Common themes that connect these past two victories have been strong second-half performances and the individual play of Gerald Robinson. Regarding the former, Georgia has outscored its past two opponents 80-62 in the second half. And the latter has tallied 37 points in those two games, including 20 in the victory Tuesday over Mercer.
• Georgia and Furman meet for the 26th time tonight and for the first time in 10 years. Georgia leads the series, which began back in 1920, by a 21-4 count. Bulldog teams have won the past four meetings, all of which were played between the 1997-2002 seasons and included an overtime victory at Furman in November of 1999. One other noteworthy aspect of this contest is that Georgia senior Connor Nolte played his first two seasons (2008-09) at Furman before transferring to UGA.
• Georgia freshman Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was recognized on Monday as the Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week. In Georgia's only game last week, he scored a season-high 21 points, and added team-best totals of five rebounds, two assists in 39 minutes of play in a 63-59 win at Southern cal. The Greenville, Ga., native continues to lead Georgia in scoring, as he has all season, at 13.6 points per game but has now been matched by Gerald Robinson.
• The Bulldogs will disperse for a brief Christmas break after tonight's game. They'll gather again in Athens late Sunday to begin preparing for their game Tuesday at home vs. Winthrop.
Probable Starters
GEORGIA BULLDOGSPos.No.NameHt.Wt.Cl.HometownPPGRPGF2Marcus Thornton6-7235So.Atlanta, Ga.3.16.3F15Donte' Williams6-9220So.Ellenwood, Ga.6.75.5G1Kentavious Caldwell-Pope6-5200Fr.Greenville, Ga.13.65.3G22Gerald Robinson6-1180R-Sr.Nashville, Tenn.13.63.3#G11Vincent Williams6-0160Jr.Homestead, Fla.5.61.3#Assists Per Game
Head Coach: Mark Fox
Record at Georgia / Years: 41-34 / 3rd season
Overall Record/Years: 164-77 / 8th season
Assistant Coaches: Kwanza Johnson, Philip Pearson, Stacey Palmore
FURMAN PALADINSPos.No.NameHt.Wt.Cl.HometownPPGRPGF24Brandon Sebirumbi6-9230Sr.Fort Worth, Texas9.15.2F43Colin Reddick6-9240Jr.Powder Springs, Ga.4.53.9G12Charlie Reddick6-5185So.Powder Springs, Ga.9.64.4G22Bobby Austin6-3200Sr.Cincinnati, Ohio8.03.0G3Richard Brown5-11170So.Charlotte, N.C.10.23.3a#Assists Per Game
Head Coach: Jeff Jackson
Record at Furman / Years: 69-96 / 6th season
Overall Record / Years: 90-156 / 9th season
Assistant Coaches: Bob Richey, Brian Thornton, David Willson
Georgia vs. Furman, Southern Conference
•Tonight's game is the 26th all-time meeting between Georgia and Furman in basketball. Georgia leads the series, which began in 1920, by a 21-4 count.
Georgia has won four straight in this series, all of which occurred between the 1997-2002 seasons. That string also included an overtime victory in November of 1999 at Furman. Their last meeting opened the 2002 season and was won by Georgia 75-62.
• Georgia has an extensive history against Southern Conference teams, having been a charter SoCon member itself back in 1921. It has an al-time record of 78-19 against current SoCon schools, most notably the 21-4 mark against Furman and 11-4 against Georgia Southern. Of the 12 current SoCon schools, Georgia has yet to play only UNC-Greensboro.
Noteworthy...
• Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was named as the SEC's Freshman of the Week on Monday. It marked just the seventh time in 12 years of this award that a Georgia Bulldog had earned the honor. It was the first since Trey Thompkins won the F-O-W award for the week of Dec. 1, 2008.
• One key element in Georgia's last two victories has been its low turnover total: 8 vs. USC and a season-low 7 vs. Mercer. You must go back to the final two games of the 2003 season to find the last time a Georgia team had single-digit miscues in back-to-back games.
• For a team that ranked in the bottom 10 percent of all NCAA Division I schools in FG percentage, Georgia's 51 percent shooting against USC marked a stark turnaround. It was the Bulldogs' first effort of the season over 50 percent, something even last year's 21-win team did just eight times. Their 69 percent shooting from 3-point range approached record levels. It was the fifth-best percent in UGA history and its best since shooting 69 percent at Kentucky in 2009.
• For the past two games, Dustin Ware has played the unusual role of reserve. The Southern Cal game ended the senior's streak of 87 straight games of starting for the Bulldogs, dating to mid-January of his freshman season in 2009. Perhaps the new role suits him well. Ware has made six of eight 3-point tries in those games, with five assists and just two turnovers.
• This is the 26th season of the 3-point shot in college basketball. Georgia's current per-game average of 22.2 treys attempted per game would be the third most ever by a Bulldog team.
• Vincent Williams had two inconspicuous seasons in 2010 and 2011. This year, however, he has thrust himself prominently into a crowded backcourt rotation, even starting six of the past seven games at the point position. He's already established new career highs in scoring, rebounds and minutes, most recently scoring a career-best 11 points Tuesday against Mercer.
• Sophomore Donte' Williams has also benefitted from a greatly increased role this season. The 6-9 forward has become Georgia's top frontline offensive threat, with double-figure scoring twice already, including a career-high 17 points against South Dakota State. He also leads Georgia in blocked shots with 16.
• The 2011-12 Bulldogs began this season amid fairly low expectations...externally, at least. In the SEC-sponsored media poll -- a panel that featured two jounalists from each school's coverage area -- Georgia was pegged for an 8th-place finish in the SEC. This, after a year in which the Bulldogs posted the program's first winning record in SEC play since 2003.
• Georgia senior Gerald Robinson was named to the Coaches' Pre-Season All-SEC 2nd Team. The Nashville, Tenn., native was one of 16 players picked to two 8-man squads by the league's head coaches. Robinson is the top returning scorer and assist man for the Bulldogs.
"Green As the New York Jets"
As his Bulldogs prepared to begin the 2012 season, head coach Mark Fox alluded to the NFL's New York Jets in describing the team's lack of experience. And he's not too far off. Aside from seniors Dustin Ware and Gerald Robinson, fellow senior Connor Nolte is Georgia's only other player to have ever started in a college basketball game prior to the 2012 season. Nolte started the Bulldogs' first three games of last season and he also started 15 of 60 games as a freshman and sophomore at Furman University in the 2008-09 seasons.
Additionally, because of the installation of the new court at Stegeman Coliseum, all of Georgia's newcomers had never even taken a shot on their home court until two weeks ago.
Schedule Among Nation's Toughest
Georgia's schedule features as many as 17 games that could come against teams that played in the 2011 postseason. In addition to the SEC, other so-called "power" leagues represented on the Bulldogs 2012 schedule include the following: Atlantic Coast; Atlantic Ten; Big East; BigTwelve; Pac 12
Additionally, the Bulldogs are slated for at least 16 national television dates and 12 more regional TV appearances. They've been tabbed twice as part of ESPN's "Super Tuesday" coverage of college basketball, both times against SEC Eastern Division rivals: Jan. 10 at Florida and two weeks later at home against Kentucky.
"Masters" of their Field
Two Bulldogs, Gerald Robinson and Connor Nolte, will be playing the 2011-12 season while pursuing master's degrees. Both transferred to UGA in 2010, Robinson from Tennessee State and Nolte from Furman. Each completed his undergraduate degree and participated in commencement services in 2011. Robinson, whose bachelor's degree is in Speech Communication, is working towards a master's in Adult Education. Nolte earned his first degree in Marketing and is now earning his graduate degree in Sport Management.
Their graduation helped to mark a banner year, academically speaking, for the Bulldogs. Also earning diplomas in the spring of 2011 were Georgia's two 4-year seniors, Chris Barnes and Jeremy Price. The Bulldogs' next group of 4-year seniors is also due to graduate next spring: Matt Bucklin and Dustin Ware. Upgrades to Stegeman Court, Sound
Just one year after a $13 million cosmetic facelift to Stegeman Coliseum, the 48-year-old arena received two major upgrades in the offseason. A new state-of-the-art sound system was installed duing the summer months by Baker Audio of Norcross, Ga., at a cost of nearly $620,000. In addition, the Bulldogs will enjoy playing on a nearly-new playing court. The UGA Athletic Association purchased the playing surface from the NCAA, which installed it for its 2011 Women's Regional at American Airlines Arena in Dallas, Texas. Typically, the NCAA hires Connor Sport Court International of Amasa, Mich., to manufacture courts for its eight Regional sites, as well as the two Final Four sites. It then sells the slightly-used courts to interested schools. Total cost for purchasing, resanding and finishing the floor for use in Stegeman Coliseum: $90,000.
KCP the Latest McD's All-American
When Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was named a 2011 McDonald's All-American, it had been almost 20 years since the last Georgia signee earned the prestigious honor. Athens' own Carlos Strong arrived on campus in 1992 as a McD's appointee.
Technically, Damien Wilkins was the most recent McDonald's All-American to play at Georgia, but he signed with and played at N.C. State for two seasons before transferring to UGA in 2002.
UGA signed five McD's all-stars in a 3-year span from 1979-82. They formed the nucleus of the group that reached the 1983 NCAA Final Four. SEC Race, Tournament to Have Different Looks in 2012
Just shy of their 20th birthdays, the SEC Eastern and Western Divisions have seen their final days. The league's basketball coaches voted first, followed by its ADs and then its presidents and chancellors, to adopt a 1-12 seeding in the conference post-season tournament, with byes going to the top four finishers. All teams will play the unbalanced, 16-game schedule for the coming season but will increase that total for the 2013 campaign, likely to 18 games, as it was before the SEC was pared into divisions for the 1991-92 season.
The SEC Tournament returns this season to New Orleans for the third time ever, but for the first time at the New Orleans Arena, home to the NBA's Hornets.
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