Georgia at Texas A&M
WHEN: Saturday, noon
WHERE: Reed Arena, College Station, Texas
RECORDS: Georgia 12-6, 4-2; Texas A&M 9-8, 1-5
TV/RADIO: ESPN2 (Beth Mowins, Dalen Cuff); Georgia Bulldog Radio Network (Scott Howard, Chuck Dowdle, Tony Schiavone.
It’s a different – and bigger – challenge which Georgia faces Saturday afternoon (Noon, ESPN2) when the Bulldogs travel to Texas A&M.
While Mark Fox’s squad has certainly taken on teams this year with plenty of size, thus far, none have been bigger than the Aggies. And that has the Bulldogs’ head coach concerned.
With Texas A&M, it all starts with 6-foot-10, 270-pound sophomore Tyler Davis, who leads the Aggies in both scoring and rebounding (13.7 points and 6.9 boards per contest).
But that’s not all.
Fellow front line performers D.J. Hogg and freshman Robert Williams each go 6-9, with both over 220 pounds.
“Tyler Davis is huge first of all. He has great hands and their front line is very impressive,” Fox said. “Williams is maybe the most talented guy in the freshman class in this league - he’s got great ability. Obviously their front line is very talented and they’re a team that’s played an unbelievable schedule. And with as many guys as they lost, they’re still trying to find their rhythm, but their front line is certainly their strength.”
But the Aggies (9-8, 1-5) can shoot the ball as well.
Guard Admon Gilder is a threat from the perimeter as is Hogg, who converted seven 3-pointers recently against South Carolina.
As for Georgia (12-6, 4-2) – with an RPI of 41 – Saturday’s contest is another game the team obviously needs to win.
After home games to follow against Alabama and Texas, the Bulldogs then hit the road for two straight at Kentucky and South Carolina.
“I think we’ve had pretty good road teams. Obviously each team is a little different, the chemistry of your team, how they play in the face of adversity and opposing crowds can be different from year to year,” Fox said. “But ultimately, you have to have a good team to win away from home and one that’s mature enough to deal with the differences that come along with playing away from home, traveling and being in different beds, having different backdrops for shooting, different sidelines, different game times and different things. It takes some maturity to handle that.”
But Fox likes the direction in which his team seems to be headed.
“I think we have very good chemistry. I do believe our team enjoys each other and I think that’s why they continue to get better,” he said. “I think we have a couple of guys who really can continue to improve. I think they can really make some improvement and make our team better in the next couple of weeks if they make the right steps. Part of that will be that they continue to enjoy each other, and enjoy coming to work. But to this point, I’ve been very pleased with their chemistry.”
Apparently, freshman Tyree Crump isn’t one of the two.
Crump’s lack of playing time has been an issue with many fans of the Bulldogs, after playing just over 10 combined minutes over the past eight games.
But according to Fox, he’s been pleased with the recent strides Crump has been able to make and that could lead to additional minutes in the weeks to come.
“Tryee’s been doing great,” Fox. “Tyree has been practicing really well. I think he’s learned a tremendous amount of what we’re trying to do schematically, both on the offensive and defensive ends. I think he’s going to get better and better.”
NOTES: UGA is 4-1 all-time against TA&M since the Aggies joined the SEC, including a 2-0 record at Reed Arena. … Juwan Parker has reached double digits in the scoring column in each of the last seven outings and eight of the last 10 after doing so once in his first 58 games played at UGA prior to that. … J.J. Frazier and Yante Maten are the nation’s fifth-best inside-outside scoring combination among teams with two of the top-250 scorers in country. They are averaging a combined 36.2 ppg. Georgia was No. 41 in the Jan. 19 edition of the NCAA RPI while playing what is rated as the nation’s 28th-toughest schedule.
