http://southeasthoops.com/2018/04/17/uga-basketball-bulldogs-join-cayman-islands-classic/

UGA will open the tournament by facing Illinois State on Monday, 19 November 2018 at 2:30 p.m. EST. Redbirds went 18-15 last season (same as UGA) and beat two SEC opponents (i.e., Ole Miss & South Carolina):

http://www.onlineathens.com/sports/20180607/ugas-opening-opponent-in-cayman-islands-classic-set

I don't imagine the Redbirds will be an easy opponent.

https://www.ajc.com/sports/college/bulldogs-panthers-open-season-the-cayman-islands/t0waa0ruNrKU3sevAHgZoO/

The UGA-Illinois State winner will go against the Akron-Clemson winner at 2:30 p.m. the next day, while the losers of those games will meet at noon that day.

Monkdawg said:

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I don't imagine the Redbirds will be an easy opponent.

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https://www.redandblack.com/sports/mens_basketball/georgia-basketball-set-to-play-illinois-state-in-the-first/article_b4347d2e-6aa8-11e8-94c2-bfb8ced2579f.html

Illinois State returns their top six scorers from last season's 18-15 campaign, including three players in Milik Yarbrough, Phil Fayne and Keyshawn Evans who each averaged over 15 points per game last season.

The Redbirds were the runner-up in the 2017-18 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.

"Illinois State will be a formidable foe for us in the Cayman Islands Classic," Georgia head coach Tom Crean said. "Illinois State has a veteran team returning and Coach Dan Muller does a tremendous job of getting his players prepared. Facing Illinois State will be a good early season challenge for us."

Halftime: UGA 47, Illinois State 26

- Game being streamed in high definition live via Facebook Live w/ no commercials

- Hoop Dawgs starting five: Claxton, Ogbeide, Hammonds, Turtle, and Fagan
-- Reserves: Toe, Ngumezi, Harris, Hightower, Edwards, and Crump
-- Didn't notice Toppin, Sargiunas, Harrison, or O'Neill play in the first half

- Commentators mentioned that 6 of UGA's top 12 players are lefthanded

- Hammonds is leading UGA in scoring w/ 18 points

- Redbirds won the opening tip then scored to take a 2-0 lead, but the Hoop Dawgs responded w/ a 7-pt possession (3-pt shot, 2 FTs after a hooking foul, 2-pt shot) and dominated the first half (scored 37 points in the first 12 minutes, then 10 points in the last 8 minutes)
-- UGA had no problems on offense vs. man-to-man and zone defenses, but had some trouble the last 8 minutes or so vs. press defense (couple of shot clock violations, turnovers, lack of offensive productivity/efficiency)

2nd half at the 15:20 mark:

UGA 57, Illinois State 40

- UGA opened the second half w/ the same starting five players that opened the game
- Turtle got hurt (may have gotten accidentally kicked) ~2 minutes into the second half when he got tangled up around the basket following a Nicolas Claxton slam dunk and fell to the court pretty hard
- Hoop Dawgs picked up where they left off (i.e., sloppy, offense inefficient) the last 8 minutes of the first half as the Redbirds cut the halftime deficit from 21 to 13 points; however, Tom Crean called a timeout, then UGA responded w/ back-to-back baskets to increase the lead to 17 points

2nd half at the 12: 35 mark:

UGA 65, Illinois State 42

- Hammonds has scored 24 points while Claxton has scored 16 thus far
- Hammonds slipped, cramped up (right leg), then was removed from the game

2nd half at the 7:56 mark:

UGA 70, Illinois State 56

- Good news is that Turtle and Hammonds reentered the game after going out w/ injuries earlier in the half

- Hammonds w/ a career-high 26 points today (previous high was 21)

- Claxton is all-around good player (shooting, ball handling, defense)

- Hoop Dawgs played very well for a 5-minute stretch to extend the lead to 25, but the Redbirds have chipped away at the lead the last several minutes

2nd half at the 4:56 mark:

UGA 75, Illinois 61

- Hammonds w/ 29 points and Claxton w/ 21 thus far

2nd half at the 2:38 mark:

UGA 77, Illinois State 63

- Hammonds w/ 31 points thus far

- Claxton made his second block of the game

- Hoop Dawgs will face Clemson tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. EST

2nd half at the 1:37 mark:

UGA 79, Illinois State 66

- Redbirds cut the lead to 11 then missed a 3-pt. shot that would have narrowed the Hoop Dawgs lead to 8

- Fagan was fouled then hit his two free throws

Final score: UGA 80, Illinois State 68

- Ignas and Toppin inserted into the game for the first time at the 1:01 mark (JoJo turned it over on his first touch w/ a travel)

- Hoop Dawgs improved their record to 3-1 on the season while the Redbirds fell to 2-2

- UGA will face #16-ranked Clemson (4-0) tomorrow in the next round of the Cayman Islands Classic

That was a fun game to watch. You could definitely see a vision in the first half of what Crean wants this team to be.

Defense was solid, offense was humming, and they looked to push the ball but for the most part played with controlled aggression.

Hammonds and Claxton look night and day better than last year. Ball handling is still a concern, but Crean kind of side stepped it by shrinking the bench and having a nice plan to break the press after its initial success