Dogs To Host No. 16 Alabama On Tuesday

Tuesday, March 3

Athens, Ga.

6:30

University of Georgia

Alabama

Tickets From $17 - $35

March 02, 2026 | Men's Basketball

Game Notes

Georgia Basketball Game Notes

Georgia (20-9, 8-8 SEC) vs. No. 16/16 Alabama (22-7, 12-4 SEC)
Date: Tuesday, March 3, 2026
Time: 6:30 p.m. ET
Venue: Stegeman Coliseum (10,523)
Location: Athens, Ga.
TV: SEC Network (Dave Neal, play-by-play; Jon Sunvold, analyst)
Streaming: SECN+
Radio: Georgia Bulldog Network; Sirius 162 (Scott Howard, play-by-play; Chuck Dowdle, analyst; Adam Gillespie, producer)
Tickets: www.georgiadogs.com/mbbtix
Game Giveaway: The first 750 UGA students will receive a free Spike Squishee

The Starting 5

Georgia hosts Alabama on Tuesday looking for a key Quad 1 win to bolster the Bulldogs' postseason resume. UGA has five Quad 1 victories, already one more than last season's NCAA tourney squad.
The Bulldogs have posted three straight 20-win seasons for the third time in 121 seasons (also from 1996-98 and 2014-16). UGA now has 16 20-win campaigns; seven times during the regular season.
The "Dunkyard Dawgs" lead the nation in percentage of field goals that are dunks at 18.8 percent (179 of 898 FGs). Individually, Somto Cyril leads in D-I players in dunks with 75 rim rattlers.
Georgia entered the week ranked No. 6 nationally in scoring offense at 89.7 ppg. That's 7.0 ppg better than the Bulldogs' current season scoring mark of 82.7 ppg by the 1990 SEC Championship squad.
Blue Cain and Jeremiah Wilkinson enter Tuesday's game with 983 and 962 career points, respectively. Marcus "Smurf" Millender topped the 1,000-point mark earlier this season on Jan. 24 at Texas.

Keeping An Eye On…

Entering Today's Game - Among UGA's Career Leaders

Blue Cain is...
• 17 points from becoming UGA's 49th 1,000-point scorer and the first since Yante Maten in 2017
• 4 3-point FGs from No. 15 Jabri Abdur-Rahim
• 7 3-point FGs from co-No. 13s Ty Wilson and Ray Harrison
• 15 3-point FGAs from No. 12 Ray Harrison
Somto Cyril is...
• 1 block from co-No. 7s Nicolas Claxton & Willie Anderson
• 14 blocks from No. 6 Donte Williams

Entering Today's Game - Among UGA's Season Leaders

Somto Cyril is...
• 5 blocks from No. 6 Lavon Mercer ('80)
• 10 blocks from No. 5 Nicolas Claxton ('19)
Justin Abson is...
• 1 block from No. 19 Charles Claxton ('93)
• 2 blocks from No. 18 Charles Claxton ('92)
• 3 blocks from co-No. 15s Yante Maten ('18) & Willie Anderson (in both '87 & '88)
• 4 blocks from No. 14 Trey Thompkins ('11)
• 5 blocks from co-No. 12s Somto Cyril ('25) & Donte' Williams (12)
Jeremiah Wilkinson is...
• 38 points from 1,000 career points
• 2 3-point FGs from No. 14 Jody Patton ('91)
• 5 3-point FGs from co-No. 12s Anthony Edwards ('20) & Levin Stukes ('06)
• 10 3-point FGAs from No. 10 J.J. Frazier (16)

The Opening Tip

Georgia hosts No. 16 Alabama at Stegeman Coliseum on Tuesday in the Bulldogs' 13th Quad 1 game of the season. UGA has five Q1 wins, already one more than last season's NCAA Tournament team.

With Saturday's win over South Carolina, the Bulldogs notched their third-consecutive 20-win campaign, a feat Georgia has accomplished only two other times during its 121 previous seasons of competition (also from 1996-98 and 2014-16).

The Bulldogs reached the 20-win plateau for the 16th time overall but for only the seventh occasion during the regular season.

According to bracketmatrix.com, Georgia is a unanimous pick to earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament, with the Bulldogs appearing in all 94 projections for "March Madness" by various bracketologists as of Sunday.

Georgia's statistical resume for the 2025-26 campaign is quite impressive.

As of Monday, the Bulldogs led all 365 Division I programs in both fastbreak points (20.3 ppg) and blocks (6.4 bpg) and also were ranked among the top-10 nationally in scoring (No. 6 at 89.7 ppg) and bench points (No. 7 at 34.6 ppg).

Georgia has a deep rotation playing at a pace among the country's quickest.

Eleven Bulldogs are averaging double-figure minutes, and they have combined to record 119 double-figure scoring outputs this season.

Jeremiah Wilkinson is averaging a team-high 17.7 ppg, while Blue Cain is contributing 13.5 ppg, Marcus "Smurf" Millender is chipping in 11.8 ppg and Kanon Catchings is adding 10.6 ppg.

Somto Cyril is just shy of a double-figure scoring average at 9.8 ppg and leads the Bulldogs in rebounding (5.5 rpg), blocks (2.5 bpg) and field goal percentage (.750).

Scouting The Crimson Tide

Alabama improved to 22-7 overall and 12-4 in the SEC with the Tide's eighth straight win on Saturday, a 71-69 decision at Tennessee.

Labaron Philon leads a quintet of active Alabama players with double-figure scoring averages at 21.4 ppg, followed by Aden Holloway at 16.7 ppg, Latrell Wrightsell Jr. at 13.3 ppg, Amari Allen at 12.1 ppg and Aiden Sherrell at 11.0 ppg.

Series History With Bama

Alabama sports a 101-54 advantage in the all-time series with Georgia; however, the gap is a razor-thin 34-33 edge in Athens.

Last season on Feb. 1 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama used a 14-0 run to break open the game midway through the first half en route to a 90-69 win over Georgia.

In the Crimson Tide's last trip to Athens on Jan. 31, 2024, Alabama rallied from a 16-point first-half deficit en route to an 85-76 win. Georgia raced to a 17-2 lead and maintained a 41-27 advantage at the intermission.

After trailing 59-47, a bucket at the 9:53 mark ignited a 19-5 surge to give the Tide its first lead of the evening. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Grant Nelson with just under two minutes remaining pushed Bama's lead from two points to eight in a span of 29 seconds.

Last Time Out

Five Bulldogs posted double-figure scoring outputs in Georgia's 87-68 wire-to-wire win over South Carolina at a sold-out Stegeman Coliseum last Saturday.

Kareem Stagg's 3-pointer 15 seconds into the game initiated a career-high 11 points for the freshman, while Justin Bailey posted 10 points, his first double-digit performance in SEC play, on his Senior Day outing.

"It's a good win for us," head coach Mike White said. "We got it going there; we passed it really well. Twenty-three assists to six turnovers; you're not going to get that most nights in the SEC. I liked our level of unselfishness; our attention to detail. Defensively, (it) wasn't quite as sharp as theirs. We just made shots and any win in the SEC is a big and those guys are really capable."

Bulldogs Notch Third Straight 20-Win Campaign

Georgia has reached the 20-win plateau for a third-straight season.

Over 121 seasons, Georgia has only posted three straight 20-win tallies just thrice – also doing so from 1996-98 and from 2014-16. Only 17 Bulldogs have ever played on three 20-win teams – five from 1996-98, seven between 2014-16 and five new 2026 pledges to the fraternity in Blue Cain, Dylan James, Brandon Klatsky, Jaden Newell and Markel Jennings.

Georgia has now produced 16 20-win efforts overall but only seven of those teams reached that mark during the regular season – 1931, 1986, 1997, 2011, 2015, 2025 and 2026.

Georgia Breaks Season Swats Record

With his second blocked shot of the night at the 17:03 mark of the second half at Vanderbilt, Somto Cyril pushed the 2025-26 Bulldogs into the record books for the most rejections ever by a Georgia basketball team.

Cyril's swat gave these Bulldogs 176 blocks, besting Georgia's previous season record of 175 rejections established during the 2015-16 campaign. That tally is now at 185.

That record is no surprise considering the Bulldogs have led the nation in swats per game pretty much since rejecting 24 opponent attempts in the first three contests of the season.

Georgia Putting Up Points At A Record-Breaking Pace

The Bulldogs are well on their way to shattering the program's all-time scoring record.

Georgia is averaging 89.7 points per game, an extremely healthy 7.0 ppg better than the Bulldogs' current best-ever effort of 82.7 ppg en route to winning the 1990 SEC Championship.

Those Bulldogs scored 2,399 points over 29 games. During 27th contest of this season against Texas, Georgia passed that mark. These Bulldogs have now scored 2,602 points, 162 shy of the most ever by Georgia – 2,764 in 37 games played during the 2023-24 campaign.

Somto Shatters UGA's FG Percentage Mark

During his 5-of-7 night from the field against Texas, Somto Cyril met the 100 FG made minimum tally to qualify for Georgia's single-season leaders' ledger...and shattered the Bulldogs' field goal percentage record.

The sophomore from Enugu, Nigeria has now connected on 75.0 percent (111-of-148) of his shots from the field this season – 10.7 percent better than the previous record by a Bulldog.

Almost unfathomably, Cyril could miss his next 24 shot attempts and he would still own the Georgia record.

Dunkyard Dawgs, Cyril Lead The Nation In Slams

According to BartTorvik.com, Georgia entered this week leading the nation in percentage of its field goals that have been dunks at 18.8 – 179 of 898 the Bulldogs' FGs this season – as outlined to the right.

Somto Cyril's 75 dunks is the most in the nation and is a whopping 31 more than any other SEC player. Freshmen Kareem Stagg and Jake Wilkins are second among Bulldogs with 20 dunks each; followed by Jeremiah Wilkinson with 14; Justin Abson and Dylan James both with 13; and Blue Cain and Kanon Catchings with 12.

Rank	Team	Pct.
Dunking It
1.	Georgia	18.8
2.	N. Carolina	16.5
3.	Duke	16.2
4.	Florida	15.6
5.	Michigan	15.5
6.	Arkansas	15.1
7.	Kansas	14.7
	Indiana	14.7
9.	Kentucky	14.3
10.	Providence	14.2

Dogs Among Top Scoring Teams In Several Ways

Georgia entered this week ranked No. 6 in D-I in scoring offense at 89.7 points per game.

Much of Georgia's production has come either in a hurry or while standing still. The Bulldogs lead the country in fastbreak points (20.3 ppg) and are No. 25 free throws made (18.3 ppg). That equates to roughly 43.0 percent (38.6 of 89.7 ppg) of Georgia's offensive output.

Georgia's scoring has been consistent.

In 58 halves of hoops, the Bulldogs scored 40 or more points 43 times, with 11 50-point periods and three segments of 60 or more points.

Georgia played 102 games in Mike White's first three seasons in Athens. The Bulldogs reached 90 points nine times and 100 points twice. In 29 games this season, Georgia has topped 90 points in 13 outings and surpassed the century mark in a school-record seven contests.

Resilient Dogs Rally From Double-Digit Deficits

Georgia certainly didn't look like it was headed to a double-figure victory at LSU on Feb. 7 when the Bulldogs trailed by 15 points just after the midway point of the first half in Baton Rouge.

After falling behind 31-16, Georgia outscored the Tigers 67-40 the rest of the way.

That marked the fourth game this season the Bulldogs overcame a double-digit scoring gap en route to victory, also doing so against Cincinnati, LIU and South Carolina.

The Bulldogs fought back in three more games that fell short on the scoreboard.

At Vanderbilt, Georgia rallied from 20 points down to tie the game three times and have possession down one of two more occasions but could not get over that hump. In two more outings – Clemson and Ole Miss – UGA recovered from 10+-point deficits to take the lead before eventually losing in overtime.

Smurf's Game Gets Bigger

After a slow start early in the season, Marcus "Smurf" Millender has nearly doubled his production and shooting efficiency over the last 24 games.

Millender averaged 6.8 points in Georgia's first five games, but is nearly doubling that to 12.8 ppg since. He connected on just 26.2 percent (11-of-42) overall and 21.7 percent (5-of-23) from 3-point range in the first five games, but has upped those tallies to 49.8 percent (105-of-211) overall and 42.9 percent (48-of-112) on 3-pointers thereafter.

Millender has now put up double-digit scoring tallies in 18 of 24 games and distributed five or more assists in 10 of those contests. At Kentucky, he delivered eight assists – the single-game high of any Bulldog this season – while committing just one turnover

The stretch includes two dramatic game winners. Millender canned a clutch 3-pointer with 11 seconds left against Xavier in the opening round of the Shriners Children's Charleston Classic on Nov. 21 and converted a three-point play with 5.5 seconds left at Missouri on Jan. 20.

Somto Surging Among Bulldogs' Blocks Ledgers

Sophomore Somto Cyril is quickly ascending on Georgia's single-season and career leaders lists for blocked shots.

In 29 contests this season, the Enugu, Nigeria native has already blocked 71 shots. That's the No. 7 season mark by a Bulldog.

Cyril's numbers are bolstered two career-high outputs in SEC play – six against Auburn and eight versus Arkansas.

In 33 games last season, Cyril swatted 51 shots, which was the second-most ever by a Georgia freshman.

Cyril joined Georgia's top-10 career blocks leaders at Vanderbilt on Feb. 25. His current tally of 122 rejections in less than two seasons is already No. 9 all-time among Bulldogs and is just one away from No. 7.

Millender Tops Millennium Mark; Cain, Wilkinson Nearing Plateau

Houston native Marcus "Smurf" Millender reached 1,000 career points with approximately 30 family and friends on hand for his return to the Lone Star State at Texas on Jan. 24.

Millender scored his 1000 points at three different schools, with 309 as a freshman at South Alabama, 461 as a sophomore at UT San Antonio and 230 in his junior campaign as a Bulldog.

Blue Cain and Jeremiah Wilkinson also are on pace to reach 1,000 career points this season.

Cain and Wilkinson have scored 983 and 962 points, respectively. At their current averages, both Bulldogs would reach 1,000 points this season.

Cain would become the first player to score 1,000 points exclusively for Georgia since Yante Maten reached that plateau on Jan. 4, 2017.

Dogs' Dishing, Ball Control Much Better

Mike White has called the 2025-26 Bulldogs one of the better passing teams he's coached.

A year ago, the Bulldogs ranked No. 262 nationally in assists per game at 12.5 and No. 298 in assist-to-turnover ratio at 0.96. This season, Georgia entered this week well over 100 spots better in each stat – No. 119 in assists (14.9 apg) and No. 73 in assist-to-turnovers (1.43).

A large part of that is the performance of the four guards Georgia added via the transfer portal during the offseason – Justin Bailey, Marcus "Smurf" Millender, Jordan Ross and Jeremiah Wilkinson. That quartet has delivered a combined 250 passes-to-points while committing just 121 turnovers – equating to 8.6 apg and a stellar ratio of 2.07 assists-to-TOs.

Cain Joins Georgia's Season, Career Free Throw Leaders

Blue Cain has met the minimums to be included in Georgia's single-season and career leaders in free throw percentage.

The minimum to qualify for UGA's career free throw leaders percentage leaders is 125 made attempts, which Cain achieved with two free throws at Florida on Jan. 6. Cain is now 145-of-173 and his 83.8 conversion rate is now the second-best ever by a Bulldog.

The minimum to qualify for Georgia's single-season free throw percentage leaders is 50 made attempts, which Cain reached with two makes at South Carolina on Jan. 19. Cain is currently 69-of-77 and his 89.6 conversion rate is the third-best ever by a Bulldog.

Double-Digit Dogs' Have Hit Double Figures

No less than 10 different Georgia Bulldogs recorded double-figure scoring outputs in the first five games of the season. Those Dogs have now combined to produce 119 double-digit tallies.

Blue Cain and Jeremiah Wilkinson lead that pack at 23 contests, followed by Smurf Millender with 19; Kanon Catchings with 15; Somto Cyril with 14; Jordan Ross with eight; Jake Wilkins with five; and Justin Bailey, Dylan James and Kareem Stagg all with four.

Stagg's Impact Takes Dramatic Upswing

Kareem Stagg's PT and production has skyrocketed in the Bulldogs' six most recent outings.

The freshman from Chesapeake, Va., scored six points in just over 64 minutes of action in Georgia's first 10 SEC outings – easy to commute averages of 0.6 ppg and 6.4 mpg.

Over the last six games, Stagg has scored 40 points (6.7 ppg) while logging 123 minutes (20.5 mpg), including career highs of 11 points (South Carolina) and 27 minutes (Oklahoma).

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