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MBB: Dawgs Open SEC Tourney Play Tonight

Date: Thursday, March 12, 2026

Time: 7:00 p.m. ET

Venue: Bridgestone Arena (19,395)

Location: Nashville, Tenn.

TV: SEC Network (Tom Hart, play-by-play; Dane Bradshaw, analyst)

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

The Starting Five

• The winningest and highest-scoring Georgia Bulldogs ever will open play in the 2026 SEC Tournament on Thursday when they face either Texas or Ole Miss in the second round at 7:00 p.m. ET.

• Georgia’s 22 victories to date represent the most ever by the Bulldogs during regular-season play in 121 seasons of competition and is two shy of UGA’s most wins in a season – 24 in 1982-83 and 1996-97.

• The Bulldogs have scored 2,802 points, passing the previous record of 2,764 points in 37 games during 2023-24. UGA is averaging 90.4 ppg, 7.7 ppg more than its current highest ever – 82.7 ppg in 1989-90.

• The “Dunkyard Dawgs” lead the nation in percentage of field goals that are dunks at 18.9 percent (193 of 964 FGs). Individually, Somto Cyril tops all D-I players in dunks with 81 rim rattlers.

• Georgia finished 10-8 in SEC play, the first time the Bulldogs have been above .500 in league play since also going 10-8 in 2015-16. UGA is the No. 7 seed, its highest since being No. 6 in 2016.

Entering Today’s Game:

Among UGA’s Career Leaders

Blue Cain is…

• 3 points from No. 44 Allan Johnson

• 4 points from No. 43 Bob Schloss

• 14 points from No. 42 Chris Daniels

• 17 points from No. 41 Jarvis Hayes

• 21 points from No. 40 Gerald Crosby

• 3 3-point FGs from co-No. 13s Ty Wilson and Ray Harrison

• 9 3-point FGs from No. 12 Kentavious Caldwell-Pope

• 10 3-point FGAs from No. 12 Ray Harrison

Somto Cyril is…

• 11 blocks from No. 6 Donte Williams

Among UGA’s Season Leaders

Somto Cyril is…

• 2 blocks from No. 6 Lavon Mercer (‘80)

• 7 blocks from No. 5 Nicolas Claxton (‘19)

Justin Abson is…

• 1 block from No. 18 Charles Claxton (‘92)

• 2 blocks from co-No. 15s Yante Maten (‘18) & Willie Anderson (in both ‘87 & ‘88)

• 3 blocks from No. 14 Trey Thompkins (‘11)

• 4 blocks from co-No. 12s Somto Cyril (‘25) & Donte’ Williams (12)

Jeremiah Wilkinson is…

• 14 points from 1,000 career points

• 1 3-point FGs from co-No. 12s Anthony Edwards (‘20) & Levin Stukes (‘06)

• 15 3-point FGAs from No. 7 Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (’12)

The Opening Tip

The 2025-26 Georgia Bulldogs – already UGA’s winningest and highest-scoring team in 121 seasons of intercollegiate competition – will open play in the SEC Tournament on Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. ET. The No. 7-seeded Bulldogs will face the winner of Wednesday’s first-round matchup between No. 10 seed Texas and No. 15 seed Ole Miss. 

With last Saturday’s 102-96 win at Mississippi State, Georgia notched its 22nd win of the season. That tally is the most ever for the Bulldogs during the regular season, surpassing the 21 victories of the 1930-31 and 1996-97 teams. Georgia is looking to inch closer to the program record of 24 overall wins in a single season set in 1982-83 and 1996-97.

Also in Starkville, the Bulldogs upped their season scoring total to 2,802 points in 31 games. That topped the Georgia record of 2,764 points in 37 games during the 2023-24 season, which culminated with a trip to the NIT semifinals.

Those results have Georgia poised to earn an NCAA Tournament bid for the second straight season, a first for the Bulldogs since participating in the 2001 and 2022 editions of “March Madness.”

According to bracketmatrix.com, Georgia is a unanimous pick to earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament, with the Bulldogs appearing in all 123 projections for “March Madness” by various bracketologists as of Tuesday. 

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

As of Monday, the Bulldogs led all 365 Division I programs in fastbreak points (20.0 ppg) and also were ranked among the top-10 nationally in blocks (No. 2 at 6.2), scoring (No. 3 at 90.4 ppg) and bench points (No. 7 at 34.4 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 128 double-figure scoring outputs this season. 

Jeremiah Wilkinson is averaging a team-high 17.3 ppg, while Blue Cain is contributing 13.6 ppg, Marcus “Smurf” Millender is chipping in 12.0 ppg, and Kanon Catchings is adding 11.7 ppg. 

Somto Cyril, an SEC All-Defensive selection by league coaches, is averaging 9.7 ppg and leads the Bulldogs in rebounding (5.6 rpg), blocks (2.4 bpg) and field goal percentage (.761).

UGA’s SEC Tournament History

Georgia has compiled a 49-62 record in 65 SEC Tournaments. The Bulldogs are 40-43 in SEC Tourney action since the event resumed in 1979 after a 27-season hiatus from 1953-79.

Georgia won SEC Tournament titles in 1983 and 2008 and also finished as the runners-up in 1940, 1981, 1988 and 1997. 

The Bulldogs have reached the semifinals 15 times, most recently doing so in 2016. 

Series History With Texas

Georgia owns a 10-6 lead in all-time matchups with Texas.

Texas is one of two current league members that the Bulldogs have never faced in an SEC Tournament game.

The Bulldogs and Longhorns split a home-and-home series this season, with Georgia winning in Athens, 91-80, on Feb. 21 and Texas earning a victory in Austin on Jan. 21. 

Series History With Ole Miss

Georgia is 78-49 all-time versus Ole Miss, including a 9-2 advantage in SEC Tournament meetings. 

On Jan. 14 in Athens, an Ole Miss putback with .02 seconds left in overtime lifted the Rebels to a 97-95 upset over Georgia. 

The Bulldogs defeated the Rebels, 81-63, in their most recent SEC Tournament matchup in 2020. 

That first-round matchup was one of two games played before the tournament was canceled due to COVID and also served as the last college outing for Anthony Edwards, who went on to become the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft and has emerged as one of the league’s most electrifying players during six seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Last Time Out

Kanon Catchings scored 23 points to lead five Bulldogs in double figures in a 102-96 victory over Mississippi State in Starkville last Saturday.

After trailing 47-42 at halftime, Georgia exploded for 60 second-half points and topped the 100-point plateau for a school-record eighth time during the 2025-26 season.

“We made history today with the regular season win total,” head coach Mike White said. “It’s incredibly rewarding. We’ve got turn the page quickly, though, because here comes the postseason and we have a chance to play for a championship this coming weekend. We will certainly play in ‘the Dance’ and we certainly want to dance as long as possible. That’s the next step with this program, but we’re really, really proud of the regular season we’ve had.”

In Several Ways, These Are Already The Best Bulldogs Ever

Georgia’s school-record 22 regular-season wins is just the tip of the iceberg for what the 2025-26 Bulldogs have accomplished. 

Additional record-setting numbers include:

• Broke the school record for points in a season at Mississippi State on March 7. The Bulldogs have scored 2,802 points in 31 games, surpassing the previous record of 2,764 in 37 games set during the 2023-24 season.

• Broke the school record for blocks in a season at Vanderbilt on Feb. 25. The Bulldogs have now blocked 192 shots in 31 games, bettering the previous record for most rejections of 175 in 34 games during the 2015-16 season.

• Broke the school record for 3-pointers at Mississippi State on March 7. The Bulldogs have made 305 3-pointers in 31 games, bettering the previous record for most 3-pointers of 300 in 37 games during the 2023-24 season.

• Tied the school record for 3-point attempts at Mississippi State on March 7. The Bulldogs have attempted 883 3-pointers in 31 games, equaling the record of 883 attempts in 37 games during the 2023-24 season.

• Broke the school record for 100-point games with a sixth outing over 100 against West Georgia on Dec. 22, the 12th game of the season. The Bulldogs now have eight 100-point outings, bettering the previous record of five during the 1990-91 season.

The Bulldogs also could achieve better marks for:

• Georgia has 22 wins, two shy of the current record of 24 victories during the 1982-83 and 1996-97 seasons.

• Georgia is averaging 90.4 ppg, 7.7 ppg better than the current record of 82.7 ppg in 1989-90.

• Georgia is shooting 75.8667 percent from the free throw line, just shy of the current record of 75.9197 percent in 1996-97. 

• Georgia has made 964 field goals, 32 shy of the current record of 997 in 1982-83.

Dogs Make Massive Metric Jump Under White

Georgia has made considerable improvement under head coach Mike White from both semantic and quantifiable perspectives. 

From traditional “game notes” verbiage, you will read: 

• Georgia upped its regular-season win total by 10 victories in White’s first campaign, the second-largest increase of any Power conference team in 2023. 

• In 2023-24, the Bulldogs earned their first postseason bid since 2017 and advanced to the NIT semifinals.

• Georgia earned its first NCAA Tournament bid in a decade in 2025, doing so while playing a nation-leading eight regular-season games against top-10 teams.

• The Bulldogs reached the 20-win plateau for the third straight season in 2026 and notched 22 regular-season victories, their most ever in 121 seasons of Georgia Basketball.

From a numerical perspective, Georgia’s progress has been even more impressive. 

Among seven of the most-utilized college hoops metrics, the Bulldogs have improved each season and ascended an average of 194.0 spots under White as outlined below.

WTEN: Georgia Makes Weekend Swing Through Texas

The No. 1 Georgia women’s tennis team (9-2, 4-1 SEC) continues its road swing this week with a pair of top-10 matchups. The Bulldogs will face No. 5 Texas A&M (13-2, 5-0 SEC) on Thursday at 6 p.m. ET in College Station, Texas, before taking on No. 9 Texas (9-3, 4-1 SEC) on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET in Austin, Texas.

Fast Facts

• The Bulldogs lead the all-time series 23-6 against the Aggies, with the most recent victory coming by a 4-0 score in the 2025 NCAA National Championship.
• Against Texas, Georgia leads the all-time series 14-5, but dropped a 4-2 decision on the road last season.
• Georgia features six players in the singles rankings: No. 6 Aysegul Mert, No. 36 Anastasiia Gureva, No. 37 Anastasiia Lopata, No. 48 Deniz Dilek, No. 61 Sofia Rojas and No. 115 Patricija Paukstyte.
• In addition, Georgia has three ranked doubles teams. The Bulldogs’ top pairing is No. 8 Dilek and Mert. Mert and Gureva are No. 43, while Dilek and Emma Dong are No. 49.

Scouting the Opponents
Texas A&M

• Texas A&M has a total of four ranked singles players. Lucciana Perez at No. 5, Mia Kupres at No. 28, Ilinca Amariei at No. 60 and Violeta Martinez at No. 86.
• Additionally, Texas A&M has two ranked doubles pairs: Perez and Kupres at No. 11 and Amariei and Martinez at No. 54.
• Texas A&M will look to remain undefeated in SEC play, with its only two losses this season coming against No. 16 Pepperdine and No. 2 Ohio State.

Texas

• Texas has three players ranked in the latest singles rankings: Carmen Herea at No. 1, Anastasia Abbagnato at No. 16, and Eszter Meri at No. 81.
• The Longhorns also feature three ranked doubles pairs: Ariana Anazagasty-Pursoo and Abbagnato at No. 29, Elizabeth Ionescu and Herea at No. 47 and Ionescu and Christasha McNeil at No. 50.
• Texas’ only loss in conference play came at the hands of in-state rival Texas A&M, 4-3, in a tight SEC opener.

Match 12 – No. 1 Georgia vs No. 25 Alabama
Date: Thursday, March 12, 2026
Time: 6 p.m. ET
Location: College Station, Texas
Site: Mitchell Tennis Center
Live Video: https://gado.gs/e8d
Live Stats: TBD

Match 13 – No. 1 Georgia vs No. 9 Texas
Date: Saturday, March 14, 2026
Time: 1 p.m. ET
Location: Austin, Texas
Site: Texas Tennis Center
Live Stats: https://gado.gs/ec5
Live Stream: https://gado.gs/e91

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