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MBB: UGA Vs. Clemson Today for the Shriners Children’s Charleston Classic Title

Shriners Children’s Charleston Classic

Palmetto Bracket Championship

Georgia (6-0) vs. Clemson (5-1)

Date: Sunday, November 23

Time: 1:00 p.m. ET

Venue: TD Arena (5,100)

Location: Charleston, S.C.

Streaming: ESPN (John Schriffen, play-by-play; Scott Williams, analyst)

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

The Starting Five

• Georgia will face Clemson on Sunday afternoon in the championship game of the Shriners Children’s Charleston Classic at the College of Charleston’s TD Arena. 

• The Bulldogs are looking to win their first holiday tournament title since the 1996 Outrigger Hotels Classic in Hawaii.

• As of Saturday, the Bulldogs are ranked in the top-10 nationally in 9 of 28 statistics tracked by the NCAA, including No. 2 in fastbreak points (29.8 ppg) and No. 3 in bench points (47.3 ppg).

• Georgia’s Dunkyard Dawgs have scored 25.0 percent of their field goals – 49 of 195 – on dunks, the second-highest percentage in the nation according to BartTorvik.com.

• Georgia topped the 90-point plateau in each of its first four games…after scoring 90 or more points in nine of 102 games during Mike White’s first three seasons at Georgia.

The Opening Tip

The Georgia Bulldogs will look to capture their first holiday tournament title in 30 years on Sunday afternoon when they face Clemson in the championship game of the Shriners Children’s Charleston Classic at TD Arena.

Georgia defeated Washington State, Memphis and No. 21 Maryland on Dec. 28-30, 1996, to win the 1996 Outrigger Hotels Classic in Honolulu.

The Bulldogs advanced to the championship game with a thrilling 78-77 win over Xavier on Friday. Georgia controlled the scoreboard for much of the contest before the Musketeers rallied to take a 77-75 lead with 1:38 remaining. Marcus “Smurf” Millender canned a 3-pointer from the right wing with 9.9 seconds left to provide the game winner and improve the Bulldogs to 6-0.

It would be hard to fathom a better beginning to the 2025-26 campaign for Georgia, at least statistically speaking. As of Saturday, the Bulldogs are ranked among the nation’s top-10 teams in 9 stats tracked by the NCAA – that’s 32.1 percent of the 28 total team categories the NCAA measures. Most notably, Georgia ranked second in the nation in fastbreak points (29.8 ppg) and blocks (9.2 bpg), and third in bench points (47.3 ppg).

Those stats point to two of the Bulldogs’ strengths – speed and depth. 

According to KenPom.com, Georgia ranks No. 15 nationally in adjusted tempo. 

Eleven Bulldogs are averaging double-digit minutes, with 10 of them already recording double-figure scoring outputs. Blue Cain paces a trio of scorers contributing 10-plus points per game at 15.2 ppg, followed by Jeremiah Wilkinson at 14.3 ppg and Jake Wilkins at 11.3 ppg.

Scouting The Tigers

Clemson improved to 5-1 on the season with a come-from-behind 70-67 victory over West Virginia on Friday night. The Tigers outscored the Mountaineers 24-11 over the final eight minutes to secure the victory.

Carter Welling leads Clemson in both scoring (11.7 ppg) and rebounding (6.7 rpg), while former Bulldog RJ Godfrey is close behind at 11.3 ppg and 6.5 rpg.

Series History With Clemson

Georgia sports a 56-26 lead in all-time meetings with Clemson on the hardwood, including a 4-3 edge in neutral site matchups.

Seventy-two of those games came between 1913 and 65, followed by a 21-year gap in meetings.

The Bulldogs and Tigers are meeting for the first time in eight seasons. Clemson topped the Bulldogs 64-49 in the semifinals of the 2018 Cayman Islands Classic. 

Last Time Out

Marcus “Smurf” Millender’s 3-pointer with 9.9 seconds remaining lifted Georgia to a 78-77 win over Xavier on Friday in the opening round of the Shriners Children’s Hospital Classic.

The Bulldogs led 29:48 of the contest and by a comfortable margin for most of the evening. After ending the first half up 53-41, Georgia’s lead topped out at 14 points (62-48) early in the second stanza.

A pair of Kareem Stagg free throws with 3:49 remaining put the Bulldogs up 75-70 before the Musketeers used a 7-0 surge to gain their first lead since the 6:58 mark of the first half.

After empty possessions by each team, Millender knocked down the game-winner.

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