The University of Georgia men’s basketball team heads out on the road to Columbia, SC to take the Gamecocks in their final road game of the season.
 

Georgia Basketball Game Notes

Georgia (15-12, 8-8 SEC) vs. South Carolina (23-6, 10-6 SEC)

Thursday, March 3 at 7:00 p.m. ET

Colonial Life Arena (18,000) in Columbia, S.C.

TV: ESPN2 (Joe Tessitore, PBP; Sean Farnham, Color)

Radio: Georgia Bulldog Network by IMG (Scott Howard, PBP; Chuck Dowdle, Color; Tony Schiavone, Producer) Flagship: WSB AM 750

 

The Starting Five

• UGA leads the all-time series with USC, 56-50; however USC owns a 31-18 edge in Columbia. UGA defeated USC, 69-56, on 2/2/16 in Athens.

• UGA’s non-conference strength of schedule inched up to No. 1 nationally – among the 351 Division I programs – in the most recent edition of the NCAA’s RPI.

• UGA entered SEC play No. 8 in the league in rebounding margin at +1.6 but in stats for SEC games only is No. 3 at +4.3.

• Over the last 30 games (dating back to the ‘15 SEC Tourney), Yante Maten has 24 double-figure scoring and 10 double-figure rebounding games…with nine double-doubles.

• J.J. Frazier inched past Maten to become UGA’s leading scorer with his 29-point outburst at Auburn. Frazier now has four 20-point second-halves this season (vs. GT, UT, LSU & at AU).

 

Bulldogs Complete Road Slate With Trip To South Carolina

The Georgia Bulldogs wrap up the road portion of their 2015-16 regular-season schedule on Thursday when they travel South Carolina. The final road trip of the season also represents the shortest for Georgia, which will trek just under 170 miles from Athens through Augusta and into Columbia.

The contest comes one month and one day after the Bulldogs upset the then-No. 25/23 Gamecocks, 69-56, in Athens. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Charles Mann and Kenny Gaines staked Georgia to an early 6-0 lead and the Bulldogs led most of the rest of the evening on Feb. 2.

After a home-heavy opening to the season when the Bulldogs hosted nine of their first 10 games at Stegeman Coliseum, Georgia’s slate has been dominated by road outings of late. The South Carolina contest is the seventh road contest in UGA’s last 11 games.

Georgia improved to 15-12 overall and 8-8 in the SEC with last Saturday’s 80-66 win over Ole Miss. Four Bulldogs are averaging double digits, both overall and in SEC play.

J.J. Frazier averages team highs of 16.3 ppg overall and 16.6 ppg in SEC play. The 5-10, junior from Glennville, Ga., has been on a tear of late, averaging 25.3 ppg in Georgia’s last three outings.

Yante Maten is contributing 15.9 ppg overall and 15.4 ppg in league action. The sophomore from Pontiac, Mich., is the top boarding Bulldog, averaging 8.1 rpg overall and 8.6 rpg versus SEC competition.

Seniors Kenny Gaines (13.5 overall/12.9 SEC) and Charles Mann (10.6 overall/10.9 SEC) round out the Bulldogs scoring at a double-digit pace.

All told, the aforementioned quartet has accounted for 77 of the Bulldogs’ 80 double-figure scoring outputs this season.

South Carolina enters Thursday’s contest at 23-6 overall and 10-6 in league action following the Gamecocks’ 68-58 loss at Mississippi State over the weekend.

Michael Carrera continues to lead South Carolina in scoring at rebounding at 14.5 ppg and 7.8 rpg. He has upped those contributions in SEC contests to 16.3 ppg and 9.1 rpg.

Sindarius Thornwell and Duane Notice also are contributing points at a double-digit rate, averaging 12.7 ppg and 11.3 ppg, respectively.

 

Keeping An Eye On…Entering Today’s Game:

Among UGA’s career Leaders

 

Charles Mann is…

• 21 points from No.17 Willie Anderson

• 22 points from No. 16 Ezra Williams

• 15 assists from No. 7 Pertha Robinson

 

Kenny Gaines is…

• 12 points from No. 22 Lavon Mercer

• 18 points from No. 21 Bob Healey

• 20 points from No. 20 Eric Marbury

• 14 3FGs from No. 4 Ezra Williams

• 12 3FGAs from No. 5 Dustin Ware

 

J.J. Frazier is…

• 4 3FGs from co-No. 11 Ty Wilson and Ray Harrison

• 2 3FGAs from No. 15 Rashad Wright

 

Series History With The Gamecocks

Georgia currently sports a 56-50 lead in its all-time series with South Carolina, however, the Gamecocks possess a 31-18 edge in contests in Columbia.

One month and one day ago,Georgia started quickly and led for nearly 37 minutes en route to a 69-56 upset over No. 25/23 South Carolina in Athens.

The Bulldogs jumped out to a quick six-point lead after Charles Mann and Kenny Gaines hit 3-point baskets on Georgia’s first two possessions of the night.

The Gamecocks slowly crawled back before eventually grabbing their first lead at the 14:29 mark. The Bulldogs responded with a 9-2 run that would give them the lead for the rest of the evening.

South Carolina pulled within a single possession four times in the second half, but Georgia answered every time.

Mann became UGA’s all-time leader in free-throws made during the win. He went 6-of-8 from the line on the evening, giving him 553 makes for his career.

In the most recent meeting in Columbia on Jan. 31 last season, Georgia saw its five-game SEC win streak stopped as South Carolina secured a 67-50 victory.

The Bulldogs played without leading scoring and rebounding leader Marcus Thornton, who suffered a concussion in Georgia’s game against Vanderbilt four days ago. The void in UGA’s lineup was evident in its offense, which struggled to season low-matching points and field-goal percentage.

“We missed Marcus’ scoring and rebounding for sure, but we missed his leadership more than anything,” Mark Fox said. “We just seemed disjointed on offense and that was disappointing.  We are a team that can’t afford to have two or three of our shooters have off nights.  We’ll need to put this game behind us and get ready for the next one.”

South Carolina got its lead into double digits for the first time at 25-14 on a 3-pointer by reserve Brian Steele at the 5:09 mark. The second-half margin reached 15 points before Georgia mounted its only series threat of the final period.

The Bulldogs scored seven consecutive points to cut the deficit to 44-36 with 11:02 left. Momentum soon swung in South Carolina’s favor when Fox was assessed a technical foul after a shooting foul for the Gamecocks.  The resulting five-point trip boosted the home team’s lead back into double digits at 49-36 with 9:47 left.

 

One Win From Historic Stretch

The Bulldogs enter the final week of the regular season one victory shy of a significant milestone in Georgia Basketball history.

Georgia, which is currently 8-8 in the SEC, needs one win to secure a fourth straight .500 or better finish in conference play for the first time in 84 seasons of competition in the SEC.

The Bulldogs finished 11-7 and tied for third in the SEC last season. That followed a 12-6 record in 2013-14 when Georgia tied for second in the league and a 9-9 effort during the 2012-13 season.

The Bulldogs have finished .500 or better in SEC play for three straight seasons just five times, also doing so from 1968-70, 1981-83, 1985-87 and 1995-97.

 

Letterwinners Back In Town

Last Saturday’s contest against Ole Miss served as the Bulldogs’ letterwinners reunion day, with more than 60 former coaches, players and support staff on hand.

Headlining that list was Hugh Durham, Georgia Basketball’s winningest coach who led the Bulldogs to numerous firsts, including their initial NCAA Final Four in 1983, SEC Tournament title also in 1983 and SEC Championship in 1990.

The ledger of Bulldogs included seven NBA Draft picks, including 2003 first-rounder Jumaine Jones, and 10 All-SEC performers, including four-time honoree Willie Anderson.

 

Frazier Cranks It Up After Half

J.J. Frazier scored 24 second-half points at Auburn last Wednesday, the junior’s fourth 20-point second-half this season.

Frazier poured in 22 of his season-high 35 points against Georgia Tech after intermission on Dec. 19. He also scored 21 points in the second halves of matchups against Tennessee on Jan. 13and at LSU on Jan. 26.

Frazier and Yante Maten lead the Bulldogs in 20-point games, each with nine. In addition, Kenny Gaines has four 20-point performances – including each of UGA’s last two outings – and Charles Mann has one.

 

A Positive Breakout

Not that the media needs any self affirmation but the folks who predicted Yante Maten would be one of the nation’s “breakout” players this season – including those at CBS, NBC and SI – are probably feeling pretty good.

Most expected Maten to up his contributions following the departure of senior frontcourt playing mates Nemanja Djurisic and Marcus Thornton.

He’s done more than just that.

As a freshman a year ago, Maten averaged 5.0 points, 4.3 rebounds and 18.2 minutes per game for the Bulldogs.

This season, Maten has more than tripled his scoring (15.9 ppg) and also has upped both his rebounding (8.1 rpg) and playing time (29.7 mpg) by massive chunks.

Maten has posted five career-high scoring outputs, including four in the first seven games. He improved from 13 points entering the year, to 17 points versus Chattanooga in the opener, to 21 points in back-to-back outings against Seton Hall and Oakland, and to 24 points versus Winthrop. Maten topped that mark with 25 points at Mississippi State.

Maten’s increased production can actually be traced back to last year’s postseason. He notched his first double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds against South Carolina in the SEC Tourney.

 

That opened an active 30-game stretch in which Maten has recorded: 

• 24 of his 28 double-digit scoring outputs;

• All nine of his 20-point performances;

• All 10 of his career double-figure rebounding efforts; and

• All nine of his double-doubles.

 

Dogs’ “D” Has Been Consistent

Georgia leads the SEC and is No. 6 nationally in field goal defense at 38.1 percent. The Bulldogs have held 24 of 27 opponents under their season FG percentage.

During the 2015 calendar portion of the schedule, Georgia’s opponents connected on a paltry 36.6 percent (218-of-596) of their shots from the field. Subtract out those totals and UGA’s opposition made 45.8 percent (3203-of-6990) of their field goals attempted.

Georgia also has held 13 of its 16 SEC foes under their season FG percentage.

In the league opener on Jan. 2, Florida became the first team to shoot a better percentage against the Bulldogs than otherwise. The Gators entered the game shooting 42.2 percent but hit 42.3 – yes, .1 of one percent better – versus Georgia.

Texas A&M was the first team to make half its attempts against UGA at 52.7 percent. Kentucky also did so, shooting 51.8 percent.

 

Better Boarding Bulldogs

Georgia’s rebounding efforts have improved consistently this season.

The Bulldogs entered SEC play ranked No. 8 in the league in rebounding margin at +1.6.

Through 15 conference dates, Georgia has climbed to No. 4 at +2.9. More impressively, the Bulldogs are No. 3 in rebound margin against SEC opponents at +4.3.

Much of that improvement can be contributed to Yante Maten. The sophomore from Pontiac, Mich., has upped his rebounding numbers from 7.5 rpg in games during the 2015 calendar to 8.6 rpg versus SEC foes.

In addition, freshman forwards Derek Ogbeide and Mike Edwards also have increased their boarding averages. Ogbeide was at 3.2 rpg in Georgia’s first 10 games but is grabbing 6.1 rpg in SEC play, while Edwards has jumped from 2.8 rpg to 3.8 rpg.

 

Gaines, Mann Rewriting Records

Kenny Gaines and Charles Mann are consistently making moves on UGA’s career scoring leaders ledger.

Mann entered the season at No. 36 among the Bulldogs’ all-time points leaders and has ascended to No. 18. Gaines became Georgia’s 46th 1,000-point scorer against Clemson on Dec. 22and is now No. 23.

Entering the South Carolina game, Mann has 1,327 points, 21 off the current No. 17 Willie Anderson, while Gaines has 1,241 points, 12 shy of No. 22 Lavon Mercer, 18 from No. 21 Bob Healey and 20 away from No. 20 Eric Marbury.

 

Frazier 100 Assists, 50 3s Again

J.J. Frazier has 111 assists and 66 made 3-pointers on the year, topping the century and half-century marks in those stats for the second consecutive year.

Last season, Frazier posted 104 assists and knocked down 50 shots from beyond the 3-point arc.

Frazier joins G.G. Smith as the only two Bulldogs to reach those milestones twice. All told, UGA players have accomplished that feat eight times.

 

UGA’s All-SEC Tandem…

Kenny Gaines and Charles Mann were both named preseason first-team All-SEC in voting of league coaches, becoming just the second duo of Bulldogs to earn first-team preseason honors since the recognition began prior to the 2004-05 season.

Travis Leslie and Trey Thompkins were first-team preseason All-SEC selections prior to the 2010-11 season.

Mann, who also was a first-team pick a year ago, is Georgia’s first-ever two-time first-team preseason All-SEC selection.

 

…Has Very Strong Ties

Peach State natives Kenny Gaines, who is from Atlanta, and Charles Mann, who hails from Alpharetta, have played a significant role since they arrived on campus in 2012.

Between them, Gaines and Mann have a combined 244 games played, 186 starts and 6,358 minutes played.

Much of those numbers have been compiled together.

Gaines and Mann have started together for 83 of Georgia’s 93 contests since the beginning of the their sophomore year of 2013-14. All told, they have played 2,010 minutes and three seconds together at Georgia.

 

Injuries At An Inopportune Time

After a relatively injury-free preseason, the Bulldogs were bitten hard in the week of the season opener.

Following a Nov. 6 exhibition outing, freshman Derek Ogbeide (pronounced “Ohwg-Bay-Day”) suffered a shoulder injury that kept him out of action for four weeks.

In addition, Juwan Parker, who started the first 14 games last season, has been held out of action since the exhibition due to soreness in his Achilles. Parker missed virtually the entire second half of last season due to that injury, which required offseason surgery.

The lateness of those changes forced Georgia to mix and match rotation combinations for much of the first several games.

 

Ogbeide Back, Making Big Strides

Following the aforementioned injury-induced detour, Derek Ogbeide (pronounced “Ohwg-Bay-Day”) has shown progressed steadily during the season.

Ogbeide enjoyed an impressive unofficial debut in a Nov. 6 exhibition win over Armstrong State with a game-high 10 rebounds in 19 minutes of action. He then suffered a right shoulder injury in practice and missed Georgia’s first five games.

Ogbeide finally made his official premiere against Kansas State, checking at the 17:27 mark of the first half versus the Wildcats and playing two minutes in the contest.

“He was just cleared today a little before 2 o’clock,” Mark Fox said. “I just wanted to get him 45 seconds here and there just to get him to relax and so he’d been out there before.”

The day before the Kansas State contest Fox was asked about what Georgia was missing without Ogbeide.

“He would allow us to impose our size and physicality on people” Fox said.

Ogbeide now is doing just that.

Ogbeide is No. 16 among league rebounding leaders in stats for conference games only at 6.1 rpg games…despite being the only player in the top-20 averaging less than 20.0 mpg. In fact, equating out 40-minute production makes Ogbeide the SEC’s most proficient rebounder among league leaders in conference play as outlined below.

 

Per 40 SEC Rebounding Averages

Player GP RPG MPG R/40MP

D. Ogbeide, UGA 16 6.1 16.7 14.6

C. Bowers, AU 16 10.1 28.3 14.3

B. Simmons, LSU 16 11.1 35.6 12.5

M. Carrera, SC 16 9.1 29.9 12.2

D. Jones, VU 16 7.8 27.1 11.5

 

Bulldogs In The BPI & RPI

Georgia is No. 59 in the ESPN’s Basketball Power Index (BPI) and No. 81 in the NCAA’s Ratings Percentage Index (RPI).

The Bulldogs’ strength of schedule, which was ranked as the nation’s toughest in both ledgers for a good bit of December, is No. 13 in the BPI and No. 30 in the RPI. Georgia’s non-conference RPI is ranked No. 1.

 

UGA In Midst Of Most SEC Success

Georgia is looking to extend its most successful stretch in SEC ever. The Bulldogs’ 32 wins over the past three seasons and 23 during the past two campaigns represent UGA’s most ever in SEC play.

The Bulldogs are one of only two teams to secure a top-4 seed to each of the past two SEC Tournaments, along with Kentucky. UGA and UK also are the only two teams to advance to the semifinals of both the 2014 and 2015 SEC Tourneys.

 

Mann Breaks UGA FT Record

With his successful trip to the line at the 8:22 mark of the second half against South Carolina on Feb. 6, Charles Mann became Georgia’s most prolific free throw shooter.

Mann broke Alec Kessler’s UGA career record for free throw makes. In January, he broke Litterial Green’s career attempts mark.

 

More PT For KPG

Kenny Paul Geno entered the 2015-16 season with a career high of 21 minutes played against Missouri late last season.

This season, Geno is averaging 20.3 minutes of action per game. The Booneville, Miss., native has matched or bettered his previous career-most MP in 12 games, including a career-best of 35 versus Chattanooga.

 

Mann Joins UGA Top-10 Assist List

Charles Mann moved into Georgia’s all-time top-10 assists leaders during the Bulldogs’ Jan. 23 victory over Arkansas.

Mann distributed five buckets-to-be against the Razorbacks to up his career total to 355.That tied Donald Hartry, who was a member of Georgia’s 1983 NCAA Final Four and 1984 and 1986 NIT teams, for the No. 10 slot.

Mann enters the South Carolina game with 384 assists, 15 shy of the current No. 7, Pertha Robinson.
 

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