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MBB: Dogs Face Marquette Today In First Of Back-To-Back Games Against Ranked Foes

Date: Saturday, November 23, 2024

Time: 11:00 a.m. ET

Location: Paradise Island, Bahamas

Venue: Imperial Arena at Atlantis

Streaming: FloHoops (Evan Stockton, play-by-play; Lexi Ayala, analyst)

Radio: Georgia Bulldog Network (Cabell Philpott, play-by-play; Chuck Dowdle, analyst)

The Starting Five

• Georgia will venture to The Bahamas for a busy weekend featuring matchups against No. 14/14 Marquette and No. 22/20 St. John’s in roughly a 26-hour span on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

• Georgia is 5-0 on the young season with a scoring margin of +20.4 ppg. Five Bulldogs are averaging double figures, and seven Dogs have scored in double figures a combined 22 times to date.

• Marquette and St. John’s represent the first two of 16 regular-season games the Bulldogs will play against teams included in this week’s edition of ESPN’s Bracketology. Georgia was the final squad of the “next four out” in those projections. 

• Following Tuesday’s win over Alabama A&M, Georgia ranked No. 2 nationally with a +18.0 rebound margin, including a school-record +30 (53-23) effort against Texas Southern on Nov. 10.

• Asa Newell exploded for 26 points in the Bulldogs’ season opener against Tennessee Tech on Nov. 4. That tied Dominique Wilkins for the most points ever by a UGA freshman in their collegiate debut. Wilkins scored 26 points against Troy State on Nov. 22, 1979, in his first game as a Bulldog.

The Opening Tip

The Georgia Bulldogs will travel to The Bahamas for challenging back-to-back outings against No. 14/14 Marquette and No. 22/20 St. John’s in roughly a 26-hour span this weekend. Georgia will take on Marquette on Saturday at 11 a.m. ET in the Atlantis Paradise Island Resort’s Imperial Arena and then face St. John’s at the same time on Sunday morning.

Georgia is 5-0 on the season, capturing those victories in relatively dominant fashion. The Bulldogs sport a scoring margin of +20.4 ppg and have led for 178:18 of the 200 minutes they have played to date, 89.2 percent of the time.

As of Thursday, Georgia was the only team with three players ranked among the SEC’s top-20 scorers. Freshman Asa Newell was No. 9 at 16.8 ppg, Silas Demary Jr. was No. 17 at 14.6 ppg and Dakota Leffew was No. 20 at 14.2. ppg. Tyrin Lawrence (11.2 ppg) and Blue Cain (10.2 ppg) provide Georgia with fourth and fifth double-figure scoring averages. 

RJ Godfrey, who recorded double-doubles in two of the season’s first three outings, is three points shy of providing the Bulldogs with a sixth double-digit average at 9.4 ppg. In addition to the aforementioned, freshman Somto Cyril scored a career-high 11 points against Alabama A&M. 

All told, the seven aforementioned Bulldogs have combined to notch 22 double-figure performances in just five games this season.

Scouting The Golden Eagles

Marquette improved to 5-0 on the season with its 76-58 thumping of No. 6 Purdue on Tuesday at Fiserv Forum.

Kam Jones notched the Golden Eagles’ first triple-double in more than two decades with 17 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists against the Boilermakers.

Jones is averaging an eye-catching 22.6 points per game, while three more Golden Eagles are scoring in double figures – Steve Mitchell at 13.6 ppg, Chase Ross at 13.0 ppg and David Joplin at 12.4 ppg. As of Wednesday, Jones ranked No. 17 nationally in scoring, and Ross was No. 8 in steals at 3.2 spg.

Series History With MU

Marquette owns a 2-1 edge in all-time meetings between the Bulldogs and the Golden Eagles on the hardwood.

In the most recent matchup on Dec. 2, 2017, a collective effort with nine players scoring five or more points propelled Georgia past Marquette 73-66 before a crowd of 13,476 at the Bradley Center. 

After scratching out a 58-55 lead, Rayshaun Hammonds, Yante Maten, Turtle Jackson and Teshaun Hightower connected on a combined 11-of-13 trips to the line in the final 189 seconds. During the same span, Georgia held Marquette to 2-of-6 shooting – including 1-of-5 from 3-point range – to close out the victory.

Marquette won the first two matchups in the series. 

The initial outing was in the 1974 Milwaukee Classic, as No. 14 Marquette topped the Bulldogs, 100-70. Georgia then dropped a 91-89 overtime decision to Wisconsin the following day.

In the only date in Athens on Dec. 4, 2016, a hot-shooting Marquette squad bested the Bulldogs, 89-79, at Stegeman Coliseum. Yante Maten and J.J. Frazier poured in 24 and 22 points, respectively, to account for 58.2 percent of Georgia’s offensive output in the contest.

The Golden Eagles knocked down their first seven 3-point attempts on the day and eventually finished with 13 makes from behind the arc. The Bulldogs were as close as two points with a little more than seven minutes left, but Marquette went on an 11-0 run to regain control.

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