University of Georgia Athletics
Bulldogs Playing Fast, Scoring Plenty
December 21, 2025 | Men's Basketball, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
The No. 25-ranked Georgia men's basketball team is playing fast and playing well this season. The Bulldogs have one of the top offenses in the country, one of the deepest teams, and the squad plays a fast-paced style that is both fun for the players and fun to watch.
Junior guard Jordan Ross, a transfer from Saint Mary's, said the team's chemistry, which developed quickly over the summer, has a lot to do with that.
"For how many new guys we've got, it's crazy. I've been a part of a lot of teams, and maybe this team got the closest the quickest," Ross said. "I mean, we do everything together. You know, as soon as we leave the gym or the locker room, we're still all hanging out at someone's house together. We're all going bowling together. We do it like eight to 14 deep. So we built chemistry, and this started in June and July."
When head coach Mike White and his staff were putting together their roster for this season, needing to replace six of their top seven scorers from last season's squad that reached the NCAA tournament, they saw that they were building a team that could play fast and put up a lot of points.
"This was the style we're going to shoot for offensively, defensively, and we also knew we'd be collectively a much better passing team, which has shown and allowed us to play fast and be productive in space," White said ahead of Thursday's 112-82 win over Western Carolina at Stegeman Coliseum. "This team's got a high ceiling — gotta continue to shoot for it."
Sophomore guard Jeremiah Wilkinson, a transfer from Cal, leads the Bulldogs with 17.9 points per game. Third-year Bulldog Blue Cain is second on the team with 15.6 per game, and Marcus "Smurf" Millender, a junior guard who transferred from UT-San Antonio, is the third player averaging double-digit points per game with 10.2.
"Coach White did a good job finding out what he wanted to do and the guys he wanted to bring in. He brought in guys that are really athletic and fast," said center Somto Cyril after scoring 14 points against Western Carolina. Cyril is Georgia's fourth-leading scorer with 9.4 points per game.
According to the NCAA's website, the Bulldogs have the top scoring offense among all 361 Division I teams at 99.5 points per game. The next-highest is Kent State at 96.6. The Bulldogs scored 112 in their easy win over Western Carolina, which was just their third-highest total of the season; it was the Bulldogs' fifth game with triple-digit points, tying a school record (set in 1990-91) for the most 100-point games in a season, and these Bulldogs did it in just 11 games.
Georgia also leads the nation in fast-break points with 28.2, nearly six more than any other program. And fast breaks often lead to fouls, which is part of the reason Georgia ranks seventh in free throws per game, with 28.6. As a team, the Bulldogs are shooting 49.9% from the field, with more than 20% of their field goals coming on dunks.
Higher tempo and better execution are two reasons why the Bulldogs are scoring so many points. Another is depth. Georgia is playing 11 players at least 11 minutes per game — Blue Cain leads the team with 25.9 — and the Bulldogs rank seventh in the nation in bench points, scoring 42.0 per game.
White said after Thursday's win that Georgia may need to shorten its bench at some point, maybe once SEC play begins Jan. 3 against Auburn, but he hopes not.
"We're going to keep giving guys opportunities, and we're going to continue to evaluate lineups and also evaluate lineups in different situations defensively and offensively against different teams," he said. "Until we get to the point where I feel like we need to shorten it to nine or 10 guys, or eight or nine guys, we're going to continue to play the way we're playing.
"I like the 11 we're playing a lot. They all have bright futures. They're all really good people. Again, I don't know who not to play. If we get to a point where a guy's really struggling consistently, sometimes organically the rotation shortens itself. I hope that that doesn't happen because I'd like to see all of these guys have success."
These are heady times for the Georgia men's and women's programs, with the guys at 10-1 and putting up huge offensive numbers and the women at 13-0, their best start since the 2009-10 season. The Lady Bulldogs routed Coppin State 82-55 on Sunday at the 4ThaCulture Classic in Richmond, Va.
The Georgia men aren't just making shots, they're also blocking them. Led by Cyril's and Justin Abson's 2.6 each per game, Georgia leads the nation with 8.0 blocks per outing. The Bulldogs are also taking the ball away at a high rate, getting 10.6 steals per game (good enough for 14th in the country).
Pushing the pace on offense might seem like it would lead to more turnovers, but Georgia is only averaging 11.6 per game. That's more than a turnover per game fewer than the Bulldogs averaged last season (12.9).
"This group has an ability to play fast, has a pretty high level of passing ability, and it's the best passing team that I've coached in a while," White said. "I like where we are with our turnovers. I want to work on it every day to get it down, but we're in a good place with it."
Georgia is clearly in a good place overall heading toward the end of non-conference play. The Bulldogs are back in action Monday when they host West Georgia at 2 p.m., followed by a week off before the women and men play a doubleheader on Dec. 29. The women host Charleston Southern at noon, followed by the men's game against Long Island at 7 p.m.
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Staff Writer
The No. 25-ranked Georgia men's basketball team is playing fast and playing well this season. The Bulldogs have one of the top offenses in the country, one of the deepest teams, and the squad plays a fast-paced style that is both fun for the players and fun to watch.
Junior guard Jordan Ross, a transfer from Saint Mary's, said the team's chemistry, which developed quickly over the summer, has a lot to do with that.
"For how many new guys we've got, it's crazy. I've been a part of a lot of teams, and maybe this team got the closest the quickest," Ross said. "I mean, we do everything together. You know, as soon as we leave the gym or the locker room, we're still all hanging out at someone's house together. We're all going bowling together. We do it like eight to 14 deep. So we built chemistry, and this started in June and July."
When head coach Mike White and his staff were putting together their roster for this season, needing to replace six of their top seven scorers from last season's squad that reached the NCAA tournament, they saw that they were building a team that could play fast and put up a lot of points.
"This was the style we're going to shoot for offensively, defensively, and we also knew we'd be collectively a much better passing team, which has shown and allowed us to play fast and be productive in space," White said ahead of Thursday's 112-82 win over Western Carolina at Stegeman Coliseum. "This team's got a high ceiling — gotta continue to shoot for it."
Sophomore guard Jeremiah Wilkinson, a transfer from Cal, leads the Bulldogs with 17.9 points per game. Third-year Bulldog Blue Cain is second on the team with 15.6 per game, and Marcus "Smurf" Millender, a junior guard who transferred from UT-San Antonio, is the third player averaging double-digit points per game with 10.2.
"Coach White did a good job finding out what he wanted to do and the guys he wanted to bring in. He brought in guys that are really athletic and fast," said center Somto Cyril after scoring 14 points against Western Carolina. Cyril is Georgia's fourth-leading scorer with 9.4 points per game.
According to the NCAA's website, the Bulldogs have the top scoring offense among all 361 Division I teams at 99.5 points per game. The next-highest is Kent State at 96.6. The Bulldogs scored 112 in their easy win over Western Carolina, which was just their third-highest total of the season; it was the Bulldogs' fifth game with triple-digit points, tying a school record (set in 1990-91) for the most 100-point games in a season, and these Bulldogs did it in just 11 games.
Georgia also leads the nation in fast-break points with 28.2, nearly six more than any other program. And fast breaks often lead to fouls, which is part of the reason Georgia ranks seventh in free throws per game, with 28.6. As a team, the Bulldogs are shooting 49.9% from the field, with more than 20% of their field goals coming on dunks.
Higher tempo and better execution are two reasons why the Bulldogs are scoring so many points. Another is depth. Georgia is playing 11 players at least 11 minutes per game — Blue Cain leads the team with 25.9 — and the Bulldogs rank seventh in the nation in bench points, scoring 42.0 per game.
White said after Thursday's win that Georgia may need to shorten its bench at some point, maybe once SEC play begins Jan. 3 against Auburn, but he hopes not.
"We're going to keep giving guys opportunities, and we're going to continue to evaluate lineups and also evaluate lineups in different situations defensively and offensively against different teams," he said. "Until we get to the point where I feel like we need to shorten it to nine or 10 guys, or eight or nine guys, we're going to continue to play the way we're playing.
"I like the 11 we're playing a lot. They all have bright futures. They're all really good people. Again, I don't know who not to play. If we get to a point where a guy's really struggling consistently, sometimes organically the rotation shortens itself. I hope that that doesn't happen because I'd like to see all of these guys have success."
These are heady times for the Georgia men's and women's programs, with the guys at 10-1 and putting up huge offensive numbers and the women at 13-0, their best start since the 2009-10 season. The Lady Bulldogs routed Coppin State 82-55 on Sunday at the 4ThaCulture Classic in Richmond, Va.
The Georgia men aren't just making shots, they're also blocking them. Led by Cyril's and Justin Abson's 2.6 each per game, Georgia leads the nation with 8.0 blocks per outing. The Bulldogs are also taking the ball away at a high rate, getting 10.6 steals per game (good enough for 14th in the country).
Pushing the pace on offense might seem like it would lead to more turnovers, but Georgia is only averaging 11.6 per game. That's more than a turnover per game fewer than the Bulldogs averaged last season (12.9).
"This group has an ability to play fast, has a pretty high level of passing ability, and it's the best passing team that I've coached in a while," White said. "I like where we are with our turnovers. I want to work on it every day to get it down, but we're in a good place with it."
Georgia is clearly in a good place overall heading toward the end of non-conference play. The Bulldogs are back in action Monday when they host West Georgia at 2 p.m., followed by a week off before the women and men play a doubleheader on Dec. 29. The women host Charleston Southern at noon, followed by the men's game against Long Island at 7 p.m.
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Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files.
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