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MBB: Oklahoma Visits The Stege Today
Time: 6:00 p.m. ET
Venue: Stegeman Coliseum (10,523)
Location: Athens, Ga.
Tickets: www.georgiadogs.com/mbbtix
TV: ESPN2 (John Schriffen, play-by-play; Perry Clark, analyst)
Radio: Georgia Bulldog Network – Sirius 384 (Scott Howard, play-by-play; Chuck Dowdle, analyst; Adam Gillespie, producer)
Game Giveaway: First 1000 UGA students choose between two winter hats and receive a free Chick-fil-A sandwich
The Starting Five
• Georgia wraps up a two-game homestand on Saturday evening by hosting No. 17/16 Oklahoma. The Bulldogs defeated No. 6/7 Kentucky, 82-69, on Tuesday before a sellout crowd at Stegeman Coliseum.
• The Bulldogs are 10-0 at home and have won 12 straight outings at Stegeman dating back to last season, which matches the fifth-longest home winning streak in program history.
• Georgia’s “Dunkyard Dawgs” rank second nationally in percentage of made FGs that are dunks at 18.3 percent, while Asa Newell is third among individual dunk leaders with 36 slams.
• The Bulldogs enter the weekend ranked 32.8 in an average of six popular metrics (NET, KenPom, Torvik, KPI, BPI and SOR) – an increase of 186.2 spots since Mike White became UGA’s head coach.
• Oklahoma is UGA’s third straight ranked opponent, just the fifth time the Bulldogs have faced a trio of ranked foes in consecutive games…also doing so in 1982-83, 1999-2000, 2016-17 and 2020-21.
The Opening Tip
Georgia hosts No. 17/16 Oklahoma on Saturday evening at historic Stegeman Coliseum to continue the Bulldogs’ brutal January schedule.
The Sooners are the third of five straight matchups against ranked foes to christen the 2025 calendar. After falling to No. 24/23 Ole Miss in Oxford last Saturday, the Bulldogs bounced back to top No. 6/7 Kentucky on Tuesday before a raucous sellout crowd at Stegeman. Next week, Georgia ventures to current No. 1/1 Tennessee before hosting No. 2/2 Auburn.
Saturday’s game will represent just the fifth time the Bulldogs have played three ranked foes in a row. Georgia has never played four consecutive ranked teams, much less five.
Georgia’s balanced offense features seven players who have led the Bulldogs in one or more games. Two more players have posted double-figure scoring outputs. All told, those nine Bulldogs have produced 62 double-digit performances, an average of 4.1 per game.
Asa Newell leads a quartet of Bulldogs averaging double figures at 15.5 ppg. A two-time SEC Freshman of the Week honoree during the first five weeks of the season, Newell also paces UGA on the boards at 6.9 rpg. Among league leaders, Newell is ranked No. 16 in scoring and No. 13 rebounding – including an SEC-best 3.7 offensive boards per game. He also is No. 3 the SEC and No. 34 nationally in field goal percentage (.586).
Rounding out the double-digit point producers in the scoring column are De’Shayne Montgomery at 12.6 ppg, Dakota Leffew at 12.2 ppg and Silas Demary Jr. at 12.1 ppg.
Scouting The Sooners
After opening the season at 13-0, Oklahoma has dropped its first two league outings in during its SEC membership.
The Sooners were one of the nation’s last four remaining undefeated teams before falling to No. 5/6 Alabama last Saturday in Tuscaloosa and dropping a heart breaker to No. 10/9 Texas A&M on Wednesday.
Freshman Jeremiah Fears leads Oklahoma and ranks in the SEC’s top 10 in three major statistics – No. 5 scoring at 17.6 ppg, No. 6 in assists at 4.3 apg and No. 7 in steals at 2.1 spg.
Jalen Moore’s 17.4 ppg scoring average is No. 7 among league leaders, making the Sooners the only team with two of the SEC’s top-10 scorers. Duke Miles also is scoring at a double-digit pace for OU at 12.0 ppg.
Series History With Oklahoma
Oklahoma won the only previous meeting between the Bulldogs and the Sooners, a 93-90 decision on Christmas Day 1987 during the Chaminade Christmas Classic in Honolulu, Hawaii.
The No. 12-ranked Sooners improved to 10-0 on the year led by 30- and 26-point performances from Mookie Blaylock and Harvey Grant, who played all 40 minutes of the contest. Toney Mack poured in 32 points to lead Georgia, while Alec Kessler added a double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds.
The contest was the sixth and final outing of a two-legged road trip that included wins over New Orleans, UAB and the Japan All-Stars in the Phenix NCAA Ball on Dec. 18-20 in Tokyo, followed by a win over La Salle and a setback to Virginia in the opening rounds in Hawaii.
Last Time Out
Asa Newell’s thorough and efficient linescore led Georgia to an 82-69 upset of No. 6/7 Kentucky at a sold-out Stegeman Coliseum on Tuesday night.
Newell paced four Bulldogs in double figures with 17 points, on 5-of-9 shooting from the field, including 2-of-5 from 3-point range, and a 5-of-8 at the line. He also grabbed seven rebounds, handed out two assists, recorded a steal and blocked a shot in the victory. Blue Cain added 15 points, Silas Demary Jr. chipped in 14 and Dakota Leffew put up 11.
A Newell 3-pointer at the first-half horn capped a 22-9 surge covering 6:17 to put the Bulldogs up 47-34 at the intermission. Kentucky pulled within five points with 12:07 remaining, but Georgia responded with four unanswered points and maintained a three-possession lead for the remainder of the evening.
The win represented Georgia’s highest over a ranked foe since defeating No. 5 Kentucky, 65-57, on Jan. 17, 2004 and its highest over a ranked opponent at Stegeman Coliseum since beating No. 3 Georgia Tech, 83-80 in double overtime, on Jan. 3, 2004 . . . a span of 21 years and one day.
“This is our biggest win,” head coach Mike White said. “I thought we played with a ton of energy, stayed connected throughout. We separated the score a little bit there late in the first half. Kentucky came storming back, of course. We showed a lot of maturity and connection there by staying together. We did a lot of good things. We’ve got to continue to get better and there’s a lot of things we’ve got to continue to work on. It’s a really good win for us, obviously, but it’s a different SEC these days, so we’ve got to move on to the next one pretty quick.”
Coach White’s Comments
On what stands out from Oklahoma’s play:
“Oklahoma, really good. You’re 0-2 in this league. What does that mean, right? I mean, they could reel off seven in a row. Simply good. Their spacing, their level of confidence, their skill level, their ability to make threes from different spots, their playmaking ability, especially with [Jeremiah] Fears, their super talented freshman. Their actions, they play high-level teams, and they’ve had a lot of success. They’re a really good team.”
On challenges getting the team to attend practice with snowy conditions in Athens:
“We eventually got everybody here. It just took a while. It’s not like it’s easy to prepare. It wasn’t typical. We didn’t have the whole team here an hour and a half early and getting ankles taped and being able to physically prepare quite as much. Eventually, everyone got here. Just a later start, really. Probably the simplest way to put it, just a later start than we had expected. Everybody’s good. Everybody had good practice.”
On practices leading up to Oklahoma:
“Really good, normal. We’ve talked about the consistency with the work ethic and the approach with this group. It was status quo these last couple of days. Our guys understand the opportunities in front of us. Oklahoma coming to town in the Steg. They’re excited to play another really good team and see if we can have some success there offensively, defensively. See if we can get a little bit better. The guys have been great.”
On the importance of building a culture and the fans’ impact:
“We’re all trying to protect our home court. I don’t know what the streak is. I’m not really into streaks that much. I can tell you; I thought the environment was electric (against Kentucky). The best environment I’ve experienced in the Steg. We’re very appreciative of our fans and of our administration. Of course, we’ve made some changes in our arena and I think it’s been really effective. Our students were incredible the other day. We obviously need that continued support. Again, can’t express enough the level of appreciation, which allowed us to play better, to play with a high level of intensity, especially defensively. Helped us get some stops down the stretch. We’re going to need that again tomorrow against Oklahoma.”
On any analytics measuring to higher success playing at home:
“No, nothing just jumps off the sheet, honestly. I just think most teams are more comfortable. Not most, I think all. Comfortable playing in front of your people, in front of your supporters, in an environment that you’re really familiar with. We just got off the game floor where we practiced, and that’s where we practice as much as possible. So just allows for a level of familiarity. And then your fans, of course, especially when it was like it was the other day, they just give you a little bit more pep to your step. And that’s why moving forward, we’re going to continue to encourage slash challenge our fans to be as dynamic as they were the other day.”
MBB: Bulldogs To Face Third-Straight Top-25 Opponant
Start time: 4 p.m., ET
Location: Denver, Colo.
Arena: Magness Arena
Media Information
Streaming: https://gado.gs/ch9
Live stats: https://gado.gs/cha
Twitter/X: @UGAGymnastics
ALL-TIME RECORD against Denver: 15-4
LAST MEETING: Although the GymDogs were placed at the Denver Regional in 2023, the teams were not in the same session. The last time the programs met was at the 2021 Athens Regional. Denver placed second in the session with a 196.775, while the GymDogs placed third with a 196.750.
ALL-TIME RECORD against Missouri: 23-10
LAST MEETING: Georgia and Missouri last met at the 2024 Gainesville Regional with the Tigers advancing out of the session to the Regional Finals with a 197.525. The GymDogs were third with a 197.425.
ALL-TIME RECORD against Long Island University: 0-0
LAST MEETING: This is the first meeting between the teams. LIU’s inaugural gymnastics season was in 2021.
The Georgia Gymnastics team will open the 2025 season this Sunday at the Denver Quad Meet at Magness Arena on the campus of Denver University. The meet will be hosted by No. 11 Denver (1-0) and will also feature No. 5 Missouri (3-0) and Long Island (0-0). The meet begins at 4 p.m., ET.
NEW FACES AT THE HELM
For the first time in program history, the GymDogs have co-head coaches beginning in the 2025 season. Hall of Fame USA Gymnastics coach Cecile Canqueteau-Landi and Ryan Roberts – who has spent the past six seasons as an assistant coach at Alabama and Georgia – were named co-head coaches of the University of Georgia gymnastics program by J. Reid Parker Director of Athletics Josh Brooks on April 25, 2024.
The pair then hired Oleksii Koltakov and Marissa King as assistant coaches after both spent the previous two seasons as assistants at Nebraska.
FRESH POWER
Six freshmen contributed 132 scores throughout 2024, four of which contributed on multiple events in their rookie season.
OLYMPIANS AMONG US
Co-head coach Cecile Canqueteau-Landi and assistant coach Marissa King are both former Olympians.
Canqueteau-Landi competed at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics for France and King competed at the 2008 Beijing Olympics for Great Britain.
Canqueteau-Landi has also coached in three athletes at three Olympic games- Madison Kocian in 2016 in Rio and Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles in 2020 in Tokyo and 2024 in Paris.
Additionally, Csenge Bacskay competed on vault for Hungary at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
AMERICA’S COACH
One-third of the gymnasts in the 2024 USA Olympic Trials were coached by Georgia co-head coach Cecile Canqueteau-Landi. She coached nearly half of the 2024 USA Olympic team, including alternates.
OLYMPIC MEDALS
Co-head coach Cecile Canqueteau-Landi has coached three Olympians to 11 medals across three Olympic Games.
SCOTT CONTINUES THE MOONWALK
Sophomore Ja’ Free Scott’s beam routine features the Georgia moonwalk tradition. She is the eighth GymDog to perform the moonwalk on the balance beam, following Nikki Childs, Cassidy McComb, Lindsey Cheek, Mary Beth Box, Morgan Reynolds, Sabrina Vega, and Soraya Hawthorne.
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK
The 2025 Georgia roster features 10 newcomers, including three transfers.
For all the latest on the GymDogs, follow the team on Instagram (@UGAgymnastics), Twitter (@UGAGymnastics), and Facebook (Georgia Gymnastics).
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