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MBB: UGA Hosts West Georgia Today

Date: Monday, December 22, 2025

Time: 2:00 p.m. ET

Venue: Stegeman Coliseum (10,523)

Location: Athens, Ga.

Streaming: SEC Network + (Jeff Dantzler, play-by-play; Marcus Thornton, analyst)

Radio: Georgia Bulldog Network – Sirius 381 (Scott Howard, play-by-play; Chuck Dowdle, analyst; Adam Gillespie, producer)

The Starting Five

• The Georgia Bulldogs – the highest-scoring team in college basketball, which also sports the nation’s largest scoring margin over its opponents – will host West Georgia on Monday in their final outing prior to a week-long holiday break.

• The Bulldogs are a perfect 34-0 against non-conference competition at Stegeman Coliseum during Mike White’s four seasons at Georgia and are 48-13 (.787) overall at home under White.

• Georgia entered the weekend leading the nation’s 365 Division I teams in scoring offense (99.5 ppg), scoring margin (+27.9), fastbreak points (28.2 ppg) and blocks (8.0 bpg).

• As of last Friday, the Dunkyard Dawgs were scoring a nation-leading 22.8 percent of their field goals on dunks this season. Somto Cyril’s 30 dunks led the SEC and ranked No. 2 nationally.

• Georgia has topped the 100-point plateau in five of its first 11 games, already matching the program’s single-season record of five century mark tallies during the 1990-91 campaign.

The Opening Tip

Georgia wraps up what to date has been an incredibly impressive pre-holiday slate by hosting West Georgia in a 2:00 p.m. Monday matinee at Stegeman Coliseum.

Georgia, 10-1 overall, is riding a 34-game winning streak against non-conference opposition at Stegeman, a stretch that coincides with head coach Mike White’s arrival in Athens. 

The Bulldogs have won nine straight home games dating back to last season’s victory over No. 3 Florida on Feb. 25. In the first 117 seasons of Georgia Basketball prior to White’s arrival, the Bulldogs posted eight double-digit home winning streaks. A victory over UWG would give Georgia its fourth stretch of double-figure home wins under White.

It would be hard to fathom a better beginning to the 2025-26 campaign for Georgia, at least statistically speaking. 

As of last Friday, the Bulldogs were leading all 365 Division I teams in scoring offense (99.5 ppg), scoring margin (+27.9), fastbreak points (28.2 ppg) and blocks (8.0 bpg). Among the 28 statistical categories tracked by the NCAA, Georgia ranked in the top 10 in eight stats and within the top 25 in 15. 

Georgia features the nation’s deepest Power Conference rotation while playing at a breakneck pace among the quickest in college hoops.

Among the 79 Power Conference programs, the Bulldogs are the only team with 11 players averaging double-figure minutes, with everyone seeing action in every game. According to the widely used KenPom.com metric, Georgia entered last weekend ranked No. 2 nationally in average offensive possession length (14.1 seconds) and No. 5 nationally in adjusted tempo (75.4).

Georgia’s depth extends beyond the numbers to its offensive production. 

Ten of the 11 Bulldogs playing double-digit minutes have combined to produce 47 double-figure scoring outputs. Jeremiah Wilkinson, who has topped 20 points in four of UGA’s last five games, is averaging 17.9 ppg. Blue Cain is contributing 15.7 ppg while grabbing a team-high 5.7 rpg. Marcus “Smurf” Millender is chipping in 10.2 ppg, including 13.0 ppg over the last six outings.

Scouting The Wolves

West Georgia sports a 6-5 record entering Monday’s matchup in Athens, with the Wolves coming off a 70-49 victory over Brewton Parker last Wednesday.

Shelton Williams-Dryden paces West Georgia both in scoring (17.0 ppg) and on the boards (8.9 rpg). Josh Smith supplies the other half of a potent 1-2 scoring punch at 16.2 ppg, while Chas Lewless is also producing at a double-figure clip of 12.8 ppg.

UGA and UWG have faced three common opponents. The Bulldogs defeated Tennessee Tech and Georgia Tech during the regular season and also beat Troy in an exhibition. The Wolves topped Troy in double overtime, split a pair of meetings with TTU and lost at Tech.

Series History With UWG

Monday’s matinee will be the first regular-season meeting between Georgia and West Georgia; however, the schools have played several exhibition games over the years.

Most recently, the Bulldogs bested the Braves, 98-59, at Stegeman Coliseum on Nov. 1, 2018. Tyree Crump knocked down six 3-pointers to account for all 18 of his game-high scoring output for Georgia. 

West Georgia transitioned to Division I for the 2024-25 season. UWG has historically enjoyed strong basketball success at the NAIA, Division III, and Division II levels, including an NAIA national title in 1974 and an NCAA D-II South Region title in 2002.

Last Time Out

Jeremiah Wilkinson matched his season high with 26 points to lead a quintet of Bulldogs in double figures as Georgia topped Western Carolina, 112-82, last Friday at Stegeman Coliseum.

Marcus “Smurf” Millender added 17 points, Jordan Ross posted a season-high 15, Somto notched a double-double with a career-high 14 points and 10 boards, and Blue Cain contributed 11 as Georgia recorded its school-record fifth 100-point performance of the season. 

“It’s nice to get a ‘W,’ of course,” head coach Mike White said. “We scored. We made shots. Did a lot of good things offensively. We didn’t guard very well. We really wanted to take a step defensively in the right direction tonight, and I’m a little disappointed in our effort overall. Defensively, lack of communication, some miscues. It’s just not important enough to us right now. It’s got to be more important defensively, collectively, and we’ve got to be more committed collectively if we’re going to guard some high-level offenses in the SEC. We’ll get back to work tomorrow and hopefully defend at a higher level on Monday.”

Bulldogs Join AP Top 25

Georgia was ranked No. 25 in last week’s Associated Press poll. The Bulldogs were No. 26 in “receiving votes” in the coaches’ poll.

Georgia last appeared in the AP poll last season on Jan. 13 when the Bulldogs were No. 23 in both the AP and coaches polls. This is the first time Georgia has been ranked in the AP poll in consecutive seasons since the 2001-02 and 2002-03 campaigns.

Bulldogs Are Nation’s Top Offensive Team

Georgia entered last weekend ranked No. 1 nationally in scoring offense, scoring margin and fastbreak points. The Bulldogs are putting up 99.5 points per game, producing a scoring differential of +27.9 ppg. Of that scoring, 28.2 ppg is on fastbreaks.

Though bolstered by reaching 120 points twice, Georgia’s scoring has been consistent. In 22 halves of hoops, the Bulldogs scored 40 or more points 20 times, with 10 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 11 games this season, Georgia has topped 90 points in eight outings and surpassed the century mark in a school-record five contests. 

A “Stegtacular” Home Court Advantage

Georgia’s home court advantage? It’s real, and it’s Stegtacular.

The Bulldogs have compiled a 48-13 home record under Mike White and are a perfect 34-0 against non-conference opponents at Stegeman during his four seasons at UGA. 

White’s success at Stegeman is not confined to his UGA tenure. He was 7-1 in Athens as a visiting head coach, leading Louisiana Tech to a 2014 NIT victory at Stegeman and compiling a 6-1 mark at Florida. That makes White a combined 55-14 (.797) as a head coach in Stegeman. 

After producing just eight double-digit home winning streaks in 117 seasons of basketball, the Bulldogs have produced three double-digit winning streaks at Stegeman during Mike White’s three seasons alone. 

Georgia currently owns a nine-game winning streak at Stegeman that began with impressive victories last season over No. 3 Florida on Feb. 25 and Vanderbilt in the regular-season finale.

The Bulldogs were 15-3 in Athens last season, matching the program record for home wins in a single season. Georgia also won 15 home outings during both the 2013-14 and 2015-16 campaigns; however, those tallies include an NIT victory.

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