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MBB: Georgia (11-3, 1-0 SEC) vs. Arkansas (9-5, 0-1 SEC) tonight at 9

Date: Wendesday, January 10

Time: 9:00 p.m. ET

Venue: Stegeman Coliseum (10,523)

Location: Athens, Ga.

Series History: Arkansas leads, 26-16

Last Meeting: Arkansas, 97-65, on Feb. 21, 2023

Video: ESPNU (Brian Custer, play-by-play; Jimmy Dykes, color analyst)

Radio: Georgia Bulldog Network – SiriusXM 391 (Scott Howard, play-by-play; Chuck Dowdle, color analyst; Adam Gillespie, producer)

Game Giveaway: The first 750 UGA students in attendance will receive a free game show-themed t-shirt

The Starting Five

• Georgia hosts Arkansas on Wednesday at 9:00 p.m. looking to extend a pair of nine-game winning streaks – both overall and at Stegeman Coliseum.

• Georgia’s nine-game winning streak equals the fifth-longest streak in program history and also was the nation’s fifth-longest active streak entering this week.

• Georgia is 9-0 at Stegeman Coliseum this season, improving to 22-4 in Mike White’s two seasons at UGA. White is 29-5 all-time at Stegeman, including a 7-1 mark while at Louisiana Tech and Florida.

• Georgia will play 14 of 31 (45.2 percent) regular-season games against teams currently featured ESPN.com’s bracketology…and has two more outings against Florida, the “first team out.”

• Georgia was the nation’s only Power conference team to face four Power conference foes in its first five outings (Oregon, Wake Forest, Miami and Providence).

The Opening Tip

Georgia returns to the extremely friendly confines of Stegeman Coliseum on Wednesday evening to face Arkansas. The Bulldogs are riding a pair of nine-game winning streaks. 

Georgia improved to 11-3 on the year with last Saturday’s victory at Missouri in its SEC opener. The Bulldogs have won nine straight games – both overall and at Stegeman Coliseum. 

The overall streak, which dates back to a Nov. 24 victory over Winthrop, ties the fifth-longest in 118 seasons of Georgia Basketball and – entering this week – was tied for the fifth-longest active streak among the 362 teams competing at the Division I level this season.

Georgia’s 9-0 start at Stegeman equals the seventh-longest overall and sixth-longest single-season home winning steak ever by the Bulldogs. It’s also the fourth-longest in 61 seasons of play in the Coliseum.

Jabri Abdur-Rahim is the Bulldogs’ leading scorer at 12.9 ppg. The senior from South Orange, N.J., sports team-leading shooting percentages of .432 from 3-point range and .882 at the free throw line. Noah Thomasson also is scoring at a double-digit pace for the Bulldogs at 12.5 ppg. 

Russel Tchewa is coming off his best outing as a Bulldog at Missouri. The graduate transfer from Douala, Cameroon notched season-high tallies of 18 points and 11 rebounds en route to his first double-double at UGA.

Justin Hill is distributing a team-best 3.3 assists per game and entered the week ranked fourth in the SEC and No. 50 nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.71. 

Keeping An Eye On…

Among UGA’s career leaders…

Jabri Abdur-Rahim is

• 6 3FGs from No. 19 Michael Chadwick

• 11 3FGs from No. 18 Sundiata Gaines

• 12 3FGs from No. 17 Rashad Wright

• 1 3FGAs from No. 20 Nemi Djurisic

Career statistics wise…

RJ Sunahara is

• Playing in his 99th career game

• 4 rebounds from 600

• 2 FGAs from 1000

Russel Tchewa is

• 11 rebounds from 600

Noah Thomasson is

• Playing in his 100th career game

• 5 assists from 250

• 1 FGs from 500

• 25 FGAs from 1000

Scouting The Razorbacks

Arkansas arrives in Athens with a somewhat deceptive 9-5 record. Four of the Razorbacks’ five setbacks are teams ranked in this week’s AP poll – No. 7 North Carolina, No. 9 Oklahoma, No. 13 Memphis and No. 16 Auburn. Arkansas also owns a win over No. 11 Duke.

Tramon Mark leads a trio of Razorbacks scoring at a double-digit pace at 16.5 ppg. Keyon Menefield Jr. and Khalif Battle are chipping in 14.8 ppg and 13.6 ppg, respectively. Trevon Brazile is a single point shy of averaging double figures at 9.9 ppg and leads Arkansas in rebounding at 6.9 rpg.

Series History With Arkansas

Despite Georgia owning a 10-7 lead in meetings between the Bulldogs and Arkansas in Athens, the Razorbacks possess a 26-16 advantage in the all-time series.

In the most recent matchup last season on Feb. 21 in Fayetteville, Kario Oquendo scored 20 points to lead a trio of Bulldogs in double figures in a 97-65 setback to the Razorbacks.

Arkansas grabbed an early lead, gradually expanded that margin to 18-8 with 11:42 left in the first half and led by double digits the rest of the evening.

Oquendo’s 17-point outing also led Georgia during Arkansas’ last trip to Athens, a 99-73 setback to the Razorbacks on Feb. 2, 2022.

Georgia led for 12:33 of a first half that featured three ties and seven lead changes.

The Razorbacks knocked down a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to end the period up 53-47. Those totals represented the most points the Bulldogs scored and gave up in a first half during the 2021-22 season.

Arkansas began the second period with a 12-2 surge over the opening 3:17 to take control of the contest.

Revisiting Georgia’s record setting performances in the 2023 football season and bowl

The 2023 Georgia squad, led by head coach Kirby Smart, established noteworthy performances that will be included in the NCAA, Capital One Orange Bowl, Southeastern Conference and Bulldog record books from its 13-1 campaign.

The Bulldogs capped the season with a historic rout of fifth-ranked Florida State in the Capital One Orange Bowl, posting a 63-3 decision. The victory gave the seniors a 50-4 career mark, the most ever wins by a Georgia class. Also, Georgia’s 42 wins over the last three seasons is an FBS record. Overall, the Bulldogs are 94-16 in the Smart era.

Georgia was the only FBS team to finish the 2023 season nationally ranked in the top five in both Scoring Offense (40.1 points per game/5th) and Scoring Defense (15.6 ppg/5th). The Bulldogs had a final national ranking of No. 3 in the US LBM Coaches Top 25 Poll and No. 4 by the Associated Press.

Here is a look at the records set by the 2023 Bulldogs:

NCAA STATISTICAL CHAMPION RECORDS FOR 2023

*3^rd Down Conversion: 55.2%

*3^rd Down Conversion Defense: 25.7%

UGA & INDIVIDUAL TEAM RECORDS

*The 2023 senior class finished with a 50-4 mark, two national championships and an SEC title plus went 6-0 in bowl/CFP games with three of those wins over teams that were undefeated

*Part of a team that posted three straight 12-0 regular seasons including 8-0 in the SEC (only team to ever do that in league play)

*Largest Margin of Victory By Any Team In A Bowl/CFP Game: 60 (The old mark was 58 set by Georgia in the 2023 CFP Championship Game over TCU 65-7)

*Best Completion Percentage/Season: 71.78% (ranked 4^th nationally in 2023)

*Highest Average Yards Per Play/Season: 7.26 (ranked 4^th nationally in 2023)

*Fewest Punt Returns Allowed: 0 (first FBS team to allow none in a season since Ohio in 2020)

*Most Total First Downs/Game: 36 vs. FSU in Orange Bowl (ranked 4^th nationally in 2023)

*Most First Downs Passing/Game: 22 vs. Kentucky (tied mark; ranked 3^rd nationally in 2023)

*Best Completion Percentage/Season: 72.42% by Carson Beck (ranked 4^th nationally in 2023)

*Most Passing Yards By A Junior/Season: 3,941 by Carson Beck (ranked 3^rd nationally among all players in 2023)

*Highest PAT Percentage/Season: 100% by Peyton Woodring (71-for-71 ranked 2^nd nationally among all players in 2023)

*Most Points Scored By A Freshman: 134 by Peyton Woodring (led all freshmen nationally and ranked 3^rd among all players in 2023)

STREAKS

*Enters 2024 season with a school record streak of 39 consecutive regular season victories

*Enters 2024 season with an SEC and school record streak of 27 consecutive SEC regular season wins

*Enters 2024 season with a school record 25-game home winning streak, which leads in FBS

*Enters 2024 with a 15-game winning streak in an opponent’s home stadium, which leads in FBS

*Enters 2024 with the nation’s longest active bowl streak at 27 seasons including winning its last seven bowl/CFP games

*Had an SEC and school record 29-game winning streak over three seasons, which ranked tied for the fifth longest in FBS

*Had an SEC and school record streak of 24 consecutive weeks at No. 1 in the Associated Press rankings (10/9/22 to 11/26/23), which ranked second all-time in the CFP era

CAPITAL ONE ORANGE BOWL AND/OR UGA/SEC BOWL RECORDS

$^+Largest Margin of Victory: 60

$^Most Points In A Quarter & Most Points, 2nd Quarter: 35

$^Most Points Scored in 2^nd Quarter, Both Teams: 38, Georgia (35) vs. FSU (3)

^Most Points, First Half: 42

$^Largest Halftime Lead: 39

$^Most Total Offense: 673 yards

^~Highest Average Gain Per Play: 8.9 (673 yards on 76 plays ties mark)

^+Most Touchdowns: 9 (ties mark)

^Most Rushing Yards: 372

^Most Touchdowns, Rushing: 5 (ties mark)

$^+Most First Downs: 36

^Most First Downs Rushing: 20

$^Fewest Punts: 1 (ties mark)

^Most PATs Made: 9 (Peyton Woodring)

$Orange Bowl Record; ^UGA Bowl Record; ~Also 8.9 (533 on 60 in 2022 CFP semifinal Peach Bowl win over #4 Ohio State); +SEC Bowl Record

GYM: Lily Smith named the Southeastern Conference Co-Freshman of the Week

Lily Smith of the Georgia gymnastics team has been named the Southeastern Conference Co-Freshman of the Week after a stunning debut on bars against NC State in the GymDogs’ season opener. 

Smith, a native of Limerick, Pennsylvania, began her GymDog career with a near-perfect 9.975 on bars. It was the highest score from a freshman across the country in week one of the season. 

Smith is only the seventh gymnast- and fourth freshman- in Georgia gymnastics history to start a season with a 9.975 on any event. She is only the fourth to achieve the mark on the uneven bars in the first meet- none of which were freshmen. The only other freshmen to score a 9.975 or better in their GymDog debuts were Leah Brown on vault in 1994, Kim Arnold on vault in 1995, and Michelle Emmons on floor in 2002. The other gymnasts include Karin Lichey (vault, bars, and floor in 1998), Courtney Kupets (beam in 2007 and bars in 2009), and Kat Ding (bars in 2012). 

The former five-star recruit also competed on beam and floor for the GymDogs, notching a 9.750 and 9.825, respectively.  She matched teammate Ady Wahl for the highest floor score among GymDogs in the opener. 

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