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MBB: Georgia and LSU meet in Baton Rouge Tonight

Date: Saturday, February 7, 2026

Time: 6:00 p.m. ET

Venue: Maravich Assembly Center (13,215)

Location: Baton Rouge, La.

TV: SEC Network (Rich Hollenberg, play-by-play; Rodney Terry, analyst)

Radio: Georgia Bulldog Network – Sirius 106 (Scott Howard, play-by-play; Chuck Dowdle, analyst; Adam Gillespie, producer)

The Starting Five

• Georgia and LSU meet in Baton Rouge on Saturday evening after each team enjoyed an open date from midweek competition.

• After starting the season 16-3 and matching the third-best 20-game opening in 121 seasons of play, the Bulldogs are looking to snap a three-game losing skid.

• Dylan James was a bright spot in last Saturday’s setback to Texas A&M, with 13 points and a career-high 13 rebounds en route to his first career double-double.

• Georgia entered this weekend ranked No. 2 nationally in scoring (92.3 ppg) and is producing 46.2 percent (44.6 ppg) of its offensive output either in a hurry – No. 1 in fastbreak points (22.6 ppg) – or standing still – No. 5 in FT makes (20.0 ppg).

• Somto Cyril joined Georgia’s top-10 single-season leaders in blocks at Texas. The sophomore from Enugu, Nigeria, now has 60 rejections, 34 shy of Charles Claxton’s UGA season record of 94 in 1994-95.

Keeping An Eye On…

Entering Today’s Game:

Among UGA’s Career Leaders

Blue Cain is…

• 3 3-pointers from No. 17 Turtle Jackson

• 9 3-pointers from No. 16 Terrance Woodbury

• 2 3-point attempts from No. 17 Terrance Woodbury

• 3 3-point attempts from No. 16 Jody Patton

• 7 3-point attempts from No. 15 Jabri Abdur-Rahim

Somto Cyril is…

• 6 blocks from No. 11 Trey Thompkins

• 8 blocks from No. 10 Chris Daniels

• 9 blocks from No. 9 Marcus Thornton

• 12 blocks from co-No. 7 Willie Anderson and Nicolas Clayton

Among UGA’s Season Leaders

Somto Cyril is…

• 1 block from No. 7 Yante Maten (’16)

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

The Opening Tip

Following an open midweek date, Georgia returns to action on Saturday when the Bulldogs travel to Baton Rouge to face LSU at 6:00 p.m. at the Maravich Assembly Center. The Tigers are also playing their first game in a week.

Georgia is looking to get back on a winning track. The Bulldogs were 16-3 and matched the third-best 20-game start in 121 seasons of Georgia Basketball before beginning a three-game losing skid at Texas two Saturdays ago.

Despite its recent struggles, Georgia’s statistical resume for the 2025-26 campaign has been incredibly impressive.

As of Friday, the Bulldogs were ranked in the top 25 nationally in 11 of the 28 statistics tracked by the NCAA, including leading all 365 Division I programs in fastbreak points (22.6 ppg) and blocks (7.1 bpg).

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. 6 nationally in adjusted tempo (73.1) and No. 1 in average offensive possession length (14.9).

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

Ten of the 11 Bulldogs playing double-digit minutes have scored 10+ points in a game, combining to record 91 double-figure scoring outputs this season. 

Jeremiah Wilkinson is averaging a team-high 17.1 ppg, while Blue Cain is contributing 13.4 ppg, Marcus “Smurf” Millender is chipping in 12.0 ppg and Kanon Catchings is adding 10.6 ppg.

Scouting The Tigers

After racing to a 12-1 start to open the 2025-26 campaign, LSU is 2-7 in SEC action and now 14-8 entering Saturday’s matchup with Georgia.

LSU has played a large portion of the season without leading scorer Dedan Thomas Jr., who is averaging 15.3 ppg but has missed six outings due to a foot injury. Thomas logged DNPs in the Tigers’ first five SEC outings before seeing action against Florida, Arkansas and Mississippi State. He re-aggravated the injury in the MSU game and did not play at South Carolina last Saturday.

Three Tigers who have started every game to date are contributing points at a double-figure pace – Max Mackinnon at 14.6 ppg, Michael Nwoko at 14.0 ppg and Marquel Sutton at 13.2 ppg.

Series History With LSU

LSU owns a 71-50 advantage in the all-time series with UGA. A recap of the series is in the column to the left.

Last season on Feb. 5 in Athens, Blue Cain posted his second career double-double – and flirted with a triple-double – to lead Georgia in an 81-62 win over LSU. Cain finished the night with 10 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists – twice his previous career high – with no turnovers.

Georgia outscored the Tigers 10-4 over the final 7:19 of the first half to grab a 37-31 advantage at the intermission and outscored LSU 46-21 in the second stanza.

The Bulldogs’ last trip to Baton Rouge was on Feb. 27, 2024 and went down to the final horn. A pair of LSU free throws with 15 seconds left, followed by a pair of misses on potential game winners by Bulldogs, propelled the Tigers to a 67-66 victory. 

The back-and-forth final minutes featured six lead changes and two ties in the final 5:38.

Last Time Out

Despite five Bulldogs reaching double figures and Dylan James producing his first career double-double, Georgia dropped a 92-77 decision to Texas A&M last Saturday.

The Aggies raced to a 22-2 lead and left the Bulldogs playing from behind all day. Georgia did pull within a single possession twice – at 44-41 late in the first half and at 69-67 with 9:05 remaining – but could not complete the comeback.

“Our guys are resilient,” head coach Mike White said. ‘We’ve got to clean up details, but our guys, they’ll be ready to work. This team really works, and we’ll accept messages tomorrow, we’ll learn from film, we’ll have a good practice.”

Cyril Named To Naismith Defensive Player Of The Year Watch List

Georgia’s Somto Cyril was named to the 2026 Naismith Men’s College Defensive Player of the Year Watch List, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced during the last week of January. He was one of 25 players nationally named to the list.

A native of Enugu, Nigeria, Cyril has emerged as one of the nation’s most dominant interior defenders. He currently leads the Southeastern Conference and ranks second nationally in blocks per game at 2.7 per contest. Through 22 games, Cyril has recorded 60 blocked shots, already the eighth-highest single-season total in Georgia history. He is just 34 block shy of the school record of 94 rejections by Charles Claxton in 1994-95.

SB: Dawgs Win Two on Opening Day

The 20th-seeded Georgia Bulldogs defeated Missouri State (10-1) and Fordham, 7-1, on the first day of the Red and Black Showcase Friday night in Jack Turner Stadium. 

SOFTBALL | vs. MISSOURI STATE | W, 10-1 (5 inn.)
   Winning pitcher: Presley Harrison (1-0)
   Losing Pitcher: Emily Koranda (0-1)

SOFTBALL | vs.  Fordham| W, 7-1
   Winning pitcher: Addisen Fisher (1-0)
   Losing Pitcher: Olivia Simcoe (0-1)

Season Record: 2-0

FAST FACTS

• Emma Castorri hit a three-run home run to deep center in the bottom of the first, giving Georgia an early 3–0 lead against Missouri State.
• Jaydyn Goodwin followed with a three-run homer to deep right in the bottom of the second, extending Georgia’s advantage against Missouri State to 6–0.
• Freshmen Natalie Donaldson, Brooke Smith, Gabi Novickas and Presley Harrison all made their career starts in the Bulldogs’ matchup against the Bears. 
• This matchup was the first meeting between Fordham and Georgia. Under Baldwin, Georgia is now 9-2 in all-time series openers. 
• Kiersten Roose started off strong with a run to put the Bulldogs in the lead. Roose then hit a single to the left side of the infield and tallied a score in the bottom of the fourth. Junior Emily Digby walked and scored on Roose’ run. 
• Junior Delani Sulivan knocked a 3-run home run in the bottom of the fourth adding to the Bulldogs 3-0 lead coming out of the third. Senior Natalie Ray advanced to second and scored on Sulivan’s run.
• The Bulldogs had 16 runners advance the bases compared to the Rams’ six. 
   

UP NEXT
No. 20 Georgia returns for Day Two of the Red and Black Showcase tomorrow, first taking on Fordham at 1:00 p.m. ET before facing Belmont at 3:30 p.m. ET. Times are subject to change. Tickets for every day at the Red and Black Showcase are available on GeorgiaDogs.com.

WTEN: Georgia Defeats Virginia in the ITA National Team Indoor Championships round of 16

The No. 1 Georgia women’s tennis team (2-1, 0-0 SEC) stepped back in the win column, securing a 4-1 win over No. 15 Virginia (6-3, 0-0 ACC) in the ITA National Team Indoor Championships round of 16 at the Combe Tennis Center on Friday.

Fast Facts

• Georgia now leads the all-time series against Virginia 8-1, including wins over the Cavaliers at ITA Indoors in back-to-back seasons.
• In doubles, Georgia struck first as the rookie pair of Emma Dong and Anastasiia Gureva posted a 6-1 win over Virginia’s Katie Rolls and Isabelle Lacy on court three.
• After the Bulldogs dropped court two, Deniz Dilek and Aysegul Mert rallied to defeat Virginia’s No. 4 Melodie Collard and Vivian Yang, 6-4, to secure the doubles point.
• In singles, freshman Emma Dong earned a straight-sets victory over No. 108 Rolls, 6-3, 6-3, marking her second ranked win of the season.
• On court four, No. 33 Gureva edged No. 75 Martina Genis Salas, 6-3, 7-6 (2), in a tightly contested match.
• No. 42 Sofia Rojas clinched the match for the Bulldogs with a 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 win over Collard, earning her second clinch since last year’s national championship match.

Results
Doubles:
1. Deniz Dilek/Aysegul Mert (UGA) def. #4 Melodie Collard/Vivian Yang (UVA): 6-4
2. #21 Martina Genis Salas/Annabelle Xu (UVA) def. Anastasiia Lopata/Patricija Paukstyte (UGA): 6-3
3. Emma Dong/Anastasiia Gureva (UGA) def. Katie Rolls/Isabelle Lacy (UVA): 6-1

Singles:
1. #74 Anastasiia Lopata (UGA) vs. #34 Vivian Yang (UVA): 4-6, 6-5 (unfinished)
2. #4 Aysegul Mert (UGA) vs. #26 Annabelle Xu (UVA): 4-6, 6-3 (unfinished)
3. #69 Isabelle Lacy (UVA) def. #23 Deniz Dilek (UGA): 6-3, 3-6, 6-1
4. #33 Anastasiia Gureva (UGA) def. #75 Martina Genis Salas (UVA): 6-3, 7-6(2)
5. #42 Sofia Rojas (UGA) def. Melodie Collard (UVA): 6-2, 2-6, 6-3
6. Emma Dong (UGA) def. #108 Katie Rolls (UVA): 6-3, 6-3
Order of finish: Doubles (3, 2, 1); Singles (6, 4, 3, 5)

Up Next
The No. 1 Bulldogs will face No. 5 LSU in the ITA National Team Indoor Championships quarterfinal on Saturday, Feb. 7 at 1:00 p.m. ET at the Combe Tennis Center.

No. 1 Georgia vs No. 5 LSU
Date: Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026
Time: 1:00 p.m. ET
Location: Evanston, Ill.
Site: Combe Tennis Center
Live Stream: https://gado.gs/e1r
Live Stats: https://gado.gs/e1r

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