Georgia Basketball Game Notes
Georgia (5-14, 0-6 SEC) vs. Alabama (13-6, 4-3 SEC)
Date: Tuesday, January 25, 2022
Tipoff: 6:30 p.m. ET
Location: Stegeman Coliseum (10,523) in Athens, Ga.
Watch: SEC Network (Tom Hart, pbp; Dane Bradshaw, analyst; Alyssa Lang, reporter)
Listen: Georgia Bulldog Sports Network – Flagship: WSB AM 750; XM: 380; SXM App: 970. (Scott Howard, play-by-play; Chuck Dowdle, analyst; Adam Gillespie, producer)
The Starting 5…
• Georgia leads the SEC in FT pct. in conference games, connecting on 82.5 percent of its trips to the line as a team in SEC play.
• Braelen Bridges is 3 made FGs shy of qualifying for NCAA stat leaders...or he would rank No. 8 nationally in FG pct.
• Jaxon Etter haw drawn 19 offensive fouls this season...and 27 in UGA’s last 30 games dating back to 2020-21.
• Christian Wright has scored 55.8 percent of his points at the FT line during his three double-digit scoring contests.
• UGA’s seven first-year transfers combined to score 4,782 points at their previous schools.
The Opening Tip
Georgia returns to action on Tuesday evening when the Bulldogs host Alabama at Stegeman Coliseum at 6:30 p.m. The outing is one of just two home contests in a seven-game span for Georgia.
After opening league played with a heart-breaking, last-second 81-79 setback to Texas A&M, the Bulldogs have trekked to Lexington, Starkville, Auburn, and Columbia (of the South Carolina variety) while hosting Vanderbilt only in that five-game span.
Following Tuesday’s game versus the Crimson Tide, Georgia will wrap up its January schedule by returning to the road on Saturday for a rematch at Vanderbilt.
The good news about a travel-dominant January is that it’s countered with a home-heavy February slate. Five of the Bulldogs’ eight outings in the calendar’s shortest month will be contested at Stegeman Coliseum.
The Bulldogs are 5-14 overall and 0-6 in SEC play and looking to snap an eight-game losing skid.
There have certainly been plenty of positive signs for Georgia and its roster, which features 10 newcomers.
The Bulldogs led Texas A&M with 1.2 seconds left before a heart-breaking 3-pointer. Georgia was ahead or tied for 12:19 of the first half at Rupp Arena and led Mississippi State, Vanderbilt and South Carolina at halftime.
Tom Crean stated before the Texas A&M contest: “I like the spirit. I like the energy. We just need something to go right for us. These kids are working so hard, so hard...I like the way they’re working.”
Keeping An Eye On . . . Entering Today’s Game:
Aaron Cook is...
• 15 assists from co.-No. 19s Gino Gianfrancesco and Barry Cohen among UGA’s season assist leaders
• 11 steals from 200 for his career
Series History With Alabama
Alabama sports 98-52 lead in the overall series between the Bulldogs and the Tide, including a significantly closer 34-31 margin in Athens.
In the most recent matchup last March 6 at Stegeman Coliseum, Georgia’s upset bid fell short as No. 8/5 Alabama rallied to secure an 89-79 win in the regular-season finale for both teams.
Georgia started quickly, racing to a 29-15 lead with 8:03 left in the first half.
The Crimson Tide cut that margin to six points by the intermission and scored the first nine points of the second stanza to go up 39-26 at the 18:22 mark.
Alabama pushed its lead two 10 points three times – lastly at 73-63 – before Georgia rallied.
The Bulldogs closed the gap to 82-79 with 73 seconds left before a 3-pointer from Keon Ellis with three seconds on the shot clock started a 7-0 surge to end the game by Alabama.
The game against the Tide wasn’t scheduled until nine days before it occurred in a COVID-world scheduling move.
While Georgia did not have a open date during league play, the Bulldogs did have a schedule alteration. Georgia played Tennessee on Feb. 10 after the Bulldogs’ game against Texas A&M and the Vols’ outing versus Florida that were scheduled for that day were postponed. On Feb. 7, the SEC announced the game between UGA and UT would be played three days later.
The moving of the Tennessee game, which was originally scheduled as the regular-season finale on March 3, did open up the opportunity for a contest to replace Texas A&M on the schedule. That switched the Bulldogs from playing the Aggies, who were 2-7 in SEC games at that point, to Alabama, which was 15-2 and had already clinched the SEC title at the time.
Scouting The Crimson Tide
Alabama arrives in Athens 13-6 overall and 4-3 in SEC play. The Tide were 9-3 and ranked as high as No. 6 during a non-conference slate that featured impressive victories over then-No. 3 Gonzaga and then-No. 14 Houston.
Jaden Shackleford’s 16.9 ppg average leads a trio of players scoring at a double-figure clip for the Tide. Jahvon Quinnerly adds 14.8 ppg, and Keon Ellis chips in 12.0 ppg.
Alabama ranks second in the SEC and No. 12 nationally in scoring average at 81.4 ppg. The Tide is averaging a league-best 9.2 3-pointers per game, with roughly one-third of its scoring coming from behind the arc.
Last Time Out
Braelen Bridges’ game-high 20-point performance led Georgia in an 83-66 setback at South Carolina last Saturday.
Bridges connected on 8-of-11 shots from the floor en route to his second 20-point outing of the season. Noah Baumann chipped in 14 points, and freshman Christian Wright added 10.
The Bulldogs led for 27:29 of the game, including a 12-point, 31-19 advantage with 7:02 remaining in the first half. Georgia connected on 21 consecutive free throws during the opening period.
The Gamecocks cut that lead in half before intermission and surged ahead at the 8:58 mark.
Crean Inducted Into MU HOF
Tom Crean was inducted into Marquette University’s M Club Hall of Fame last Sunday. Crean, who led Marquette to national prominence including a trip to the 2003 NCAA Final Four, headlined a list of seven honorees.
Crean was Marquette’s coach from 1998-2008 and during nine seasons compiled an overall record of 190-96. He led MU to the 2003 NCAA Final Four – its first since 1977 – and four additional NCAA Tournament appearances in 2002, 2006, 2007 and 2008.
Crean earned Conference USA Coach of the Year honors in both 2002 and 2003 before leading Marquette’s successful integration into a loaded BIG EAST in 2005.
Crean was also inducted to the M Club Hall of Fame as part of the 2003 Final Four Team. He recruited and coached Marquette All-Americans Dwyane Wade, Travis Diener, Dominic James, Jerel McNeal and Lazar Hayward.
Dogs Capitalizing At The Line
Georgia has made the most of its trips to the free-throw line this season, and even more so in SEC play.
The Bulldogs entered this week ranked No. 2 in the SEC and No. 77 nationally in free throw percentage at 74.1 percent (292-of-394).
In stats for conference games only, Georgia is the league’s most efficient team by a pretty healthy margin. The Bulldogs have connected on a sizzling 82.5 percent (99-of-120) of their SEC free throws, 7.2 percent better than any other conference team.
Georgia also is among the top teams in the nation at getting to the charity stripe. As of Thursday, UGA ranked No. 16 in FT makes and No. 21 in FT takes.
Etter Accepting Charges
Defensively, Jaxon Etter is like Visa...as in “everywhere you want (him) to be.”
The junior walk-on took three charges against Western Carolina, the second game this season he’s done so...the other outing being versus Ga. Tech.
Etter now has a team-high 19 charges in 19 games this season – that’s an average of 1.0 charge per game for you non-math majors.
Etter’s offensive foul trend began last season when he drew eight in the final 11 games. That gives him 27 in UGA’s last 30 contests – 0.90 per game so you don’t have to get your calculator out.
Bulldogs Battle Through
Georgia dressed only 10 players four times this season – Northwestern, Texas A&M, Kentucky and Auburn – and has only had its “full complement” of players for six of 19 outings.
The Bulldogs’ 15-player roster was cut by two due to season-ending injuries to P.J. Horne in the preseason and Jailyn Ingram against Jacksonville on Dec. 7.
All told, eight of 13 currently active players on the Bulldogs’ roster have a combined 24 DNPs.
From there, additional DNPs include:
• T. Baker vs. Virginia and Northwestern (illness) and Auburn and S. Carolina (injury);
• N. Baumann vs. Northwestern (illness);
• A. Cook vs. Memphis (illness);
• J. Etter vs. Gardner-Webb (injury);
• C. McDowell vs. Texas A&M and Kentucky (illness);
• J. Ned vs. Virginia, Northwestern (illness) and George Mason, Western Carolina, ETSU, Gardner-Webb, Texas A&M, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, Auburn and S. Carolina (injury);
• K. Oquendo vs. Auburn (injury);
• D. Ridgnal vs. Texas A&M and Kentucky (illness).
Because of the aforementioned, Georgia has used seven sets of starters.
Braelen Bridges is the only Bulldog who has started every, although Aaron Cook, Jailyn Ingram and Kario Oquendo have started every game they’ve played. Cook missed the Memphis game due to an illness, Ingram suffered a season-ending injury in the ninth contest versus Jacksonville and Oquendo was held out at Auburn due to a lower body injury.
B.B. Is Consistent, Efficient
Braelen Bridges is the Bulldogs’ most consistent point producer and among the nation’s most efficient.
Bridges has posted double-digit scoring outputs in a team-best 14 of Georgia’s 19 games, and he has notched nine points in two of the other five outings.
The graduate transfer senior Atlanta native is shooting a sizzling 61.7 percent from the field, connecting on 92 of his 149 field goal attempts.
Bridges’ effort almost puts him in elite company in the SEC and nationally. To be ranked among statistical leaders in FG percentage, a player has to make a minimum of five shots per game.
With 92 field goals made, Bridges falls three shy of that standard...or he would lead the SEC and rank No. 8 nationally entering this week.
Noah Continues Scoring Trend
In five seasons of college basketball, Noah Baumann has established a trend of scoring most of his points from behind the 3-point arc...and doing so efficiently.
This season, 73.6 percent (39 of 53) of Baumann’s made field goals have been 3s, and he is shooting 42.4 percent from 3-point range.
Career-wise, 71.7 percent (185 of 258) of Baumann’s made FGs are 3-pointers, and he is converting on a considerably better clip from outside the arc (.432) than inside that stripe (.382).
Cook Among Assist Leaders
As of Monday, Aaron Cook ranked No. 11 nationally in total assists (110) and No. 13 in assist average (6.1 apg).
Cook’s assist average is on pace to be among the best ever by a Bulldog. The current No. 2 mark in Georgia history is 6.3 apg by Pertha Robinson in 1994-95, and there is a wide gap between Cook’s current average (6.1 apg) and the No. 3 standard in the Bulldogs’ record book of 4.8 apg by Sundiata Gaines in 2006-07.
Wright Scores Savvily
Christian Wright’s recorded his second and third double-figure scoring outputs as a Bulldogs in Georgia’s last two games against No. 2 Auburn and South Carolina.
The freshman from The Skill Factory scored 16 points at Auburn and 10 at South Carolina. His first double-digit performance was a 17-point outing against No. 18 Memphis on Dec. 1
There has been a common theme in all three contests, Wright’s ability to get to the free throw line.
Wright converted on 24-of-28 (.857) trips to the charity stripe in those contests. That’s 55.8 percent of his 43 points. All told, Wright drew 22 fouls in that trio of games, while committing only four fouls himself.
Cook Joins Elite List
At tipoff at Auburn, Aaron Cook became just the 18th player in NCAA Division-I men’s basketball history to participate in 150 career games.
Cook played in 103 games in four seasons at Southern Illinois from 2016-20, including a redshirt campaign with six contests in 2019-20. He saw action in 30 games last season at Gonzaga during the Bulldogs’ NCAA runner-up finish. Georgia’s Jan. 19 game at Auburn was his 17th game with the Bulldogs.
While Cook’s milestone is significant, it is obviously aided by his “super senior” status as a sixth-year player.
Entering this season, Ohio State’s David Lighty held the NCAA record with 157 games played and only 13 players had logged PT in 150 contests.
On Jan. 13, Iowa’s Jordan Bohannon inched past Lighty’s mark, and Cook became the fifth player in 2021-22 alone to reach the century-and-a-half mark. FYI, Bohannon played in his 161st game on Saturday and a two more players have reached the 150-games played milestone since Cook.
Experience Has Traveled
The phrase “defense travels” is a well-known in the sports world.
The slogan “experience has traveled” may be more appropriate for Georgia.
Georgia’s lineup is anchored by five D-I transfers – sixth-year “super seniors” Aaron Cook and Jailyn Ingram, graduate transfer seniors Noah Baumann and Braelen Bridges and sophomore Jabri Abdur-Rahim.
That quintet has accounted more than 60 percent of Georgia’s points and assists and the majority of its production in virtually every stat as outlined below.
D-I Transfer Contributions
Stat Team D-I Ts Pct.
Minutes 3800 2118 55.7
Scoring 1329 811 61.0
Rebounds 595 342 57.5
Assists 259 177 68.3
Blocks 50 29 58.0
Steals 92 45 48.9
Kario Hot When SEC Starts
Kario Oquendo opened SEC play with a trio of 20-point performances – 21 vs. Texas A&M, 22 vs. No. 13/16 Kentucky and 28 at Mississippi State.
The sophomore from Titusville, Fla., became the first Bulldog to do so since 2020 when Anthony Edwards put up 23 points at Missouri on Jan. 28, 29 against Texas A&M on Feb. 1 and 32 at Florida on Feb. 5.
Baumann Hits the Boards
With injuries to P.J. Horne and Jailyn Ingram, Noah Baumann has shifted to playing the traditional ‘4′ spot for Georgia.
In his first outing doing so, Baumann grabbed 11 rebounds against Western Carolina. That was more than double his previous career-most of five in seven different outings including this year’s season opener against FIU.
Joked Tom Crean: “I don’t know if he’s done that since grade school. Somewhere out West, he might have had 11 boards in a CYO game in the eighth grade.”
The joke has continued. Since Baumann changed positions, he has matched or exceeded the previous career-high of five rebounds in six of the Bulldogs’ last nine games.
Kario Likes The Bright Lights
Kario Oquendo has a history of producing big games against the best opposition.
Last season, he averaged 13.5 points while shooting 55.4 percent from the field for the Florida SouthWestern College.
In Buccaneers’ four contests against ranked opponents, those stats jumped to 22.0 points and 63.6 percent.
The trend of big nights continued this season. Against No. 19 Memphis and No. 13/16 Kentucky, Oquendo averaged in 23.0 ppg and shot 59.3 percent (16-of-27) from the floor.
In six outings versus ranked foes as a collegiate basketball player, Oquendo is averaging 22.3 points and connecting on 62.2 (51-of-82) of his field goal attempts. FYI, Oquendo did not play in Georgia’s game at No. 2 Auburn on Jan. 19 due to a lower body injury.
Dogs Look To Regroup...Again
Georgia lost Jailyn Ingram to a knee injury during the Jacksonville game on Dec. 7. Ingram went down in a non-contact situation while trying to save a ball along the baseline with 14:21 left in the contest.
The “super senior” from Madison, Ga., and Morgan County High School was the Bulldogs’ leading rebounder (6.0 rpg) and third-leading scorer (10.7 ppg).
Following an MRI on Dec. 8, Tom Crean confirmed the prognosis on Dec. 9 with a Tweet stating: “Unfortunately, Jailyn Ingram will have to have surgery to repair his ACL in his right knee. It’s heartbreaking because Jailyn has been emerging in so many areas and has been a model of consistency day in and day out. He’s an incredible young man... Jailyn has brought a spirit and seriousness to us. He is a guy that is in the gym most mornings before we would lift weights at 8:45 and was stabilizing for a young team. We plan to appeal for the waiver to get another year since he’s under the 30% games played. Pray for him.”
Ingram’s injury was UGA’s second season-ending setback. On Oct. 20, Crean announced an injury to P.J. Horne, one of just two Bulldogs to start every game last season.
Tweeted Crean: “It’s with genuine sadness that I let you know that P.J. Horne will miss this season after undergoing surgery on his right knee this past weekend. In practice, he bumped knees in a scrimmage, lost footing and went down awkwardly. This is such a major blow to us because P.J. was playing so well and showing great leadership as our leading returning player, but more so because he is such a great person and one of the finest people I’ve ever coached.”
Jabri’s Contributions Soar
It’s probably glossed over too much that this fall is the first time Jabri Abdur-Rahim has played extended minutes in nearly two years. He suffered a foot injury during his senior season at Blair Academy and only played in two games and only appeared in eight games last season at Virginia.
Jabri, who was ranked as one of the nation’s top-40 prospects in the Class of 2020, showed signs of returning to form in three early-December outings.
Abdur-Rahim exploded for a career-high 20 points against Wofford and followed that with a 15 and 10-point showings versus No. 18 Memphis and Jacksonville, respectively.
Equally impressive as the totals was the efficiency in which he scored.
In those three games, Abdur-Rahim scored more points, connected on more shots and upped his shooting percentages by massive amounts over his 14 previous career outings as outlined below.
Abdur-Rahim’s Increases
Stat 1st 14 Next 3 Diff.
Total Points 32 45 +13
Scoring Average 2.3 15.0 12.7
FGs Made 9 13 +4
FG Percentage .214 .650 +.436
3FGs Made 3 9 +6
3FG Percentage .125 .600 +.475
Crean Captures Win No. 400
Tom Crean secured his 400th career victory with Georgia’s upset of No. 18 Memphis on December 1.
Prior to arriving in Athens, Crean compiled 366 W’s in his first 18 campaigns as a collegiate head coach. He earned the first 190 in nine seasons at Marquette from 1998-2008 and added 166 more at Indiana between 2008-17 before arriving in Athens and securing the final 44 of his 400.
Tom Crean’s Milestone Wins
No. 1 – Nov. 20, 1999 – Marquette defeats Chicago State, 62-43, in Tom Crean’s first game as a collegiate head coach.
No. 100 – March 6, 2004 – A three-point play with .8 of a second left lifts Marquette over No. 25 Louisville, 81-80.
No. 200 – Dec. 8, 2009 – Indiana knocks off Pittsburgh, 74-64, in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.
No. 250 – Nov. 20, 2012 – A day after beating Georgia, 66-53, in the first round, IU tops Georgetown, 82-72, to win the Progressive Legends Classic.
No. 300 – Dec. 20, 2014 – Indiana tops No. 23 Butler, 82-73, as Yogi Ferrell became IU’s 48th 1,000-point scorer.
No. 400 – Dec. 1, 2021 – Kario Oquendo’s 24-point outburst paces UGA in an 82-79 upset of No. 18 Memphis.
Wright Stellar In Upset
Freshman Christian Wright started at point guard against No. 18 Memphis for Aaron Cook, who was out of action due to an illness. That task was taller considering the Tigers entered the game forcing an average of 18.0 turnovers per game.
While Wright’s career-high totals of 17 points, six boards and 38 minutes tallies drew significant attention, his turnover tally – a meager one TO – was the most significant digit in his linescore. And he did so logging the most PT of any Bulldog in any game this season to date.
Also of note, Wright drew seven fouls, including two on the offensive end, and converted on 6-of-7 free throw attempts.
The SportsCenter “Top-Quen”
Kario Oquendo has emphatically made his way in the top-10 plays on ESPN’s SportsCenter twice this season.
On Nov. 16, Oquendo came in at No. 3 on SportsCenter’s top-10 plays after his third highlight reel effort against S.C. State. He stole the ball at midcourt and windmilled home an uncontested dunk.
A posterized effort on Nov. 23 was tabbed No. 6. Oquendo, who’s 6-4, gathered a steal in Northwestern’s lane and drove the length of the floor before a thunderous dunk over a 6-9 Wildcat.
If you want to rate Oquendo’s SportsCenter dunks, you can find the S.C. State slam at gado.gs/kariosctop1116 and the Northwestern effort at gado.gs/kariosc1123.
Cook Tops Millennium Mark
Aaron Cook blew past the 1,000-point career scoring mark on Nov. 16 against South Carolina State.
The “super senior” was eight points shy of entering the game and inched past the milestone with 2:21 left in the first half. He finished with 22 points, three off his career high versus Indiana State on Jan. 24, 2018.
Cook scored 845 points at Southern Illinois from 2016-20 and added 127 points during Gonzaga’s en route to their NCAA runner-up finish last season.
Cook was presented the game ball from the S.C. State game in a ceremony prior to the George Mason game that featured his mother, Regina, and brother, Anthony.
Dalen, Kario Draw Attention
Kario Oquendo and Dalen Ridgnal are among the top JUCO transfers expected to make the biggest marks this season.
On August 25, bustingbrackets.com ranked the top-25 junior college players moving to the “high-major” level. Ridgnal was tabbed No. 2 on that ledger, while Oquendo was ranked No. 23.
On Nov. 1, college basketball guru Jon Rothstein tabbed his top-10 “JUCOs to watch,” an unranked list that also included Ridgnal.
Welcoming A Slew Of Scoring
Of the 10 newcomers on the Bulldogs’ roster seven are transfers – five D-I players (Jabri Abdur-Rahim, Noah Baumann, Braelen Bridges, Aaron Cook and Jailyn Ingram) and a pair from the junior college ranks (Kario Oquendo and Dalen Ridgnal).
Those players arrived in Athens having already scored 4,782 points at their previous schools, the largest addition of scoring by any D-I program this season as outlined below.
In their previous stops, the D-I quintet of the group also logged 8813 minutes in 404 games played, while grabbing 1283 rebounds, dishing 643 assists, swatting 116 blocks and collecting 304 steals.
Top Scoring Influx’s In D-I hoops
Rk. School Players Points
1. Georgia 7 4782
2. Duquesne 5 4695
3. Florida 5 4144
4. Arkansas 6 4125
5. Penn State 7 5183
6. Washington St. 4 3785
7. SMU 4 3733
8. Kentucky 4 3538
9. Utah 6 3175
10. Arizona St. 3 3132
On The Flip Side...
While Georgia welcomed a huge influx of college scoring from its newcomers, the Bulldogs returned a minuscule portion of their scoring from last season.
Minus P.J. Horne, the four returning Bulldogs accounted for only 1110 of Georgia’s 2014 points a year ago, or 5.5 percent. Walk-on Jaxon Etter is the top returning point producer with 47 points.
“B” Is For Basketball Player
You may notice on Georgia’s roster that the Bulldogs have gone away from listing traditional positions – guard, forward and center. All 15 players are now simply listed as “B” for “Basketball Player.”
Tom Crean is a proponent for “position-less basketball.”
“That’s what they are,” Crean said. “It’s not valid to call them centers and power forwards and things like that as much with the way that we’re trying to play. They’re being trained as basketball players, every day... in the sense of how we train with the ball handling, the driving, the shooting – all those type of things. That’s big to me.”
Putting Up Points Under Crean
Georgia has certainly been keeping scoreboard operators busy since Tom Crean arrived in Athens in 2018.
The Bulldogs reached the 90-point plateau 15 times in 90 games during Crean’s first three seasons. That’s a relatively healthy 16.7 percent of the team’s total contests.
By comparison, Georgia scored 90 or more points just 15 times in 387 games before Crean’s arrival, or .038 percent of the outings in a span that dates back a dozen seasons to the 2006-07 campaign.
The big numbers by the Bulldogs aren’t just a single-game thing.
In three seasons under Crean, the Bulldogs have averaged two of their top-5 scoring outputs of the 2000s as outlined below.
Top Scoring Averages In 2000s
Rk. Season Points Games Avg.
1. 2002-03 2138 27 79.2
2. 2020-21 1944 25 77.8
3. 2001-02 2444 32 76.4
4. 2019-20 2428 32 75.9
5. 2006-07 2477 33 75.1
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