(12-7, 4-3) Georgia vs. (11-7, 4-2) Alabama
Game time: Wednesday, January 25 at 9:00 p.m. ET
Location: Stegeman Coliseum in Athens, GA
TV: ESPNU (Play-by-play: Mike Couzens; Analyst: Brooke Weisbrod)
Video Stream: WatchESPN.com
Radio: Georgia Bulldog Network by IMG (Play-by-play: Scott Howard; Color Commentary: Chuck Dowdle; Producer: Tony Schiavone)
Flagship Station: WSB AM 750
The Georgia men’s basketball team are back home to host the Alabama Crimson Tide for a 9 p.m. tipoff in Stegeman Coliseum tonight that will be televised nationally on ESPNU.
The Tide represent one of five SEC foes the Bulldogs will face on a home-and-home basis this season. Georgia features one of the most challenging league schedules, with all five two-timers ranked in the top-100 of Monday’s edition of the NCAA RPI – No. 3 Kentucky, No. 11 Florida, No. 20 South Carolina, No. 70 Auburn and the Tide at No. 88. The Bulldogs were No. 45 in Monday’s RPI.
Georgia dropped to 12-7 overall and 4-3 in SEC play with Saturday’s one-point setback at Texas A&M.
Yante Maten leads Georgia in scoring (19.6 ppg) and rebounding (7.9 rpg), tallies which also rank second and third in the SEC, respectively. Maten also ranks second in the league in double-doubles with five.
J.J. Frazier is contributing 16.2 ppg (No. 7 in the SEC). He is averaging an SEC-best 2.1 steals (No. 29 nationally) and 4.3 assists, which ranked fifth in the SEC. In addition, Frazier is No. 3 in the SEC and No. 28 nationally in free throw percentage (.888).
Maten, a junior forward, and Frazier, a senior guard, are one of the nation’s most potent inside-outside offensive tandems. Their combined average of 35.8 ppg ranks No. 6 nationally among guard-forward scoring duos with both players ranked among the nation’s top-250 scorers. They are the only teammates in the top-10 from a Power 5 conference.
In statistics for conference games only, Maten and Frazier currently rank No. 3 and No. 4 in the SEC in scoring at 19.4 ppg and 18.1 ppg, respectively.
Juwan Parker, who has been Georgia’s third-leading scorer for the majority of the season, is on a tear of late. Parker averaged 8.0 ppg in non-conference play but is contributing 12.4 ppg in league action. That has upped his season average to 9.7 ppg.
Alabama is 11-7 on the year, with a 4-2 SEC mark. The Tide also is coming off a disappointing road loss after falling at Auburn last Saturday night.
Braxton Key owns team-high averages of 10.7 ppg and 5.7 rpg. Alabama sports a balanced offensive attack with eight players averaging 5.2 ppg or more.
The Starting Five
UA leads the all-time series with UGA, 93-50; however, the margin is a slim 31-30 edge in games played in Athens.
Juwan ParkerClick here to hear it has reached double digits in the scoring column in eight of the last 11 games and in six of seven SEC dates…after he did so once in his first 58 games played at UGA prior to that.
J.J. Frazier and Yante MatenClick here to hear it are the nation’s sixth-best inside-outside scoring combination among teams with two of the top-250 scorers in country. They are averaging a combined 35.8 ppg.
Among active SEC players, J.J. Frazier is No. 2 in points (1,296), No. 2 in assists (364), No. 4 in steals (140) and No. 10 in rebounds (380).
UGA has hit the 20-win plateau the past three years, just the second time in 111 seasons of basketball the Bulldogs have done so. Mark Fox is the first coach to lead UGA to three-straight 20-win efforts.
For the complete game notes, CLICK HERE