No. 20 Arizona State at Georgia
WHEN: Saturday, 6 p.m.
WHERE: Stegeman Coliseum
RECORDS: Georgia 5-1; Arizona State 7-1
TV/RADIO: SEC Network (Roy Philpot and Mark Wise); Georgia Bulldog Radio Network (Scott Howard, Chuck Dowdle, Tony Schiavone); XM (172).
Tom Crean doesn’t buy into the notion of any one game being considered a measuring stick as it pertains to his Georgia basketball team.
Nevertheless, his Bulldogs (5-3) could certainly turn a few heads should they upend No. 20 Arizona State (7-1) Saturday night at Stegeman Coliseum (6 p.m., SEC Network).
“I see every game as a measuring stick. I don’t base it on games. That’s fun to think about and talk about, but it’s not really realistic with your team,” Crean said. “Once you get through the first five or six games, you’ve got a pretty good idea where you are and where you’ve got to get better.”
The Sun Devils certainly have the attention of junior guard Tyree Crump.
“If we could win this one, this would be really big for us,” Crump said. “They’re a ranked team, a great team. If we can beat them, it’s just going to boost our confidence.”
He’s not kidding.
Arizona State is one of the nation’s early season surprises under head coach Bobby Hurley, with its only loss coming at the hands of No. 6 Nevada. That Staples Center game, in Los Angeles, saw the Sun Devils lead by 15 points before falling 72-66.
Couple that with the fact Arizona State boasts one of the nation’s top freshmen in Luguentz Dort (22 points per game). Georgia certainly figures to have its work cut out.
“He’s a very solid player,” Bulldogs sophomore Nicolas Claxton said. “He’ll be coming downhill hard, but we’ll be ready for him.”
The Bulldogs will need to be at their collective best. CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander Kyle Boone has Dort tabbed as the third-best freshman in the nation behind NBA prospects Zion Williamson and R.J. Barrett of Duke.
However, the Sun Devils are anything but a one-man show. ASU ranks fifth nationally in rebounds (45.3), sixth in rebound margin (+12.5), and is second in the Pac-12 in scoring (83.6).
The Sun Devils boast six players with wingspans of at least 6-11, including freshman Uros Pasvic, DeQuon Lake, Zylan Cheatham, Romello White, Vitaliy Shibel and Kimani Lawrence.
“They’re incredibly explosive. The balance comes because they can shoot threes,” Crean said. “They’re very quick and fast, they post up, they isolate well. They’ve got very skilled guys and they know how to utilize them.”
Crean said he’s concerned with how his team will match up.
Although the Bulldogs have some length of their own with players like Claxton and Derek Ogbeide, the Bulldogs have nothing like what they’ll see on Saturday.
“The things that really stands out is how they attempt 29 free throws per game and 14 offensive rebounds per game. That’s one of those things—you can’t win if you’re giving those types of things up,” Crean said. “They’re outstanding defensively because of their length. We’ve got length on our team, certainly, but we can’t replicate that length in practice, not with where they are.”
Saturday’s contest will also be Georgia’s first in 12 days following the break for final exams. The game against the Sun Devils will be the Bulldogs first of three over the next seven days before a Dec. 30 matchup against UMass. Georgia opens SEC play Jan. 5 at Tennessee.
“We’re excited. We’ve had very good practices, and certainly we’ve prepared for Arizona State. But we’ve got a bunch of games coming up here in a hurry, so the bottom line is how much better can we get,” Crean said. “The key for us is, how much can we rectify that we need to improve upon? How much can we build on things, add things and know we’ve got an outstanding team coming in that is a legit contender in the country?”
The Bulldogs host Oakland on Tuesday before traveling to Georgia Tech next Saturday.
Crean hopes the recent layoff won’t affect his squad.
“It’s hard to tell. It’s the largest break I’ve been a part of personally. It’s very hard. We’ve tried to do a good job of mixing up scrimmaging, bringing officials in, making sure we’re not only drilling but working on situational breakdowns, things like that, and really getting up and down the court,” Crean said. “You really don’t have a way to gauge it but I think how intense, how energetic Arizona State plays, I think that will get everybody’s attention really quick There won’t be any cobwebs coming out. We’ll have to get rid of that quickly for this game or we’ll be in a hole right from the beginning.”
NOTES: Crean hopes to have senior E’Torrion Wilridge back after missing the last three games due to a concussion. … The first 1,000 fans through the doors will receive a Georgia “tacky” Christmas sweater t-shirt.
