UGA Basketball Gets Ready for Showdown at No. 4 Alabama Crimson Tide
ATHENS - UGA Basketball treks to Tuscaloosa on Saturday to face No. 4/4 Alabama at Coleman Coliseum, the Bulldogs’ fourth matchup overall – and third on the road – against a top-10 foe in their last six games.
The Starting Five
• Georgia flips the calendar from a January, when the Bulldogs played six of eight games against top-25 competition, to find a February, with six of seven opponents included in this week’s polls. Three of those February foes are currently in the top 10.
• After using the same starting five for 20 games, Georgia altered that lineup and sent Dakota Leffew to the floor for the opening tip against South Carolina. He responded with a team-leading “+17” which featured 14 points, a team-high four assists and season-high tallies of three steals and 35 minutes.
• Asa Newell was named to The Athletic’s Freshman All-America team on Wednesday. Among freshmen nationally, Newell ranks No. 11 in scoring, No. 10 in rebounding and No. 3 in FG pct.
• The Bulldogs enter the weekend ranked 37.5 in an average of six popular metrics (NET, KenPom, Torvik, KPI, BPI and SOR) – an increase of 181.5 spots since Mike White became UGA’s head coach.
The Opening Tip
After playing six of eight games against ranked teams during the month of January, the Georgia Bulldogs christen their February slate with a trip to No. 4/4 Alabama on Saturday, the first of six contests versus teams in this week’s polls over the next four weeks.
The matchup with the Crimson Tide completes a six-game span in which Georgia faced four top-10 squads – No. 6/6 Tennessee, No. 1/1 Auburn, No. 5/6 Florida and No. 4/4 Alabama.
The Bulldogs are 15-6 overall and 3-5 in SEC play.
Georgia’s balanced offense features seven players who have led the Bulldogs in one or more games. Two more players have posted double-figure scoring outputs. All told, those nine Bulldogs have produced 77 double-digit performances.
Asa Newell, who has been named SEC Freshman of the Week three times, leads a trio of Bulldogs averaging double figures at 15.2 ppg. He also paces UGA on the boards at 7.0 rpg. Among league leaders, Newell is ranked No. 14 in scoring and No. 12 rebounding. He also is No. 3 in the SEC and No. 43 nationally in field goal percentage (.559).
Silas Demary Jr. and Dakota Leffew are scoring at double-digit paces of 11.3 ppg and 11.1 ppg, respectively, for the Bulldogs. Demary Jr. also sports team-high averages of 2.8 apg and 1.8 spg.
Scouting The Tide
Alabama enters Saturday’s game at 18-3 overall and 7-1 in SEC play. The Crimson Tide is ranked No. 4 in both the AP and coaches polls. Alabama began the season ranked No. 2 in both ledgers, dropped outside the top 10 for one week (Dec. 2) before a steady ascent back into the top 5.
The Crimson Tide is 11-1 at Coleman Coliseum this season, with a lone loss coming to No. 21 Ole Miss on Jan. 14.
Mark Sears owns team-high averages of 18.0 ppg and 5.0 apg, tallies that rank fourth and third, respectively, among SEC leaders. The Tide sports a trio of additional active double-digit scorers, with Grant Nelson at 12.7 ppg, Aden Holloway at 11.7 ppg and Labaron Philon at 11.0 ppg.
Series History With Bama
Alabama sports a 100-54 advantage in the all-time series with Georgia.
Alabama rallied from a 16-point first-half deficit en route to an 85-76 win over Georgia last season on Jan. 31 in Athens.
Georgia raced to a 17-2 lead over the game’s first 8:03 and maintained a 41-27 advantage at the intermission.
The Bulldogs led for the first 10 minutes of the second half before Alabama rallied. 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
Asa Newell notched his fifth double-double overall – and third in SEC play – lead Georgia in a 71-60 win over South Carolina on Tuesday night at Stegeman Coliseum.
Newell finished with 17 points and 11 boards.
After using the same starting five for the first 20 outings, Dakota Leffew made his initial appearance for the opening tip and responded with 14 points, four assists and season-best efforts of three steals and 35 minutes.
Dylan James, who scored 10 points and grabbed five rebounds in a season-high 21 minutes, played a key role. He scored eight straight points in a span of 68 seconds late in the first half to help Georgia push a five-point lead with 4:55 left in the period to 14 points at the intermission. The Bulldogs then led by double figures for all but 25 seconds of the second stanza.
“We played a really good first half,” Mike White said. “I think it started with our ball security and our decisions. Just having three turnovers at halftime was the biggest difference for us.”