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MBB: Georgia (12-3, 2-0 SEC) vs. No. 5 Tennessee (11-4, 1-1 SEC) today at noon

Date: Saturday, January 13

Time: 12:00 p.m. ET

Venue: Stegeman Coliseum (10,523)

Location: Athens, Ga.

Series History: UT leads, 99-61

Last Meeting: UT, 71-40, on Jan. 25, 2023

TV: ESPN2 (Kevin Fitzgerald, play-by-play; Dane Bradshaw, color analyst)

Radio: Georgia Bulldog Network – SiriusXM 106 or 190 (Scott Howard, play-by-play; Chuck Dowdle, color analyst; Adam Gillespie, producer)

Game Giveaway: The first 1000 UGA students in attendance will receive a free winter hat (there are two choices!)

The Starting Five

• Georgia, which is riding 10-game winning streaks both overall and at home, hosts No. 5 Tennessee in a Saturday matinee at Stegeman Coliseum.

• Georgia’s 10-game winning streak equals the fourth-longest streak in program history and the Bulldogs’ longest since an 11-game streak 75 years ago during the 1947-48 season.

• Georgia is 10-0 at Stegeman Coliseum this season, improving to 23-4 in Mike White’s two seasons at UGA. White is 30-5 all-time at Stegeman, including a 7-1 mark while at Louisiana Tech and Florida.

• Georgia is 2-0 in the SEC for the first time since the 2013-14. That season ended with the Bulldogs’ dropping a 79-71 decision to…the aforementioned Mike White-coached Louisiana Tech team.

• 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 hosts No. 5 Tennessee at historic Stegeman Coliseum on Saturday looking to extend not one but two of the longest winning streaks ever by the Bulldogs. 

Georgia improved to 12-3 and 2-0 in the SEC with Wednesday night’s double-digit victory over Arkansas. The Bulldogs have won 10 straight games – both overall and at Stegeman Coliseum. 

The overall streak, which dates back to a Nov. 24 victory over Winthrop, ties the fourth-longest is program history and is Georgia’s longest stretch of success since the 1947-48 season. 

Entering this weekend, the 10-game streak also was the fourth-longest among the 362 teams competing at the Division I level this season.

Georgia’s 10-0 start at Stegeman equals the seventh-longest overall and fifth-longest single-season home winning steak ever by the Bulldogs. It’s also the third-longest in 61 seasons of play in the Coliseum.

While Noah Thomasson inched past Jabri Abdur-Rahim among Georgia’s scoring leaders during the victory over Arkansas, Justin Hill has been the hottest Bulldog of late. 

Thomasson enters the weekend averaging a team-best 12.7 ppg, slightly better than Abdur-Rahim’s 12.3 ppg. Abdur-Rahim sports team-leading shooting percentages of .413 from 3-point range and .886 at the free throw line. 

Hill is Georgia’s third-leading scorer and coming off back-to-back season-high offensive outputs of 16 points at Missouri and 19 against Arkansas. In the process, he has upped his scoring average by more than a full point per game – from 8.5 ppg to 9.7 ppg. Hill has been the best Bulldog in assisting others’ points as well. The senior from Houston leads Georgia in assists at 3.2 apg and ranks No. 5 in the SEC and No. 47 in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.67.

Among UGA’s career leaders…

Jabri Abdur-Rahim is

• 6 3FGs from No. 19 Michael Chadwick

• 10 3FGs from No. 18 Sundiata Gaines

• 11 3FGs from No. 17 Rashad Wright

• 43 3FGAs from No. 19 Michael Chadwick

Career statistics wise…

Justin Hill is

• 40 points from 1,200

RJ Sunahara is

• Playing in his 99th career game against Tennessee

• 3 rebounds from 600

• 1 FGAs from 1000

Russel Tchewa is

• 3 rebounds from 600

Noah Thomasson is

• 3 assists from 250

• 12 FGAs from 1000

Scouting The Vols

No. 5 Tennessee enters this weekend’s game at 11-4 overall and 1-1 in the SEC. The Vols had their seven-game winning streak snapped with a 77-72 setback at Mississippi State on Wednesday. Tennessee’s other three losses are to teams ranked in the top-10 of this week’s AP poll – No. 1 Purdue, No. 3 Kansas and No. 7 North Carolina.

Dalton Knecht leads a quartet of double-digit scorers for the Vols at 15.9 ppg, followed by Jonas Aidoo at 11.3 ppg, Josiah-Jordan James at 10.5 ppg and Zakai Zeigler at 10.0 ppg. Zeigler also leads the SEC in assists at 5.1 apg.

Series History With Tennessee

Despite Georgia owning a 40-34 edge in Athens, Tennessee enters Saturday’s matchup with a 99-61 lead in the all-time series between the Bulldogs and Vols.

Last season on Jan. 25 in Knoxville, Georgia started quickly but could not maintain that pace, dropping a 70-41 decision to No. 4 Tennessee. The Bulldogs scored the game’s first four points and remained within a single bucket at 19-17 midway through the first half before the Vols embarked on a 16-5 surge to take control.

In the most recent meeting in Athens two seasons ago on March 1, Aaron Cook’s team-high 17 points led three Bulldogs in double figures in a 75-68 setback to No. 13 Tennessee at Stegeman Coliseum.

Kario Oquendo added 16 points, including SportsCenter’s No. 3 play of the day on a first-half dunk, and Braelen Bridges chipped in 12, this team-high 23rd double-digit scoring output of the season.

After a first half featuring 11 lead changes and six ties, the Volunteers used an 11-0 run to build a 54-44 lead with 14:02 remaining. The Bulldogs used their own 11-0 surge to close the gap to 64-60 at  the 6:05 mark, but Tennessee withstood the rally to earn its first win in Athens since 2011.

WTennis: Four singles wins and two doubles victories highlight the Georgia’s first day at the Michigan Invitational on Friday 

 Four singles wins and two doubles victories highlight the Georgia women’s tennis team’s strong first day at the Michigan Invitational on Friday. 

Starting with seven singles matches in the morning, the Bulldogs took four wins with one coming against a ranked opponent.

No. 30 Dasha Vidmanova picked up the first victory of the day against No. 85 Luciana Perry (Ohio State). The Prague, Czech Republic-native opened the first set strong and established a multi-game lead before earning the one set advantage. Carrying over all momentum into the second set, Vidmanova made quick work on her way to closing out a 6-2, 6-1 straight-set victory over Perry. 

Guillermina Grant followed up with a win over Maddie Atway (Ohio State). A dominant string of games gave Grant the early lead before she strong serves helped secure the one set lead. Despite a much tighter second set, Grant capitalized late and pulled through for the 6-1, 6-4 victory. 

The third singles victory of the day came from No. 116 Mell Reasco over Sydni Ratliff (Ohio State). Reasco struggled to find rhythm early in the first set, pushing to close to deficit before the set leaned opposite for Ratliff. The second set proved to be more competitive early with several lead changes before Reasco took the last three games to level the match as one set each. In the third set, Reasco’s effort and hustle led the way as she completed a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 comeback victory over Ratliff. 

With each team having three singles wins through six matches, Aysegul Mert picked up the fourth singles victory for the Bulldogs over Alessia Cau (Ohio State). A grueling first set saw Mert battle back from two games down to force a tiebreaker and win the set. The second set paralleled the first with both players engaging in a back-and-forth battle. In the late stages of the second, Mert sparked momentum and closed out the set to earn a 7-6 (6), 7-5 victory. 

In doubles play, Georgia picked up two out of three matches with both ranked duos securing wins on the day. 

No. 58 Mert and Vidmanova picked up the first doubles win against Carol Lee and Kate Sharabura (Georgia Tech). Early dominance set the tone for the Bulldogs as a streak of powerful finishes helped elevate Mert and Vidmanova to a quick 6-1 victory. 

The No. 15 tandem of Grant and Mai Nirundorn closed out the first day of competition with a win against Kylie Bilchev and Alejandra Cruz (Georgia Tech). Despite the opposition leading after three sets, the Bulldog duo pushed to close the gap before leveling the match at 3-3. Both tandems battled to a 5-5 score before Grant and Nirundorn closed out the match at 7-5. 

The Bulldogs will resume competition on Saturday, Jan. 13 with doubles action against Ohio State at 10 a.m. before moving on to singles matches against Michigan in the afternoon. All competition be individual and no team scoring will be kept. 

MICHIGAN INVITATIONAL 

Date: Friday, Jan. 12 to Sunday, Jan. 14 

Time: 10 a.m. every day 

Location: Ann Arbor, Mich. 

Venue: Varsity Tennis Center 

Live Stats/Video: https://bit.ly/3RTtPlR 

Friday Results 

Singles Matches 

No. 30 Dasha Vidmanova (UGA) def. No. 85 Luciana Perry (Ohio State), 6-2, 6-1 

Guillermina Grant (UGA) def. Maddie Atway (Ohio State), 6-1, 6-4 

No. 116 Mell Reasco (UGA) def. Sydni Ratliff (Ohio State), 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 

Aysegul Mert (UGA) def. Alessia Cau (Ohio State), 7-6 (6), 7-5 

Dani Schoenly (Ohio State) def. Haley Gaudette (UGA), 6-0, 6-0 

Teah Chavez (Ohio State) def. No. 70 Anastasiia Lopata (UGA), 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 

Audrey Spencer (Ohio State) def. No. 108 Mai Nirundorn (UGA), 6-3, 6-2 

Doubles Matches 

No. 15 Guillermina Grant/Mai Nirundorn (UGA) def. Kylie Bilchev/Alejandra Cruz (Georgia Tech), 7-5 

No. 58 Aysegul Mert/Dasha Vidmanova (UGA) def. Carol Lee/Kate Sharabura (Georgia Tech), 6-1 

Given Roach/Scarlett Nicholson (Georgia Tech) def. Anastasiia Lopata/Mell Reasco (UGA), 6-1 

Baseball: Tickets are now on sale for the UGA First Pitch Banquet

Tickets are now on sale to attend the University of Georgia’s First Pitch Banquet in the William Porter Payne and Porter Otis Payne Indoor Athletic Facility on Saturday, Feb. 10.

The highlights of the dinner will be hearing from new Ike Cousins head baseball coach Wes Johnson and members of the 2024 squad. A question-and-answer session with coach and the student-athletes will be a part of the program. The Bulldogs will be seated throughout the venue too.

Georgia’s 2024 squad features 20 returning lettermen including preseason All-American Charlie Condon. He was the consensus National Freshman of the Year in 2023 after capturing the team’s triple crown, batting .386 with 25 home runs and 67 RBI. On the mound, Georgia’s returnees include top SEC starter Charlie Goldstein along with Leighton Finley, who earned Cape Cod League All-Star honors this past summer. A total of 17 student-athletes joined the program from the NCAA transfer portal including sophomore shortstop Kolby Branch. He was a 2023 Freshman All-American and Baylor’s triple crown winner.

A special early VIP meet-and-greet ticket is an option this year. This will begin when the doors open at 6 p.m. The program will begin at 7 p.m. The deadline to reserve your seat(s) is Feb. 2.

The Payne Indoor Athletic Facility is located right across the street from Foley Field. Parking will be available in the Foley Field commuter lot.

Fans can reserve their spot(s) for the banquet with online registration. Click here to purchase your tickets for the event. Enter the Promotional code: FIRSTPITCH

If you are interested in sponsoring a table for the event, please reach out to Mattie.Lane@uga.edu. Any additional questions regarding the banquet, please contact Kevin Knight at kknight@sports.uga.edu.

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