Georgia Basketball Game Notes
Georgia (8-3) vs. Austin Peay (6-6)
Monday, December 30 at 7:00 p.m. ET
Stegeman Coliseum (10,523) in Athens, Ga.
Watch: SEC Network + (Jeff Dantzler, play-by-play; Dean Keener, analyst)
Listen: Georgia Bulldog Sports Network Flagship: WSB AM 750 Atlanta. Internet: 972. (Scott Howard, play-by-play; Chuck Dowdle, analyst; Tony Schiavone, producer)
The Starting Five
• Anthony Edwards leads all freshman in Division-I to date this season in scoring at 19.7 ppg, which ranks No. 2 in the SEC and No. 38 nationally.
• Toumani Camara is one of just four Power 5 players this season to post a perfect shooting performance from the field while attempting at least eight shots.
• UGA had eight 90-point outputs in Tom Crean’s first 40 games in Georgia. The Bulldogs had eight 90-point outings in the 249 games prior to Crean’s arrival.
• Six of nine SEC games at Stegeman Coliseum are now sellouts – Kentucky, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Alabama, Arkansas, and Florida.
• 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.
The Opening Tip
The Georgia Bulldogs will look to put a bow on the 2019 portion of their schedule on Monday when they host Austin Peay. Georgia is 7-0 at home to date this season and 13-1 in November-December games at Stegeman Coliseum during Tom Crean’s two campaigns in Athens.
Georgia improved to 8-3 overall with last Monday’s win over Georgia Southern. The Bulldogs trailed 42-35 early in the second half before rallying. Georgia connected on 20-of-23 second-half 2-point field attempts, an almost unfathomable 87.0 percent. Freshmen Anthony Edwards and Toumani Camara led the way with 23 and 16 points, respectively. Camara was a perfect 8-of-8 from the field en route to his career-high.
The Bulldogs are averaging 82.5 points per game, which led the SEC and ranked No. 11 nationally through games of Saturday (Dec. 28).
Edwards, a preseason All-American and leading candidate for National Freshman of the Year accolades, paces Georgia in scoring at 19.7 ppg. He was the nation’s top-scoring freshman and ranked No. 39 overall as of Sunday.
Series History
Georgia and Austin Peay are meeting for the first time ever. The Governors are one of four first-time foes on the Bulldogs’ non-conference slate this season along with Chaminade, North Carolina Central, and SMU.
Georgia is 12-1 all-time against team currently competing with Austin Peay in the Ohio Valley Conference. The last contest against an OVC foe supplied the Bulldogs with their first setback to a league member. Belmont bested Georgia, 93-84, in the first round of the 2017 NIT here in Athens.
Scouting The Eagles
Austin Peay is 6-6 to date, most recently securing an 80-69 win over Alabama State on Dec. 21. Injuries hindered the Govs’ development in the early season. In fact, APSU only dressed out eight players against Alabama State.
“These guys need downtime,” head coach Matt Figger said following the contest. “They’ve got to get away from basketball, recharge, get healthy. We’ve got to be able to run a practice with 10 guys again.”
Only three players have seen action in all 12 of Austin Peay’s outings, and Terry Taylor is the only Governor to start every contest. Taylor’s scoring average of 25.3 ppg ranked No. 4 nationally through games of Dec. 28.
Last Time Out…
Freshmen Anthony Edwards and Toumani Camara scored 23 and 16 points, respectively, to lead Georgia to a 73-64 win over Georgia Southern last Monday night.
The Bulldogs trailed by as many as seven points twice in the second half, lastly at 51-44 with 10:59 remaining. Georgia rallied largely due to connecting on 20-of-23 2-point field goal attempts in the second stanza.
A Jordan Harris 3-pointer ignited am 11-2 surge covering 2:11 that put the Bulldogs up 55-53. Georgia Southern briefly led twice after that point, but Georgia took the lead for good on a layup from Donnell Gresham Jr. at the 4:23 mark. The Bulldogs closed out the contest on a 14-4 surge.