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SB: Georgia Defeats Illinois in Black & Gold Classic

SOFTBALL | vs. Illinois | W, 7-4

Winning pitcher: Lilli Backes (2-0)

 Losing Pitcher: Megan Nuechterlein (0-1)

Season Record: 3-0

Video

ORLANDO – The 12^th-ranked Georgia Bulldogs improved to 3-0 on the young 2025 after defeating the Illinois Fighting Illini Friday evening at the UCF Softball Complex, 7-4.

FAST FACTS

• Georgia plated five runs in the first inning, highlighted by a three-run home run off the bat of junior Jaydyn Goodwin, her first of the season and 11^th of her career.
• Senior Lilli Backes (2-0) picked up the win our of the pen. Backes worked four and two-thirds shutout innings, allowing just three hits and striking out six batters.
• Junior Destin Howard made her season debut, working one and a third scoreless innings in her start. Freshman Ella Troutt closed the game in her collegiate debut. She struck out the first batter she faced.

https://twitter.com/UGASoftball/status/1888076786568937706

SOFTBALL | vs. Illinois | W, 7-4

Winning pitcher: Lilli Backes (2-0)

 Losing Pitcher: Megan Nuechterlein (0-1)

Season Record: 3-0

UP NEXT

Georgia takes on James Madison on day three of the Black & Gold Classic on Saturday morning at 11:30 a.m. The game will stream live on ESPN+. 

MBB: Georgia Hosts No. 22 Mississippi Tonight

Date: Saturday, February 8, 2025

Time: 6:00 p.m. ET

Venue: Stegeman Coliseum (10,523)

Location: Athens, Ga.

Tickets: www.georgiadogs.com/mbbtix

Game Giveaway: The first 1,000 UGA students receive a Hairy Dawg squishy.

TV: SEC Network (Dave Neal, play-by-play; Jon Sunvold, analyst)

Radio: Georgia Bulldog Network – Sirius 84 (Scott Howard, play-by-play; Chuck Dowdle, analyst; Adam Gillespie, producer)

The Starting Five

• Georgia hosts No. 22 Mississippi on Saturday, continuing a stretch of three out of four games in the friendly and increasingly raucous confines of Stegeman Coliseum.

• Georgia is 13-1 at home this season with a scoring margin of +20.4 that includes double-digit decisions in 11 of 13 wins – including all four SEC victories at Stegeman.

• After playing six of eight games against top-25 teams in January, the Bulldogs flipped the calendar to February to find…six of seven outings versus teams ranked this week.

• With UGA at No. 23 on Jan. 13, Mike White has now led three programs with losing records the year before he arrived to the AP top-25 in less than three seasons…also doing so at La. Tech and Florida.

• Georgia’s ascension 308 spots in kenpom.com’s defense efficiency – from No. 328 in 2021-22 to No. 20 as of Friday – is the second-largest three-season jump since the metric’s inception in 1997. 

The Opening Tip

The Georgia Bulldogs continue a stretch of three home dates over four games on Saturday evening when they host No. 22 Mississippi State at historic Stegeman Coliseum. 

That span is part of a grueling SEC slate for Georgia. After playing six of eight games against top-25 opponents in January, six of the Bulldogs’ seven contests in February are against teams ranked this week.

The Bulldogs improved to 16-7 overall and 4-6 in SEC play with an 81-62 victory over LSU on Wednesday. With that, Georgia matched its regular-season win total (16 Ws) in each of Mike White’s first two seasons in Athens. White now has 52 victories with the Bulldogs, already the most ever by a UGA coach in his first three seasons at Georgia.

The Bulldogs are projected as an NCAA Tournament team by virtually everyone predicting a bracket, including a No. 10 seed by ESPN.com on Friday. In fact, bracketmatrix.com, which tracks every bracket prediction published, confirms that Georgia is currently part of 91 of 93 prognostications for “March Madness.”

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 83 double-digit performances. 

Asa Newell, who has been named SEC Freshman of the Week three times, leads a trio of Bulldogs averaging double figures at 15.3 ppg and also paces UGA on the boards at 7.0 rpg. Among league leaders, Newell is ranked No. 14 in scoring and No. 11 rebounding. He also is No. 3 in the SEC and No. 44 nationally in field goal percentage (.552).

Silas Demary Jr. and Dakota Leffew are scoring at double-digit paces of 11.0 ppg and 10.7 ppg, respectively, for the Bulldogs. Demary Jr. also sports team-high averages of 3.0 apg and 1.8 spg.

Scouting State

Mississippi State arrives in Athens with an overall record of 16-6 and a 4-5 mark in SEC play. The Bulldogs, who enjoyed an open date midweek, are ranked No. 22 by the Associated Press and are the first team out of the top 25 in the coaches poll.

Josh Hubbard lead the Bulldogs offensively, averaging 17.6 ppg. He also sports a eye-catching 3.10 assist-to-turnover ratio. Between his made field goals (124) and assists (65), Hubbard has had a hand in 189 of State’s 635 makes from the field this season – 29.8 percent.

KeShawn Murphy and Claude Harris Jr. also are scoring at a double-figure clip, contributing 11.0ppg and 10.4 ppg, respectively, while Riley Kugel is just shy of double digits at 9.7 ppg.

Series History With State

The all-time series between the SEC’s Bulldogs is currently tied, with both UGA and MSU owning 59 victories.

State won last season’s matchup, a 75-62 decision in Starkville on Feb. 7.

State build a 10-point lead with just over eight minutes remaining in the first half and expanded that margin to 56-43 with 9:29 left in the contest. Georgia used a 10-0 surge to pull within 56-53 at the 6:21 mark before State answered with back-to-back 3-pointers to regain a nine-point advantage just 54 seconds later.

In State’s last trip to Athens on Jan. 11, 2023, Braelen Bridges scored his 1,000th point and grabbed his 500th rebound in his 100th career outing to lead Georgia in a 59-58 victory.

Bridges finished the night with 11 points and 10 rebounds, his second double-double of the season. His last two points to reach 1,000 were critical, a pair of free throws with 25 seconds remaining that gave the Bulldogs a two-possession lead.

In second stanza that featured four ties and 10 lead changes, Georgia secured the win with clutch free throw shooting. After leading 46-45 at the 3:09 mark, UGA converted on 12 straight trips to the line down the stretch.

Last Time Out

Blue Cain posted his second career double-double – and flirted with a triple-double – to lead Georgia in an 81-62 win over LSU on Wednesday night at Stegeman Coliseum. 

Cain finished the night with 10 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists – twice his previous career high – with no turnovers. Asa Newell added a game-high 17 points, his 21st double-figure output and the 15th contest when he led the Bulldogs offensively this season. 

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 pushed that margin to double figures on a three-point play from Cain at the 13:16 mark.

“As a freshman, (Blue) was a talented player that could make shots and was developing in other areas,” head coach Mike White said. “As a good SEC player, who had a whale of a game, only made one three. That’s arguably his biggest strength, definitely last year and maybe early this year. He’s just rounding out his game, eight assists and zero turnovers. He rebounded well. He played really hard. I’m proud of him.”

BSB: Two Dawgs Named Preseason All-Americans

Georgia pitcher Brian Curley and outfielder/infielder Tre Phelps have been named preseason All-Americans, the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) announced Friday.

Curley, a 5-10, 212-pound junior transfer from Midlothian Va., earned a spot on the first team. He went 6-0 with a 2.87 ERA and three save in 19 appearances for VCU in 2024. In 78.1 innings, he registered 78 strikeouts. Phelps, a 6-2, 202-pound native of Atlanta, made the third team. He was a consensus Freshman All-America in 2024 after batting .353 with 11 doubles, 12 home runs and 40 RBI for the Bulldogs. He appeared in 42 games with 34 starts at five different positions.

Also, Georgia was ranked No. 13 in the NCBWA preseason top 25. The Bulldogs now have appeared In all five preseason top 25 polls. Georgia checks in at No. 4 (Perfect Game), No. 8 (D1Baseball.com), No. 9 (USA TODAY Sports Baseball Coaches) and No. 11 (Baseball America) in the other four preseason rankings.

https://twitter.com/BaseballUGA/status/1888009950145728643

Georgia’s Ike Cousins head baseball coach Wes Johnson enters his second year. In 2024, Georgia posted its finest season since 2008, finishing in the top 10 with a 43-17 record and advancing to an NCAA Super Regional.

Georgia will open the 2025 season Friday, Feb. 14 against Quinnipiac in Wilmington, N.C. The Bulldogs will play two games against the Bobcats and two games against host UNC-Wilmington during a weekend trip to the Seahawks campus.

Information on single-game non-conference tickets for the action at Foley Field can be found at this link: https://georgiadogs.evenue.net/events/BBSINGLE

Asa Newell Named Top-10 candidate for the 2025 Kareem Abdul-Jabar Award

Georgia’s Asa Newell was named as a top-10 candidate for the 2025 Kareem Abdul-Jabar Award by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame on Friday. The award annually honors the top center in Division I men’s basketball.

Newell, a 6-11, 220-pound freshman, leads the Bulldogs and ranks among SEC leaders in scoring and rebounding. He is averaging 15.3 points per game, 14th-best in the league, and 6.9 rebounds per contest, 11th-best in the conference. Newell also is ranked No. 3 in the SEC in field goal percentage at .552. Among freshmen nationally, Newell is No. 10 in scoring, No. 11 in rebounding – including No. 1 in offensive rebounds per game – No. 3 in field goal percentage and No. 8 in double-doubles (five).

Newell has been named SEC Freshman of the Week three times this season, one shy of Anthony Edwards’ school record of four recognitions. Newell has been a model of consistency for the Bulldogs, with 21 double-figure performances in 23 games, including a pair of 20-point outing. He christened his collegiate career with a season-best 26 points against Tennessee Tech in the season opener, equaling Dominique Wilkins’ Georgia scoring record for a freshman in their debut. Newell has led Georgia in points in 15 games and in rebounds 10 times. He has paced the Bulldogs in both stats in eight contests, including six of 10 SEC outings.

Last week, Newell was featured on The Athletic’s Freshman All-America team along with Cooper Flagg from Duke, Dylan Harper from Rutgers, Kasparas Jakucionis from Illinois and Tahaad Pettiford from Auburn.

The other nine candidates for the Abdul-Jabbar Award are Nate Bittle from Oregon, Robbie Avila from Saint Louis, Oscar Cluff from South Dakota State, Hunter Dickinson from Kansas, Dawson Garcia from Minnesota, Vladislav Goldin from Michigan, Ryan Kalkbrenner from Creighton, Derik Queen from Maryland   and Maxime Raynaud from Stanford.

Fans are encouraged to participate in Fan Voting in both of the remaining rounds starting today (Feb. 7) on hoophallawards.com. The Fan Vote will count as one committee vote during the finalist selection process.

The winner of the 2025 Abdul-Jabbar Award and the Lisa Leslie Award, which is given to the top center in women’s basketball, will be presented on a to-be-determined date, along with the other four members of the Men’s and Women’s Starting Five. Additional awards being presented include the Bob Cousy and Nancy Lieberman Awards (Point Guard), Jerry West and Ann Meyers Drysdale Awards (Shooting Guard), Julius Erving and Cheryl Miller Awards (Small Forward), and the Karl Malone and Katrina McClain Awards (Power Forward).

Newell is the third Georgia player in the past nine years to be a top-10 candidate for one of the Hall of Fame’s position player of the year awards, following Anthony Edwards (Jerry West Award in 2020) and Yante Maten (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award in 2017).

Newell is one of 10 SEC players among the top-10 candidates for the five position player of the year awards, joining Florida’s Walter Clayton Jr., Alabama’s Mark Sears and Tennessee’s Zakai Zeigler (Bob Cousy Award), Texas’ Tre Johnson, Tennessee’s Chaz Lanier and Florida’s Alijah Martin (Jerry West Award), Auburn’s Chad Baker-Mazara and Kentucky’s Jaxson Robinson (Julius Erving Award) and Auburn’s Johni Broome (Karl Malone Award).

In March, the Top 10 list will be narrowed to just five, and in late March, the five finalists will be presented to Abdul-Jabbar, Lisa Leslie and the Hall of Fame’s selection committees, where winners will be selected. The Selection Committees for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Lisa Leslie Awards are composed of top men’s and women’s college basketball personnel, including media members, head coaches, sports information directors, and Hall of Famers.

Previous winners of the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award are Zach Edey, Purdue (2023-24), Oscar Tshiebwe, Kentucky (2022), Luka Garza, Iowa (2020-21), Ethan Happ, Wisconsin (2019), Angel Delgado, Seton Hall (2018), Przemek Karnowski, Gonzaga (2017), Jakob Poeltl, Utah (2016), and Frank Kaminsky, Wisconsin (2015).

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