WHERE: Stegeman Coliseum

WHEN: Saturday, 8 p.m.

RECORDS: Georgia 5-0; Cincinnati 2-3

TV/RADIO: SEC Network+ (Tom Hart and Jimmy Dykes); Georgia Bulldog Radio Network (Scott Howard, Chuck Dowdle, Adam Gillespie); XM (388)

Walk-on Jaxon Etter is not used to having his phone blown up by family and friends, following one of Georgia’s basketball games.

Last Saturday, it became an issue.

The Bulldogs trailed Samford for the entire game until a basket by the seldom-used Etter put Georgia up for the first time, en route to a 79-75 victory. The basket helped his team remain undefeated heading into Saturday’s game against Cincinnati (8 p.m., SEC Network-Plus).

“It was awesome. It’s not something that usually happens,” Etter said. “I don’t usually get in, but it was neat.”

The sophomore from Woodstock isn't kidding.

In four games played, Etter is averaging just 3.3 minutes per contest. But as last Saturday’s game against Samford showed, head coach Tom Crean isn't afraid to put him in during crunch time when the outcome is still very much undecided.

“We’ve always viewed him as a contributor here, even when he’s not playing much. I believe he's an SEC player—that's the good news about it. He's improved his shooting; the strength is showing up in the game. He understands cutting and moving without the ball,” Crean said. “He was extremely well-coached in high school, and it goes back to seeing him at our team camp and seeing him inside of that; finding out he wanted to walk on. To me, that was a no-brainer. We love having him, and I think he's getting better and better for us.”

A graduate of Etowah High, Etter had several scholarship offers to smaller schools after scoring 1,505 career points, earning all-state honors his junior and senior years.

But as with many walk-ons, the opportunity to play for the school he grew up loving as a child was simply too much of an attraction to pass up.

“I’ve been a Dawg fan all my life. That's where I wanted to go to school, that's where I wanted to play ball—no matter what sport I wanted to play,” Etter said. “I didn’t know it was going to be basketball. I’m just thankful for Coach Crean and those guys for giving me an opportunity to come.”

He has earned the respect of coaches and players alike.

Recently, Crean said he rarely has to get on the 6-foot-4 shooting guard—a notion Etter brushed off when asked about it by reporters.

Junior Tye Fagan said his work has not gone unnoticed.

“The guy just gets in the gym every day. It's unusual for a walk-on to do the things he does. He gets in here every day and works hard. In practice, he makes sure he gets reps,” Fagan said. “I’ve seen him help the young guys out. He's helped me out a lot when I’ve been lacking in different places—talking to me, keeping me calm. He helps out in a big way with everyone. He’s a great teammate and a good player.”

Etter appreciates all the support.

“They’ve always been supportive, no matter what,” Etter said. “We compete at a very high level every day at practice, so going into a game, especially now that there aren't ten thousand people out there, it's not much different than going out and competing with my brothers."

Sophomore Toumani Camara remains questionable after missing last Saturday’s game against Samford with what has been described as a lower body injury. Crean is unsure if he'll be able to play against Cincinnati.

“We’re hopeful. We’re hopeful,” Crean said. “There’s not a lot more I could give other than that right now, but we’re hopeful at this point.”

No doubt the Bulldogs hope Camara returns just as quick as he can.

In four games, the 6-foot-8 Camara has been one of the team’s biggest contributors, averaging 14.6 points and eight rebounds per game.

Cincinnati comes in with a record of 2-3 after opening American Athletic Conference play with a 74-71 setback to South Florida on Wednesday night.

The Bearcats are playing just their second road game of the season. Last Saturday, they dropped a 65-56 decision to No. 12 Tennessee at Thompson Boling-Arena in Knoxville.

Keith Williams averages a team-high 14.6 ppg for Cincinnati. The Bearcats are balanced on the offensive end after that, with six players averaging between 6.4 and 9.4 PPG. Tari Eason is one of three players grabbing five or more boards per game, averaging 5.8 RPG for the Bearcats.

“They’re a very, very, very good team, without question. They're a deep team, and they can get into the bench nine-deep, at least. They pose a lot of problems, but I’d say (on offense) it’s the ability to score in the half-court, the ability to have multiple people in the half-court, (and) the ability to get on the glass,” Crean said. “Then defensively, because of that physicality and aggressiveness, they get up into you and make it hard for you to do what you want to do, and they can really change defenses well. It’s going to be a major challenge for us.”

• At 5-0, UGA is off to its best start since the 2001-02 season. With a win over Cincinnati, UGA would record its best beginning since its 1982-83 Final Four team.

• Georgia, Northwestern, and North Alabama are the only three of 328 D-1 basketball teams that entered the weekend with six players averaging double figures.

• UGA has won the opening tip in each game this season and is 14-2 when doing so since the beginning of last season. UGA was 7-14 when losing the tip in 2019-20.

• Sahvir Wheeler's three double-digit assist outings in the first three games of the season were as many as any SEC player posted in all of 2019-20. Through the games of Thursday, Wheeler led the Southeastern Conference and ranked No. 4 nationally in assists per game at 8.6 apg.

• Georgia enters the Cincinnati game ranked No. 13 nationally in rebound margin at a whopping plus-14.0.