Bulldogs Grapple With Gamecocks on Saturday

Saturday, February 2

Athens, Ga.

1:00

University of Georgia

South Carolina

Tickets

February 01, 2019 | Men's Basketball

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Georgia Basketball Game Notes
Georgia (10-10, 1-6 SEC) vs. South Carolina (10-10, 5-2 SEC)
Saturday, February 2 at 1:00 p.m. ET
Stegeman Coliseum (10,523) in Athens, Ga.
Listen: Georgia Bulldog Sports Network Flagship: WSB AM 750 Atlanta; Sirius: 103; XM: 190; Internet: 961. (Scott Howard, play-by-play; Chuck Dowdle, analyst; Tony Schiavone, producer)
TV: SEC Network (Richard Cross, play-by-play; Debbie Antonelli, analyst)
Video: SECN+

Complete Game Notes (PDF)

Pos	No.	Name	PPG	RPG

Georgia Bulldogs
Coach: Tom Crean
10-10 in 1st season at UGA
366-241 in 19th season overall
G	0	Turtle Jackson	5.6	1.3
6-4; 185; Sr.; Athens, Ga.
G	4	Tyree Crump	10.3	2.2
6-1; 185; Jr.; Bainbridge, Ga.
F	20	Rayshaun Hammonds	13.0	6.6
6-8; 235; So.; Norcross, Ga.
F	13	E'Torrion Wilridge	3.5	2.9
6-6; 220; Sr.; Beaumont, Texas
F	33	Nicolas Claxton	12.8	9.3
6-11; 220; So.; Greenville, S.C.

Pos	No.	Name	PPG	RPG

South Carolina Gamecocks
Coach: Frank Martin
123-100 in 7th season at USC
240-154 in 12th season overall
G	4	Tre Campbell	6.0	1.7
6-0; 183; Fr.; Washington, D.C.
G	00	A.J. Lawson	130.0	4.2
6-6; 172; Fr.; Toronto, Ontario
F	24	Keyshawn Bryant	9.1	3.5
6-6; 190; Fr.; Winter Haven, Fla.
F	21	Maik Kotsar	8.5	5.2
6-11; 264; Jr.; Tallin, Estonia
F	30	Chris Silva	13.9	7.1
6-9; 234; Sr.; Libreville, Gabon

TEAM COMPARISON

STATISTIC	GEORGIA	S. CAROLINA
Points Per Game	75.1	74.7
Opp. Point Per Game	73.9	73.7
Scoring Margin	+1.1	+1.0
Field Goal Pct.	.456	.425
Opp. Field Goal Pct.	.407	.422
3-Point Pct.	.338	.314
3-Pointers Per Game	7.0	6.7
Opp. 3-Point Pct.	.315	.356
Free Throw Pct.	.715	.713
Free Throws Per Game	16.8	16.3
Rebounds Per Game	41.0	37.2
Opp. Rebound Per Game	35.0	36.1
Rebound Margin	+6.0	+1.1
Assists Per Game	14.6	12.6
Turnovers Per Game	16.8	13.9
Assist-to-Turnover Ratio	0.87	0.91
Turnover Margin	-5.6	+1.5
Steals Per Game	5.7	6.3
Blocks Per Game	5.5	4.8

The Starting 5...

Georgia is averaging 8,762 fans over its 11 home dates, the highest tally since averaging a school-record 9,857 fans during 2002-03 season.
Nicolas Claxton's 57 blocks is the No. 9 single-season total in UGA history. He enters Saturday one shy of No. 8, some guy named Charles Claxton.
UGA's percentages of 66.7 on FGs and 70.6 on 3FGs against Texas rank fourth and third, respectively, all-time for the Bulldogs.
UGA's bench has outscored it counterparts in 15 games, with 11 of those being by +10 or more. UGA's bench has a +191 scoring margin.
UGA's coaching staff sports a combined 80 seasons of D-I experience (Crean-28, Scott-27, Dollar-23, Abdur-Rahim-12) with 38 postseason bids

The Opening Tip

Georgia hosts South Carolina on Saturday in the first of two contests against the Gamecocks this season. South Carolina is one of five SEC teams the Bulldogs will play home-and-home, along with Auburn, Florida, LSU and Ole Miss.

Promo Giveaway: Rally Towels

The first 1,250 UGA students and the first 1,000 non-students at Stegeman Coliseum on Saturday will receive a free "rally towel."

Series History With Carolina

Georgia is 58-54 all time against the Gamecocks, including a 33-18 mark at home.

Up Next: At The Tide On Wednesday

Georgia travels to Tuscaloosa next Wednesday to face Alabama at 9:00 p.m.

The Dogs Are Drawing

The South Carolina game is the fifth sellout this season and fourth-consecutive for Georgia. The Bulldogs' next two home contests against Ole Miss and LSU also are sold out.

The Bulldogs are averaging 8,762 fans over 11 home games this season, their highest average since a school-record mark of 9,857 during the 2002-03 campaign.

History In The Making

Tom Crean's inaugural season with the Bulldogs' has carried historic ramifications for Georgia Basketball, both on and off the court.

From an attendance standpoint...

Georgia announced sellouts of the Florida and Kentucky game on Oct. 24, the earliest date for a game to sell out in program history.
The Texas game became a sellout on Oct. 26. Before this season, UGA has never had more than one sellout prior to the season opener.
In December, the LSU, South Carolina and Ole Miss games sold out. Six sellouts represented the most in school history before the calendar change.
Georgia drew 9,018 fans for the season opener against Savannah State, UGA's biggest crowd for a home opener in 37 seasons...since Dominique Wilkins' sophomore year in Athens in 1981-82.
The UMass game on Dec. 30 also sold out, giving Georgia a minimum of seven sellouts this season. That represents the Bulldogs' most sellouts since having a school-record nine in 2002-03.
Georgia is averaging 8,762 fans for its 11 home games to date. That's the highest since averaging a school-record 9,857 fans during the 2002-03 season. On the basketball court:
Georgia defeated Savannah State, 110-76 in the season opener, the Bulldogs' most points in the 2000s...since defeating Grambling, 113-74, on Nov. 27, 1999, at the Great Alaska Shootout.
Georgia's 66.7 percent FG percentage against Texas equals the No. 4 best mark in school history.
The Bulldogs' 70.6 percent 3-point percentage against Texas is the No. 3 mark in program history.
Georgia has scored 90 points four times this season, which equals the same number of games the Bulldogs did so over the last three seasons combined (a span of 101 games).

Welcome To The League, Coach

Tom Crean's initiation into the Southeastern Conference would probably be considered hazing by some.

Georgia began league play with six consecutive outings against teams that entered SEC competition ranked in the top-50 of the new NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings.

In the Jan. 5 edition of the NET, the Bulldogs' first half-dozen SEC foes were ranked, in succession, as No. 7 Tennessee, No. 45 Vanderbilt, No. 18 Auburn, No. 10 Kentucky, No. 33 Florida and No. 27 LSU.

Most of those NET rankings held relatively true through the first few weeks of SEC play.

Those hald-dozen teams were listed in last Sunday's NET as No. 6 Tennessee, No. 93 Vanderbilt, No. 27 Auburn, No. 7 Kentucky, No. 37 Florida and No. 16 LSU.

Following last Saturday's SEC/Big 12 Challenge, each SEC team had played six league games. The Bulldogs' opponents in that stretch averaged a NET ranking of 31.0, far and away the most difficult in the league. The next closest was 42.0 for Alabama.

Dogs' Sellout Count Climbs To 7

The Tom Crean regime has established impressive attendance records with seven sellouts already on the books.

Four of those have been played – UMass, Kentucky, Florida and Texas. Georgia's next three home outings – South Carolina, Ole Miss and LSU – also are sold out.

It should be noted that the 2,000 free seats reserved for UGA's student body must be filled for those "sellouts" to have capacity crowds of 10,523.

Dogs Entertain Gamecocks

Georgia returns to the friendly – and increasingly crowded – confines of Stegeman Coliseum on Saturday afternoon to host South Carolina in an interstate matchup.

The Bulldogs enter the game at 10-10 on the season and 1-6 in SEC play.

Sophomores Rayshaun Hammonds and Nicolas Claxton lead the Bulldogs.

Hammonds averages a team-high 13.0 ppg. Among league statistical leaders, he is currently ranked No. 8 in free throw percentage (.821) and No. 12 in rebounds (6.8 rpg).

Claxton has been a "do-it-all" contributor for the Bulldogs. He is scoring 12.9 ppg and leads the SEC in both rebounding (9.3 rpg) and blocks (2.9 bpg). Claxton also paces Georgia in assists (44) and steals (26).

Tyree Crump, who scored a game-high 21 points in last Saturday's win over Texas, provides a third double-digit scoring average at 10.3 ppg.

The Gamecocks also are 10-10 on the year but an impressive 5-2 in SEC games.

Chris Silva averages team highs of 13.9 ppg and 7.1 rpg. Freshman A.J. Lawson chips in 13.0 ppg, while senior Hassani Gravett contributes 11.1 ppg.

Series History Against S.C.

Georgia sports a 58-54 lead in the all-time series with South Carolina, including a 33-18 advantage in games played in Athens.

In the most recent meeting at Stegeman Coliseum last Jan. 13, South Carolina gained an early lead and held off continuous Georgia rallies en route to a 64-57 win.

The Gamecocks jumped out to a 9-2 lead less than three minutes in and made that margin stand up.

South Carolina led by eight at halftime before the Bulldogs opened the second period with a 10-2 run to knot the score at 39-39.

Georgia tied the game again at 49-49 with 3:37 left before a Frank Booker 3-pointer ignited a decisive 10-1 surge.

South Carolina completed the season sweep by winning the rematch in Columbia, 66-57, on Feb. 21.

The Gamecocks used a late surge in the first half and, much like they did in Athens a month earlier, then withstood several rally attempts following the intermission to defeat the Bulldogs.

South Carolina outscored Georgia 13-3 over the final 3:00 of the first half to gain a 42-27 edge at halftime. The Bulldogs opened the second period with a 15-6 surge to close the gap to five with 12:46 remaining.

South Carolina answered with a 5-0 run and never let UGA closer than six thereafter.

Turtle Jackson's 14 points paced Georgia on the offensive end, while Yante Maten added a double-double of 13 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

Last Time Out...

In a back-and-forth contest that featured seven ties and seven lead changes, Arkansas pulled way late en route to a 70-60 win over Georgia at Bud Walton Arena on Tuesday.

The Bulldogs opened with an 11-2 run over the first 4:29 and remained on top for virtually the entire first half before a Jalen Harris steal and layup with three seconds remaining put Arkansas up 31-29 at the break.

Georgia remained within striking distance and took a 41-40 lead on consecutive 3-pointers from Tyree Crump and Nicolas Claxton. The Razorbacks answered and built a 52-45 lead at the 8:32 mark, but the Bulldogs rallied again to knot the score again at 52-52 just two minutes later.

An Isaiah Joe 3-pointer with 5:06 left initiated an 18-8 surge the rest of the way.

Georgia Shoots Hot, Then Cold

After putting together one of the best shooting performances in school history against Texas (66.7 percent on FGs, 70.6 percent from 3-point range and 78.6 percent on FTs), the Bulldogs endured their worst shooting effort of the season at Arkansas (29.2 percent on both FGs and 3-pointers and 51.7 percent on FTs).

A Really Big Boarding Edge

Georgia outrebounded Arkansas by a massive 56-32 margin, enough to up the Bulldogs' rebound margin by a full rebound per game for the season from +5.0 to +6.0.

Rayshaun Hammonds and E'Torrion Wilridge led the way with career-best counts of 13 and 10 boards, respectively.

Dogs Shooting Blistering Percentages Against Longhorns

As outlined below, Georgia's overall and 3-point field goal percentages against Texas both rank among the top-5 in school history.

For good measure, the Bulldogs connected on 78.6 percent of their trips to the free throw line versus the Longhorns.

"I'm not sure I've ever coached a team in my 19 years that's ever shot that well from all three spots on the floor," Tom Crean said.

UGA Single-Game FG Percentages
Rk.	Pct.	Site-Opponent	FG-FGA	Date
1.	.762	H-Chattanooga	32-42	12/19/80
2.	.702	H-Miss. State	40-57	2/28/01
3.	.692	H-Vanderbilt	45-65	2/12/86
4.	.667	H-Texas	32-48	1/26/19
	.667	H-Winthrop	40-60	12/21/93
	.667	H-Tennessee	32-48	3/12/83

UGA Single-Game 3FG Percentages
Rk.	Pct.	Site-Opponent	3FG-3FGA	Date
1.	.727	H-Alabama	8-11	2/6/88
	.727	A-Vanderbilt	8-11	2/14/90
3.	.706	H-Texas	12-17	1/26/19
4.	.700	A-Miss. State.	7-10	1/19/89
	.700	H-S. Carolina	7-10	1/22/00

Bulldogs Are Shot Swatters

Georgia ranks among the nation's top shot-blocking teams. Following midweek SEC games, the Bulldogs ranked No. 10 nationally, averaging 5.5 bpg. Individually, Nicolas Claxton led the league and ranked No. 6 nationally at 2.9 bpg through games of Jan. 30.

Dogs' Depth Paying Dividends

Georgia's bench has outscored its counterparts 15 times...usually by a significant amount. The Bulldogs' reserves have been +10 or more in 11 outings, helping Georgia to a +191 scoring margin on bench points.

The Deflection Objective

The deflection is an extremely key statistic for Georgia. Head coach Tom Crean regularly discusses the deflection and its significance.

"I was told a long time ago – and I don't think you can say it any better – deflections are barometer of active defense. It's any type of activity on the ball. It's a finger tip, a hand, blocked shots, chargers, a steal. That's what we're aiming for. I want our team at a deflection-to-turnover ratio of 3.5-to-1. To me, that is an optimal number."

"You will hear me talk a lot about it," Crean said in his press session following the Sam Houston State game. "Some of you will get tired of it, and some of you will buy into it."

The quote above gives a definition of the stat. The Bulldogs' season totals to date are below. Nicolas Claxton leads the team, including 18 deflections against Sam Houston State.

"I have only coached four other guys, and all four of them played in the NBA, that ever had more than 18 in a game," Crean said.

UGA Deflections
Player	Number
Nicolas Claxton	181
Rayshaun Hammonds	73
Teshaun Hightower	57
E'Torrion Wilridge	54
Turtle Jackson	52
Jordan Harris	46
Tyree Crump	44
Derek Ogbeide	42
Tye Fagan	35
Ignas Sargiunas	15
Amanze Ngumezi	14
JoJo Toppin	9
Christian Harrison	8
Connor O'Neill	2
Mike Edwards	1

Claxton Doing It All For Dogs

Nicolas Claxton is the only player in the SEC this season to – in the same game – lead his team in points, rebounds, assists, blocks and steals...and he's done so twice.

Claxton did so Nov. 27 against Kennesaw State with 16 points, 15 boards, four assists, two blocks and two steals. The sophomore from Greenville, S.C., repeated the feat Dec. 18 versus Oakland with 17 points, 13 boards, three assists, three blocks and a steal.

The last SEC player to lead his team in all five stats in multiple games in the same season was LSU's Ben Simmons, who did so three times during the 2015-16 campaign.

Claxton Joins Top-10 Swatters

Nicolas Claxton joined the Bulldogs' the top-10 single-season efforts for blocks on Jan. 15 against Kentucky, just Georgia's 16th outing of the season.

Claxton is chasing a familiar name on that list...as outlined below.

UGA Season Blocks Leaders
Rk.	No.	Player	Season	GP
1.	94	Charles Claxton	1995	28
2.	91	Richard Corhen	1984	30
3.	88	Lavon Mercer	1977	27
4.	83	Terrell Bell	1996	31
5.	76	Lavon Mercer	1980	27
6.	61	Yante Maten	2016	34
7.	60	Antonio Harvey	1991	29
8.	58	Charles Claxton	1994	30
10.	55	Nicolas Claxton	2019	20
9.	56	Lavon Mercer	1979	25

Feel Free To Call Him "Ty-3" Crump

More than two-thirds of Tyree Crump's successful FGs for Georgia have been from at least 20-feet, 9-inches away from the basket.

All told, 68.6 percent (107-of-156) of Crump's made shots from the floor for Georgia have been from behind the arc. In fact, 3-pointers directly account for 63.3 percent (321 of 507) of Crump's points at UGA.

Ogbeide Among Best Boarders

Derek Ogbeide began the season ranked No. 17 among UGA's career rebounding leaders with 614 boards.

Ogbeide joined UGA's top-10 during the Vanderbilt victory as outlined below.

UGA Career Rebounds Leaders
Rk.	No.	Player	Seasons	GP
1.	1116	Bob Lienhard	1968-70	75
2.	923	Terry Fair	1980-83	123
3.	893	Alec Kessler	1987-90	123
4.	889	Yante Maten	2015-18	128
5.	867	Jerry Waller	1964-66	75
6.	840	Charles Claxton	1992-95	116
7.	838	Lavon Mercer	1977-80	106
8.	763	Chris Daniels	2000-04	119
9.	739	Carlos Strong	1993-96	118
10.	726	Derek Ogbeide	2016-19	115

Ogbeide Steps Up In SEC Play

Derek Ogbeide is averaging 10.7 ppg and shooting 64.7 percent from the field in SEC games to date. That's a significant jump from his efforts of 9.2 ppg and 49.0 percent in non-conference action.

Ogbeide's SEC campaign includes the most productive offensive three-game stretch of his career against UMass, Tennessee and Vanderbilt. Ogbeide put up 12 points against the Minutemen, a season-high 17 in Knoxville and 15 versus the Dores...an average of 14.7 ppg on shooting 62.4 percent from the floor.

Hammonds Bounces Back

Rayshaun Hammonds rebounded quite well from his only two scoreless outings during the 2018-19 campaign.

After not putting up points at No. 3 Tennessee in the SEC opener, Hammonds scored a game-high 19 points against Vanderbilt.

Hammonds did not score versus Florida, but then had a team-high 18 points at LSU.

It took Hammonds a while to get going against the Commodores, though. He was held scoreless in the first half.

Tom Crean then asked for more from Hammonds at the half.

"It was quick," Crean said. "It wasn't bad. It wasn't in my top-100 challenges. I've had a few. It's like, 'We need more. This isn't good enough.' He comes out in the second half and bangs that first shot, looks good doing it. It's important. He has another gear in him. It's our job to keep pulling it out of him."

Hammonds hit a 3-pointer 14 seconds in to the second half and eventually scored a dozen points in the first 7:24 of the period.

Claxton Named SEC POTW

Nicolas Claxton was tabbed the SEC Player of the Week on Dec. 31, a day after his game-high tallies of 20 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks against UMass. Claxton recorded his sixth double-double of the season while connecting on 8-of-13 shots from the field and converting on 3-of-3 trips to the line versus the Minutemen. He grabbed 10 defensive rebounds, one less than the UMass entire roster grabbed as a whole on that end of the floor.

Maten Earns G League Honor

Yante Maten, the 2018 AP SEC Player of the Year for Georgia, enjoyed a very productive month of December.

Maten, a two-way player with the Miami Heat and the Sioux Falls Skyforce, was named NBA G League Player of the Month. In nine games, he averaged 29.2 points, 11.4 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.4 blocks per game while shooting 59.0 percent from the field, 47.4 percent from 3-point range and 80.3 percent from the line. Maten's month was highlighted by a 42-point, 14-rebound performance against Stockton, one of his seven December double-doubles.

"I'm definitely enjoying my time in Sioux Falls," Maten said. "I'm being used a lot. I'm trying to make the best out of every opportunity and every game. I'm just exited to come out and prove a point every night."

Perfect Against "The Enemy"

With its 70-59 win over Georgia Tech on Dec. 22 at McCamish Pavilion, Georgia's Class of 2019 secured a unique spot in the Bulldogs' history.

In the first 113 seasons of Georgia Basketball, only four, four-year Bulldogs finished their careers undefeated against the Yellow Jackets – the tandems of James Banks and Vern Fleming (1980-84) and Richard Corhen and Gerald Crosby (1981-85).

That number more than doubled with this year's victory as Mike Edwards, Turtle Jackson, Connor O'Neill, Derek Ogbeide and E'Torrion Wilridge joined that quartet. Christian Harrison also went undefeated against Tech, but only played two seasons in Athens after transferring from Troy. Those Bulldogs not only won each game, the did so by double figures. The last time Georgia posted four-consecutive double-digit wins over the Jackets was a stretch covering the 1908-09 through 1913-14 seasons

To adhere to "truth in advertising" principles...it should be noted that UGA and GT played at least twice each season from the beginning of the series through 1981-82.

Hammonds Puts Up Rare Stat Line

Rayshaun Hammonds poured in a career-high 31 points while not turning the ball over once versus Illinois State.

Hammonds is the only SEC player this season to put up 30 points with no turnovers. Only two SEC players did so last season – Vanderbilt's Jeff Roberson and Terence Davis from Ole Miss.

Hammonds, Yante Maten and Jumaine Jones are the only Bulldogs to do so in the last 20 seasons as outlined below.

30 Points, 0 Turnovers
Player	Pts.	Opponent (date)
R. Hammonds	31	Illinois State (11/19/18)
Y. Maten	30	Charleston Southern (12/17/16)
Y. Maten	30	Kansas (11/22/16)
J. Jones	34	Kentucky (1/26/99)

Career-High Outings Against ISU

Rayshaun Hammonds and Nicolas Claxton exploded for career-high outputs of 31 and 22 points, respectively, against Illinois State.

Hammonds scored 31 points in 31 minutes. He scored 18 first-half points, almost topped his previous best effort of 21 points before intermission. Claxton did much of his damage after the break with 14 second-half points.

Excitement Surrounds Bulldogs

Tom Crean was hired as the Bulldogs' head coach on March 15 and created an off-season buzz surrounding Georgia Basketball that it hasn't been seen since Dominique Wilkins' days in Athens during the early-80s.

Before this season, Georgia had never sold out more than one game before its opener.

This fall, the Bulldogs had three sellouts – Florida, Kentucky and Texas – in October.

In addition, the number of contributors and the amount donated to UGA's Basketball Enhancement Fund (BEF) set records by considerable margins. The BEF tally topped $1 million for the first time ever and as of Nov. 7 had bettered the previous watermark by just shy of 25 percent.

UGA Loaded With Peach Products

Nearly three-fourths of Georgia's roster played high school hoops in the Peach State. Eleven of 15 Bulldogs – that's 73.3 percent to be exact – did so.

The list includes: seniors Christian Harrison (Woodward Academy), William "Turtle" Jackson (Athens Christian School), Connor O'Neill (Blessed Trinity Catholic High) and Derek Ogbeide (Pebblebrook High); juniors Tyree Crump (Bainbridge High) and Jordan Harris (Seminole County High); sophomores Rayshaun Hammonds (Norcross High) and Teshaun Hightower (Collins Hills High); and freshmen Tye Fagan (Upson-Lee High); Amanze Ngumezi (Johnson High) and JoJo Toppin (Norcross High).

Fagan Owns Unique Record

The first recruit to commit to Tom Crean at Georgia certainly brought a winning résumé.

Spring signee Tye Fagan helped Upson-Lee High School to back-to-back state titles and 63 consecutive victories as a junior and senior. The Knights' effort represents the third-longest winning streak in Georgia boys' high school hoops history.

"Any time you add a championship-winning player and person to your program, it's great," Crean said. "But I can't recall ever signing anyone that was 63-0. That's unique."

Georgia's loss at Temple on Nov. 13 represented Fagan's first setback representing his school since an Upson-Lee setback to New Hampstead on Feb. 17, 2016 in the first round of the 2016 state tournament...providing a span of exactly 1000 days between those losses.

Inaugural StegMania A Success

Tom Crean arrived in Athens with a distinct vision. One thing he wanted to create was an preseason event to display the new energy and enthusiasm around Georgia Basketball.

On Friday, Oct. 5, the first-ever StegMania drew a crowd of more than 5,000. It was, by all measures, a significant success.

UGA students lined up around the Coliseum to receive commemorative "StegMania" t-shirts. A lengthy autograph session with a distinct family feel wrapped up the festivities.

StegMania itself was packed with pyrotechnic player intros, a high-flying dunk contest, a dance battle with the Georgia Lady Bulldogs, an impromptu performance of the hit song "Rolex" by hip-hop artists Ayo & Teo and a scrimmage with Crean "mic'd up."

"When you're brand new coming into something like this, you really don't have an expectation," said Crean after the event. "But if I would've had one, it would have exceeded it. When I saw people in line to get into the Coliseum, I got a lump in my throat. It was awesome because you never take it for granted. Hopefully, everyone walks out of here knowing that they matter."

The Leftiest Lads In The Land

The Bulldogs' roster features six – count 'em on two hands – left-handed players. Georgia's southpaws include Nicolas Claxton, Tye Fagan, Rayshaun Hammonds, Jordan Harris, Derek Ogbeide and JoJo Toppin.

We're relatively confident that tally is the most any NCAA Division I basketball team will suit up during 2018-19.

During the summer months, J.D. Hamilton of the NCAA sends out a laundry list of questions to the nation's Division I men's basketball SIDs. The inquiries can range from statistical – what school has the most 2,000-point scorers – to staff – who has the nation's most experienced coaching staff – to roster related – who has the most newcomers.

Round 1 of the email on September 5 including the following offering from Athens: "Georgia has six left-handed players. Does any other team in the country have as many or more players who are left-handed?"

Not that SIDs are bound to answer every request, but that question received no replies. So, the ask was modified for a second email correspondence sent out by Hamilton on September 26 to read: "Georgia has six left-handed players. Does any other team in the country have as four or more players who are left-handed?"

That led to Tennessee (D.J. Burns, John Fulkerson, Jalen Johnson and Yves Pons), Washington (David Crisp, Elijah Hardy, Bryan Penn-Johnson and Nate Roberts) and Winthrop (Adam Pickett, Jermaine Ukaegbu, Kyle Zunic and Raivis Scerbinskis) supplying lists of four.

While nothing is official, Georgia will claim the unofficial title of the leftiest team in America until proven otherwise.

And for full effect, the above headline should be read in a voice immitating Dan Magill, the greatest Bulldog of all time. If you're not familiar with Coach Magill, ask.