game in the series was part of the 1958 Citadel Invitational, when the Bulldogs lost their opening-round game to the tournament hosts but bounced back to defeat Florida State in the consolation game, 83-72.

Scouting The Citadel

The Citadel opened its season last Saturday with a 91-76 loss at UNC Asheville. The Bulldogs shot 52.9 percent from the floor and 60.0 percent from 3-point range in the loss.

A trio of newcomers scored in double digits for The Citadel versus UNC Asheville. Freshman Fletcher Abee put up a team-high 17 points, while graduate transfers Tyson Batiste and Eddie Davis III chipped in 11 and 10, respectively.

Up Next: Delaware State On Friday

The Bulldogs will be back in action in three days when they host Delaware State on Friday night at Stegeman Coliseum.

The Hornets were featured in five editions of ESPN's bracketology between July 24-Oct. 3 before being replaced by N.C. Central, another MEAC team on Georgia's schedule, in the latest prediction on Nov. 4.

Keeping An Eye On . . . Entering Tonight’s Game

Among UGA’s career Leaders

Tyree Crump is...

• 2 3FGs from No. 14 Terrance Woodbury

• 12 3FGs from co-No. 12s Ty Wilson and Ray Harrison

• 3 3FGAs from No. 15 Terrance Woodbury

• 4 3FGAs from No. 14 Jody Patton

• 10 3FGAs from No. 13 Turtle Jackson

• 17 3FGAs from No. 12 Sundiata Gaines

Earliest. Opener. Ever.

The Bulldogs's 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 victoy over Wofford on Nov. 8, 2013.

Edwards, Wheeler Star In Debut

Anthony Edwards and Sahvir Wheeler poured in 24 and 19 points, respectively, in the season 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 below.

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

Top Tallies In First Game 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

More On Edwards’ Opener

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.

Dogs Already Off To Record Start

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 ticketless 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.

Dogs’ Freshmen Among UGA’s Best 

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 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.

Last Time Out...

Georgia defeated Western Carolina, 91-72, in the 2019-20 season-opener last Tuesday.

Georgia’s freshman class contributed big for the Bulldogs, accounting for 59 percent of their offensive output.

“We have got to get better in so many areas, but I thought the crowd was great,” Tom Crean said. “The student crowd was jacking me up. That was phenomenal. There is lots of room where we can get better. We have to strengthen our post defense. We have to get more depth there and stay out of foul trouble, but we found a way. That’s the best thing about a young team. We found a way.”

The contest was a back-and-forth battle most of the way, with 12 ties and 20 lead changes. With eight minutes to play, Georgia scored on three straight possessions, including three-pointers from Anthony Edwards and Tyree Crump and a layup from Rodney Howard to gain a seven-point edge. The Bulldogs continued to pull away, ending the game on an 8-0 run over 55 seconds to defeat the Catamounts by 19 points.

Bulldogs Who Are Back Scored 1K

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 SoCon History

Georgia is playing its second-straight game against a Southern Conference team to open the season. With last week’s win over WCU, UGA improved to 133-37 all-time against teams currently competing in the SoCon.

Georgia was a charter member of the SoCon when it was founded in 1921. The Bulldogs competed in the league – along with a large number of current Southeastern Conference and Atlantic Coast Conference schools – until departing for the SEC in 1932.

A pair of Georgia Basketball’s greatest teams were from the Bulldogs’ days in the SoCon. Under Coliseum namesake Herman J. Stegeman, Georgia was 23-2 during the 1930-31 season. The following year under Rex Enright the Bulldogs won 1932 Southern Conference Tournament by knocking off Mississippi State, Virginia, Duke and North Carolina.

Bulldogs’ Schedule Is Maddening

Georgia’s 31-game regular-season slate includes a minimum of 13 teams featured in the Nov. 4 edition of ESPN’s Bracketology for the 2020 NCAA Tournament. 

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.