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MBB: Dawgs Tip Off at Texas Today

Date: Saturday, January 24, 2026

Time: 1:00 p.m. ET

Venue: Moody Center (10,763)

Location: Austin, Texas

TV: SEC Network (Lowell Galindo, play-by-play; Pat Bradley, analyst)

Radio: Georgia Bulldog Network – Sirius 81 (Scott Howard, play-by-play; Chuck Dowdle, analyst; Adam Gillespie, producer)

The Starting Five

• Georgia travels to Texas on Saturday looking to continue its hot streak on the road. The Bulldogs have won four of their last five road outings, dating back to last season’s March 1 win in Austin.

• Georgia entered this weekend ranked in the top-25 in 14 of 28 stats tracked by the NCAA, including leading the nation in scoring offense (94.8 ppg), fastbreak points (24.0 ppg), free throws made per game (21.2 ppg) and blocks (7.4 bpg).

• The Bulldogs are producing 47.7 percent (45.2 ppg) of their scoring either in a hurry – No. 1 nationally in fastbreak points (24.0 ppg) – or standing still – No. 1 nationally in free throw makes (21.2 ppg).

• Houston native Marcus “Smurf” Millender is six points shy of 1,000 for is career, scoring 309 points at South Alabama in 2023-24, 461 at UT San Antonio in 2024-25 and 224 at Georgia this season.

• Somto Cyril is shooting 77.4 percent from the field, on pace to shatter Georgia’s single-season record of 64.3 by Lavon Mercer in 1978-79. As of Friday, Cyril ranked second nationally in dunks with 52.

Keeping An Eye On…

Entering Today’s Game:

Smurf Millender is…

• 6 points from 1000 for his career

Among UGA’s Career Leaders

Blue Cain is…

• 1 3-pointers from No. 19 Sundiata Gaines

• 3 3-pointers from No. 18 Rashad Wright

• 6 3-pointers from No. 17 Turtle Jackson

• 12 3-point attempts from No. 18 Ty Wilson

Somto Cyril is…

• 3 blocks from No. 13 Terry Fair

• 5 blocks from No. 12 Derek Ogbeide

• 11 blocks from No. 11 Trey Thompkins

Among UGA’s Season Leaders

Somto Cyril is…

• 2 blocks from No. 9 Charles Clayton (’94)

• 3 blocks from No. 8 Antonio Harvey (’91)

• 5 blocks from No. 7 Yante Maten (’16)

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

The Opening Tip

Georgia travels to Austin to face Texas in its second road outing of the week. The Bulldogs are 16-3 overall and 4-2 in SEC play following Tuesday’s win at Missouri, where the Tigers were undefeated this season (11-0) including wins over Florida and Auburn.

For the second consecutive week, Georgia is ranked No. 21 by the AP and No. 22 in the coaches poll. The Bulldogs’ active streak of six straight weeks ranked is their longest since an 11-week span during the 2002-03 campaign. 

Georgia’s statistical data for the 2025-26 campaign has been incredibly impressive.

As of Friday, the Bulldogs were leading all 365 Division I teams in scoring offense (94.6 ppg), fastbreak points (24.0 ppg), free throws made per game (21.2 ppg) and blocks (7.5 bpg). Among the 28 statistics tracked by the NCAA, Georgia was ranked in the top 10 in seven categories and in the top 25 in 14. 

Georgia has one of the nation’s deepest rotations, playing at a pace among the country’s quickest.

Eleven Bulldogs are averaging double-figure minutes, and according to the oft-used metric KenPom.com, Georgia entered this weekend ranked No. 1 nationally in adjusted tempo (74.4) and No. 5 in average offensive possession length (14.7).

Georgia’s depth is not just in numbers but also in its offensive production. 

Ten of the 11 Bulldogs playing double-digit minutes have scored 10+ points in a game, combining to record 80 double-figure scoring outputs this season. 

Jeremiah Wilkinson is averaging a team-high 17.7 ppg, while Blue Cain is contributing 14.0 ppg, Marcus “Smurf” Millender is chipping in 11.8 ppg, and Kanon Catchings is putting up 10.2 ppg. Somto Cyril is averaging 9.7 ppg and leads the Bulldogs in rebounding (6.2 rpg), blocks (2.9 bpg) and field goal percentage (.774).

Scouting The Longhorns

Texas slipped to 11-8 overall and 2-4 in the SEC with Wednesday’s loss at Kentucky. The Longhorns’ two league wins are extremely impressive, a 92-88 decision at No. 13 Alabama and an 80-64 victory over No. 10 Vanderbilt, snapping the Commodores’ perfect 16-0 start to the 2025-26 campaign.

Dailyn Swain literally does everything for Texas, leading the Longhorns in scoring (16.4 ppg), rebounding (7.1 rpg), assists (3.3 apg) and steals (1.7 spg).

Texas’ balanced offensive attack also includes Matas Vokietaitis, averaging 15.2 ppg, Tramon Mark contributing 13.3 ppg, and Jordan Pope chipping in 12.9 ppg. 

Series History With Texas

Georgia owns a 9-5 lead in all-time matchups with Texas, including a 3-1 mark in Austin. 

The Bulldogs and Longhorns most recent meeting was on March 1 last season, also in Austin, with Georgia securing an extremely impressive 83-67 wire-to-wire victory.

The Bulldogs scored on a Blue Cain steal and layup 15 seconds into the game and never trailed. Georgia led 46-29 at halftime and expanded that margin to 27 points on three occasions, lastly at 67-40 with 11:30 remaining. 

The Longhorns closed the gap to 74-60 with 3:29 left, but Silas Demary Jr. answered with a baseline jumper as the shot clock expired to take the wind out of Texas’ comeback sails. 

The win was the second of a four-game streak to end the regular season that also included Florida, South Carolina and Vanderbilt to lock up Georgia’s first NCAA Tournament bid in a decade.

Last Time Out

Marcus “Smurf” Millender’s three-point play with 5.5 seconds remaining lifted No. 21/22 Georgia to a 74-72 victory at Missouri on Tuesday, snapping the Tigers’ 11-0 home start to the season.

The back-and-forth contest featured no less than six ties and 10 lead changes, lastly on Millender’s driving layup. He finished the contest with a game-high 18 points to lead four Bulldogs in double digits. Somto Cyril entered the game shooting 54.3 percent from the line but converted on 9-of-11 attempts at the charity stripe against Missouri.

“They were undefeated at home, and I just reminded our guys, we have a number by our name,” head coach Mike White said. “It’s great for our fans. It’s great for our program, and the trajectory of where we’re headed as a program and all those things. We’ve earned it. We were still the underdog tonight coming into Missouri on the road in the SEC. You just did that when being the home team’s worth a bunch more points.”

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