MBB: South Carolina Visits the Stege Today

Date: Saturday, February 28, 2026

Time: 3:30 p.m. ET

Venue: Stegeman Coliseum (10,523)

Location: Athens, Ga.

Game Giveaway: The first 750 UGA students will receive a free lightweight Georgia hoodie

TV: SEC Network (Mike Morgan, play-by-play; Pat Bradley, analyst)

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

The Starting Five

• Georgia hosts South Carolina on Saturday afternoon at 3:30 in a sold-out Stegeman Coliseum – a rematch of a contest six weeks ago in Columbia won by the Bulldogs, 75-70.

• The Bulldogs are one victory shy of posting three straight 20-win seasons for just the third time ever. It would be UGA’s 16th 20-win tally…but only the sixth time reaching that plateau in the regular season.

• The “Dunkyard Dawgs” lead the nation in percentage of field goals that are dunks at 18.4 percent (169 of 866 FGs). Individually, Somto Cyril is tied for the national lead in dunks with 72 rim rattlers.

• During the Texas win, Somto Cyril passed the 100 FG minimum to qualify for UGA’s single-season records. He is shooting a school-record 74.5 percent, 10.2 percent better than the previous mark.

• Blue Cain, who is 25 points shy of 1,000 for his career, is the only Bulldog to start every game this season. He has now started 69 straight contests dating back to the last eight outings of his freshman year.

Keeping An Eye On…

Entering Today’s Game:

Among UGA’s Career Leaders

Blue Cain is…

• 4 3-pointers from No. 15 Jabri Abdur-Rahim

• 7 3-pointers from co-No. 13s Ty Wilson and Ray Harrison

• 17 3-point attempts from No. 12 Ray Harrison

• 25 points from becoming UGA’s 49th 1,000-point scorer and the first since Yante Mateo in 2017

Somto Cyril is…

• 3 blocks from Co-No. 7 Willie Anderson and Nicolas Clayton

• 16 blocks from No. 6 Donte Williams

Among UGA’s Season Leaders

Somto Cyril is…

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

• 12 blocks from No. 5 Nicolas Claxton (’19)

The Opening Tip

Georgia hosts South Carolina on Saturday looking for a key late-season victory . . . and to make a little history in the process.

The Bulldogs are one victory shy of their third-consecutive 20-win campaign, a feat Georgia Basketball has achieved only twice in its 120 previous seasons of competition (also in 1996-98 and 2014-16).

A win would push the Bulldogs to the 20-win plateau for the 16th time overall but for only the sixth occasion during the regular season.

According to bracketmatrix.com, Georgia is a unanimous pick for the NCAA Tournament, with the Bulldogs appearing in all 118 projections for “March Madness” by various bracketologists as of Thursday.

Georgia’s statistical resume for the 2025-26 campaign is quite impressive.

As of Friday, the Bulldogs led all 365 Division I programs in both fastbreak points (20.3 ppg) and blocks (6.3 bpg) and also were ranked among the top-10 nationally in scoring (No. 5 at 89.8 ppg) and bench points (No. 8 at 34.3 ppg). 

Georgia has a deep rotation playing at a pace among the country’s quickest. 

Eleven Bulldogs are averaging double-figure minutes, and they have combined to record 114 double-figure scoring outputs this season. Jeremiah Wilkinson is averaging a team-high 17.7 ppg, while Blue Cain is contributing 13.7 ppg, Marcus “Smurf” Millender is chipping in 11.8 ppg, and Kanon Catchings is adding 10.9 ppg.

Scouting The Gamecocks

After opening the campaign with a 9-4 start in non-conference play, South Carolina has slipped to 12-16 overall and 3-12 in SEC play entering Saturday’s game in Athens.

Meechie Johnson leads the Gamecocks in both scoring at 17.1 ppg and assists at 4.3 apg. With 139 made shots from the floor and 121 passes-to-points, Johnson has a direct hand in 260 of South Carolina’s 718 made field goals – 36.2 percent of the shots going through the net.

Three more Gamecocks are double-figure scorers – Mike Sharavjamts at 11.1 ppg, Elijah Strong at 10.7 ppg and Kobe Knox at 10.6 ppg.

Series History With Carolina

After Georgia victories in four of the last five matchups, South Carolina now owns a slim 64-63 edge in all-time matchups between UGA and USC. 

The Bulldogs and Gamecocks met six weeks ago in Columbia on Jan. 10 when Kanon Catchings’ 20 points and Somto Cyril’s career-high 18 points led No. 18/20 Georgia to a 75-70 victory over South Carolina. 

The back-and-forth contest featured nine ties and 11 lead changes before the Bulldogs surged ahead for good on a pair of free throws from Cyril with 5:27 remaining.

In the most recent meeting in Athens on Jan. 28 last season, Asa Newell’s double-double of 17 point and 10 rebounds led the Bulldogs in a 71-60 victory over the Gamecocks. 

Dylan James also played a key role, scoring 10 points and grabbing five rebounds in what was then a season-high 21 minutes. He scored eight straight points in a span of 68 just seconds late in the first half to help Georgia push a five-point lead with 4:55 left in the period to 14 at the intermission. 

The Bulldogs then led by double figures for all but 25 seconds of the second stanza.

Last Time Out

No. 25/21 Vanderbilt raced to a 35-15 lead and then withstood a courageous rally attempt by Georgia to secure an 88-80 win at Memorial Gymnasium on Wednesday night.

The Bulldogs closed the gap to seven points by halftime and knotted the score on three occasions in the second stanza. Twice, Georgia has possession down one but a turnover on the first chance and a missed dunk on the second kept the Commodores on top each time.

“You come into Vandy against a top-25 defense, and you score 80, you’re doing some good things,” head coach Mike White said. “Our attention to detail offensively wasn’t great either. Our ATO focus has got to get better against high-level defenses, something that we’ll address tomorrow. We’ll start with film. Got to get on the same page. We’ve got to communicate better offensively. Again, the biggest problem was just being able to generate stops defensively and keep them off the foul line, all part of it.”

BSB: Georgia Run-Rules Oakland, 16-6

No. 8 Georgia defeated Oakland in a seven-inning run-rule, 16-6, to begin its four-game series on Friday afternoon at Foley Field.

Fast Facts 

• Junior Joey Volchko got the start for Georgia, pitching five innings and adding five strikeouts, to earn his third win of the season.
• Senior Ryan Black (1-3, 2 RBI, HR) put the Bulldogs on the board with a lead-off home run to right field in the first inning, his third of the season.
• In the fourth inning, Georgia tallied three runs on four straight hits to take a 5-2 lead.
• Junior Tre Phelps (3-4), extended his hitting streak to 23 games, dating back to last season, with a single to center in the first inning.
• The Bulldogs catapulted to a 13-3 lead in the fifth inning, which included four home runs.
• Junior Daniel Jackson (3-4, 6 RBI, 2 HR) started off the home run parade, followed by a three-run shot by Brennan Hudson (2-4, 3 RBI, HR). Kolby Branch (2-4, 2 RBI, HR) added a solo homer, the 40^th of his career. Jackson recorded his second home run of the inning, bringing in three runs of his career-high six RBI.
• Sophomore Henry Allen (2-4, RBI) singled to left, bringing in freshman Ty Peeples, to complete the run-rule in the seventh inning.

Ike Cousins Head Baseball Coach Wes Johnson

On what has impressed him about Daniel Jackson…

“We’d be here a long time. Probably his ability to slow it down. He’s learned how to slow the game down a little more now. He can get a little antsy at times at the plate, trying to do too much, so I think what you’re seeing is him mature as a hitter. Knowing what success is for each individual guy is really hard. Daniel’s so strong. He can hit a ball 108 and we all go, ‘Ooh, it’s 108.’, but he knows when he’s having success at the plate. Being able to go backside like he did there that last at bat — it only beat 90 — that’s success for him. He didn’t always know that, so I think those are things that are really helping him.”

#3 Daniel Jackson | Jr. | C

On what he was hunting for on those home run pitches…

“They were trying to spin me a lot earlier to start the game. I was a little mad at myself because I was kind of having to approach earlier and round it out or feel the choice, so I was kind of looking forward again and changed my approach a little bit and worked up.”

#28 Brennan Hudson | Sr. | 1B

On his home run …

“Of course, it’s always a great feeling once you finally hit it. We’ve talked so much about our approach at the plate and trusting our swings. The count was 3-1, and I knew I had to get my swing off, and so I was able to get it off and have one connect.”

Up Next

Georgia (7-2) returns to Foley Field for a double-header Saturday afternoon against Oakland, with first pitch of Game 1 set for 1 p.m. Game 2 will begin 45 minutes after the conclusion of Game 1. Both games will be available on SECN+ and the Georgia Bulldogs Sports Network.

SB: Roelling No-Hitter Powers No. 11 Bulldogs to Win over South Alabama, 8-0

The No. 11 Georgia Bulldogs defeated South Alabama, 8-0 (5 inn.), on Friday night at the Jack Turner Stadium to kick off the 17^th Annual Bulldog Classic. LHP Randi Roelling pitched a no-hitter in her complete five-inning performance, and Georgia moves to 14-5 on the season.

SOFTBALL | vs. South Alabama | W, 8-0 (5 inn.)
Winning Pitcher: Randi Roelling (6-3)
Losing Pitcher: Ryley Harrison (6-3)

Fast Facts:

• LHP Randi Roelling made the start in the circle and went the full five innings to secure her first complete game no-hitter performance of her career. It’s the first no-hitter in program history since Madison Kerpics on March 9, 2024. Moreover, she matched her season-best seven strikeouts to just one walk.
• The Bulldogs blasted three home runs in the win – a two-run shot by Sarah Gordon, a three-run blast by Emma Castorri and a game-ending walk-off run rule shot by Tyler Ellison. On the night, the Georgia offense totaled 10 hits, including four extra-base hits.
• Sophomore Mollie Mitchell recorded her first hit of the season in the win on a single through the left side.
• RHP Ryley Harrison pitched the full five innings for the Jaguars with eight earned runs and five strikeouts.
• Georgia now owns the all-time series lead against South Alabama at 3-2.

Key Quote:
Head Coach Tony Baldwin
Opening statement…
“I’m proud of the way we came out with good energy and a good mindset. I thought we had a really good day of practice yesterday, even though it was rainy, we got better. Then we brought that in today. Chelsea [Wilkinson] did a really good job after Wednesday night, made some adjustments to some of the stuff that Randi [Roelling] was doing with her pitches, and I thought she was really sharp tonight.”

Up Next:
No. 11 Georgia is back in action tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. ET again facing South Alabama. The game will be streamed live on SEC Network+, and tickets for all Bulldog home games can be found on GeorgiaDogs.com.

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