MBB Game Notes: Bulldogs Battle Runnin' Bulldogs On Wednesday

Wednesday, December 29

Athens, Ga.

7:00 p.m.

University of Georgia

Gardner-Webb

MBB Game Notes: Bulldogs Battle Runnin' Bulldogs On Wednesday

December 28, 2021 | Men's Basketball

Complete Game Notes

Georgia Basketball Game Notes

Georgia (5-7) vs. Gardner-Webb (5-7)
Wednesday, December 29, 2021 | 7:00 p.m. ET
Stegeman Coliseum (10,523) in Athens, Ga
Radio: Georgia Bulldog Sports Network (Flagship: WSB AM 750); (Scott Howard, play-by-play; Chuck Dowdle, analyst; Adam Gillespie, producer) | Affiliates
TV: None
Video Stream: SEC Network+ (Kaleb Frady, pbp; Mark Slonaker, analyst)
Audio Stream: georgiadogs.com
Satellite: XM: 382; SXM App: 972
History: UGA 4-0 (Full History)
Last Meeting: UGA 77-59 (11/25/2016)

No.	Name	PPG	RPG

Georgia Bulldogs
Coach: Tom Crean
46-55 in 4th season at UGA
402-286 in 22nd season overall
3	Kario Oquendo	11.5	3.7
(6-4; 215; Soph.; Titusville, Fla.)
10	Aaron Cook	11.1	2.9
(6-2; 185; Grad.; St. Louis, Va.)
11	Jaxon Etter	5.2	3.1
(6-4; 205; Jr.; Woodstock, Ga.)
20	Noah Baumann	6.5	3.1
(6-6; 210; Sr.; Phoenix, Ariz.)
23	Braelen Bridges	12.5	5.8
(6-11; 240; Sr.; Atlanta, Ga.)

No.	Name	PPG	RPG

Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs
Coach: Tim Craft
143-128 in 9th season at GWU
143-128 in 9th season overall
0	Lance Terry	13.5	2.5
(6-2; 180; Jr.; College Park, Ga.)
4	D'Maurian Williams	14.6	5.4
(6-5; 195; Soph.; Phoenix, Ariz.)
14	Kareem Reid	11.8	5.6
(6-9; 205; Jr.; Queens, N.Y.)
15	Zion Williams	5.6	5.8
(6-4; 195; Grad.; Maybrook, N.Y.)
24	Ludovic Dufeal	4.4	6.7
(6-9; 215; Soph.; Owings, Md.)

TEAM COMPARISON

2020-21 STATISTICS	GEORGIA	GARDNER-WEBB
Points Per Game	70.8	72.7
Opp. Point Per Game	72.1	66.4
Scoring Margin	-1.3	+6.3
Field Goal Pct.	.442	.450
Opp. Field Goal Pct.	.438	.394
3-Point Pct.	.320	.320
3-Pointers Per Game	6.9	7.9
Opp. 3-Point Pct.	.331	.281
Free Throw Pct.	.709	.676
Free Throws Per Game	15.0	10.6
Rebounds Per Game	36.2	38.3
Opp. Rebound Per Game	34.4	35.6
Rebound Margin	+1.8	+2.8
Assists Per Game	14.7	14.7
Turnovers Per Game	13.7	13.9
Assist-to-Turnover Ratio	1.07	1.05
Turnover Margin	-2.9	+0.2
Steals Per Game	5.3	7.9
Blocks Per Game	2.8	5.7

The Starting 5...

Through games of 12/27, Aaron Cook ranked No. 2 in the SEC and No. 5 nationally in assists at 7.0 apg.
Georgia has used 6 different starting lineups in the first 12 games...largely due to injuries and illnesses.
Braelen Bridges leads UGA with eight double-figure outputs...and has two more games with nine points.
Jaxon Etter has drawn 11 offensive fouls this year...and 19 in UGA's last 23 games dating back to last season.
UGA's seven first-year transfers combined to score 4,782 points at their previous schools.

The Opening Tip

Following a week-long holiday break, the Georgia Bulldogs will return to action on Wednesday evening when they host the Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs at Stegeman Coliseum.

Both bands of Bulldogs enter the contest with 5-7 records on the season.

Georgia is 3-2 in December to date, a mark headlined by an 82-79 upset of No. 18 Memphis that also represented the 400th victory of Tom Crean's head coaching career.

The Runnin' Bulldogs have been a streaky bunch. Gardner-Webb began the season with a trio of losses before stringing together four straight wins. That was followed by a quartet of losses. GWU won its last outing, a 79-46 decision over Converse on Dec. 17.

Keeping An Eye On... Entering Today's Game:

Aaron Cook is...
• 14 assists from 400 for his career
• 6 outings from 150 games played in his career
• 19 steals from 200 for his career

Series History With GWU

Georgia is 4-0 all-time against the Runnin' Bulldogs of Gardner-Webb, with all three of those matchups taking place here at Stegeman Coliseum.

Most recently, the Bulldogs topped Gardner-Webb, 77-59, in the sixth game of the 2016-17 season on Nov. 25, 2016.

Eleven different Bulldogs scored, with three reaching double figures. Yante Maten posted team highs of 16 points and nine rebounds, while J.J. Frazier and Mike Edwards each added 10 points.

The Bulldogs led 40-37 following a back-and-forth first half featuring no less than 14 lead changes and 10 ties.

The second half was all Georgia as the Bulldogs opened up on an 18-8 run to take a 58-45 advantage. Edwards hit a jumper at the 6:09 mark to extend Georgia's lead to its largest of the game at 72-49.

Scouting The Runnin' Bulldogs

Gardner-Webb is 5-7 on the season and is playing its first game since a Dec. 17 victory over Converse.

The Runnin' Bulldogs are led offensively by a trio of double-figure scorers. D'Maurian Williams paces the team at 14.6 ppg, while Lance Terry chips in 13.5 ppg and Kareem Reid adds 11.8 ppg. Ludovic Dufeal is Gardner-Webb's top rebounder at 6.7 rpg.

The Runnin' Bulldogs distribute the ball well, with no less than eight players sporting double-digit assist totals.

Last Time Out

Noah Baumann poured 25 points to lead a trio of Bulldogs in double figures; however, East Tennessee State used a late rally to defeat Georgia, 86-84, on Dec. 22 at Stegeman Coliseum.

Baumann reached that mark while connecting on 8-of-10 shots from the floor including 7-of-9 from 3-point range. Aaron Cook and Kario Oquendo chipped in 17 and 15 points, respectively.

After trailing by as many as 14 points early in the second half, the Bulldogs rallied to cut that margin to a single bucket at 58-56 with 14:54 remaining in the game.

Georgia eventually took its first lead on a Cook jumper at the 8:03 mark. The teams traded the lead before a layup by Cook opened an 11-2 surge that put the Bulldogs up 82-74.

The Bucs outscored Georgia 12-2 the rest of the way to complete the upset.

Bulldogs Use 6th Starting 5

Georgia has utilized six different starting lineups in 12 games this season, mixing and matching eight Bulldogs to comprise those quintets.

Only Braelen Bridges and Kario Oquendo have gotten the nod for every contest, although Aaron Cook has started every game he's played. Cook missed the Memphis game due to an illness.

Career Highs In The Last Two

There were several of career-best statistical performances in Georgia's last two outings against Western Carolina and East Tennessee State. Most notably...

Aaron Cook dished out 12 assists versus the Catamounts, bettering his previous high of 10 at Cincinnati earlier this season and against Howard on Nov. 19, 2018. With 13 points versus WCU, the "super senior" from St. Louis also recorded his second career double-double...the first coming at Cincinnati.

Noah Baumann grabbed 11 rebounds against Western Carolina, more than doubling his previous career-most of five in seven different games 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."

Baumann followed that performance with a 25-point showing versus ETSU. He did so in extremely efficient fashion, connecting on 8-of-10 field goals overall and 7-of-9 from 3-point range.

Dalen Ridgnal scored 10 points and collected nine rebounds versus Western Carolina, just shy a double-double. Those tallies are even more impressive considering he did so in 12 minutes of PT.

Noah Continues Scoring Trend

Now in his fifth season of college basketball but just his first at Georgia, Noah Baumann has continued his trend of scoring most of his points in an efficient manner from behind the 3-point arc.

Through 12 games, 19 of Baumann's 23 (.826) made field goals this season have been 3-pointers, and he's shooting a higher percentage from 3-point range (.463) than on 2-point attempts (.333).

Career-wise, 72.4 percent (165 of 228) of Baumann's made FGs are 3-pointers, and he is shooting a considerably better clip from outside the arc (.438) than inside that stripe (.358).

Etter Accepting Charges

Defensively, Jaxon Etter is like Visa...as in "everywhere you want (him) to be."

The junior walk-on from Woodstock, Ga., took three charges against Western Carolina, the second game this season when he's drawn a trio of offensive fouls. The other outing being versus Georgia Tech.

On the season, Etter has now collected a team-high 11 charges. The trend actually began last season when he drew eight offensive fouls in the final 11 outings, giving Etter 19 charges taken in the Bulldogs' last 23 contests.

B.B. In Consistent, Efficient

Braelen Bridges is not only Georgia's leading scorer, he's also the Bulldogs' most consistent point producer and among the nation's most efficient.

Bridges has posted double-digit scoring outputs in a team-best eight of Georgia's 12 games and has notched nine points in two of the other four outings.

The graduate transfer senior Atlanta native is shooting a sizzling 67.5 percent from the field, connecting on 56 of his 83 field goal attempts.

Bridges' effort almost puts him in elite company nationally. To be ranked among NCAA statistical leaders in FG percentage, a player has to make a minimum of five shots per game. With 56 field goals made, Bridges falls four shy of that standard...or he would rank No. 5 in the nation through games of Monday night.

Cook Among Assist Leaders

Through Monday's games, Aaron Cook ranked No. 2 in the SEC and No. 5 nationally in average assists per game.

The "super senior" from St. Louis has distributed 77 passes-to-points in the 11 games he's played this season, an averaged of 7.0 apg.

Though only a third of the way through the season, Cook's apg tally is on pace to be the second-best ever by a Bulldog. In fact, he has a nice cushion between the current No. 2 – 6.3 apg by Pertha Robinson in 1994-95.

Cook also is No. 2 in the SEC in total assists. He's No. 10 nationally, with that dip largely due to his missing the Memphis game because of an illness.

Shooting His Shot

Noah Baumann had an eventual Sunday, November 14. The graduate transfer from Southern Cal proposed to his longtime girlfriend, Mackenzie Moore, beside Lake Herrick at the intramural fields on the UGA campus.

Baumann and Moore have known each other since they were 7th graders at Akimel (pronounced ah-kee-mull) Middle School and started dating during their senior year at Desert Vista High School in Phoenix.

They have endured a long-distance relationship for the past four years.

Moore was a four-year starter on the Miami (Ohio) softball team, batting .279 with seven homers and 66 RBI. She was named second-team All-MAC as a senior, leading the RedHawks to a 46-10 finish, the MAC Championship and an NCAA Tournament bid.

Dogs Look To Regroup Again

The George Mason game was Georgia's first since losing Jailyn Ingram to a knee injury during the Jacksonville game on Dec. 7. The "super senior" from Madison, Ga., and Morgan County High School went down with 14:21 remaining in the contest and did not return.

Following an MRI on Dec. 8, head coach Tom Crean confirmed the prognosis on Dec. 9 with a Twitter post 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. We will help him in every way.

"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 a 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 setback is the second season-ending injury for Georgia. On Oct. 20, Crean announced that P.J. Horne, one of just two Bulldogs to start every game last season, would miss the 2021-22 campaign.

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. He cares about his teammates deeply.

"The future is definitely in grasp. The goal is to finish his master's, rehab consistently and be the leader we need him to be. A full recovery is expected and anticipated. He will continue to be a DIFFERENCE MAKER in all that he does. We love P.J."

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.

It appears the Jabri who was ranked as one of the nation's top-40 prospects in the Class of 2020 has re-emerged in Georgia's first three outings of December.

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 outing.

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 – Freshman Dameon Mason's three-point play with eight-tenths 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 at a raucous Stegeman Coliseum.

Wright Stellar Against Tigers

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.

We Should've Known...

...when Georgia tipped off against No. 18 Memphis, Kario Oquendo was ready for a breakout performance. There were pretty good indicators on record.

Last season, the Titusville, Fla., native 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 against ranked foes continued against Memphis, with Oquendo pouring in 24 points while shooting 69.2 percent (9-of-13) from the floor.

Take II: We Should've Known...

...the Bulldogs' upset of No. 18 Memphis was a likely occurrence. Georgia's quartet of victories over ranked teams under Tom Crean all came against Tigers.

Georgia has now one four consecutive matchups against ranked Tigers, with the Bulldogs besting No. 9 Memphis on Jan. 4, 2020, No. 13 Auburn on Feb. 19, 2020 and No. 20 Missouri on Feb. 16, 2021 prior to defeating Memphis.

Tip of the cap to stats guru Dave McMahon (@dave_mc_stats) for being the first to notice the coincidence.

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 that plateau entering the game. He inched past the milestone on a jumper with 2:21 left in the first half. Cook finished the night with 22 points, three of his career high versus Indiana State on Jan. 24, 2018.

Cook scored 845 points at Southern Illinois from 2016-20. He competed for four seasons at SIU, including a redshirt campaign in 2019-20 due to a broken hand.

Cook transferred to Gonzaga and added 127 points for the Bulldogs en route to their NCAA runner-up finish last season.

Cook scored 10 points in each of his first two outings at UGA, pushing him to 992 prior to the S.C. State matchup.

Dalen, Kario Draw Attention

Kario Oquendo and Dalen Ridgnal have been ranked among the top junior college transfers expected to make the biggest marks at the Division-I level 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" that also included Ridgnal.

Cook Among Most Experienced

Aaron Cook arrived in Athens having already participated in 133 games. Cook logged action in 103 contests in four seasons at Southern Illinois, including six in a 2019-20 redshirt campaign. He then played in 30 contests last season at Gonzaga.

Cook's was the third-most experienced player – game wise – in Division I entering this season as outlined in the next column.

As a point of reference for Georgia's record for career games played is 133 contests by Marcus Thornton from 2011-15. Thornton's tally covers five seasons, including a redshirt season with nine GPs.

In addition, Jailyn Cook ranked among D-I's top-50 players in career outings entering 2021-22, having played in 122 contests at FAU prior to joining the Bulldogs.

D-I's career GPs Leaders
Rk.	Player, School	Games
1.	Jordan Bohannon, Iowa	142
2.	Chevez Goodwin, USC	138
3.	Aaron Cook, Georgia	133
	Garrison Brooks, Miss. St.	133
	Jalen Coleman-Lands, Kansas	133
	Justin Kier, Arizona	133

Welcoming A Slew Of Scoring

Of the 10 newcomers on the Bulldogs' roster seven are transfers – five from the Division I level (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. That represents the largest addition of scoring by any Division I program for the 2021-22 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.

P.J. Horne was Georgia's only returning starter but was lost for the season after suffering a knee injury during preseason practices. The Tifton, Ga., native put up 222 points – 8.5 ppg – last season, largely due to connecting on a team-high 46 3-pointers.

"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," Tom Crean tweeted on Oct. 20. "He cares about his teammates deeply."

With that, 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.

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

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

"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."