WHAT: Georgia at Mississippi State
WHEN: Saturday, 6 p.m.
WHERE: Humphrey Coliseum
RECORDS: Georgia 13-8, 4-5; Mississippi State 16-6, 4-5
TV/RADIO: ESPNU (Taylor Zarzour. Kyle Macy); Georgia Bulldog Radio Network (Scott Howard, Chuck Dowdle, Tony Schiavone)
As Georgia's hit the second half of SEC play, the role of freshman Nic Claxton has continued to grow.
After averaging 10.2 minutes in the Bulldogs’ first 18 games, Claxton has seen his playing time bumped up to an average of 21 over the past three contests.
The results have perhaps been better than some might have expected.
Claxton, a lanky 6-foot-11, is averaging seven points and 5.1 rebounds over Georgia’s past three contests, entering Saturday’s game at Mississippi State (6 p.m., ESPNU). But perhaps more important than that is the energy he brings off the bench, an aspect that hasn’t gone unnoticed by teammates, including senior Yante Maten.
“He’s got a high motor, he’s a high energy guy. That’s what makes Nick, Nic,” Maten said. “We get a lot of momentum off of that.”
Take Saturday’s 72-60 win over No. 23 Florida, for example.
Trailing the Gators 48-43 with 13:52 to play, Claxton played an integral role in Georgia’s comeback win, first hitting a 3-point and getting a key block after Jordan Harris tied the game at 48.
“That’s how I play,” Claxton said. “It helps get me going and it helps get my teammates going. I’m going to try and continue to do that.”
Head coach Mark Fox has obviously liked what he’s seen.
“Nic has finished some plays for us, he’s rebounded the ball pretty well and he continues to get more and more comfortable on the court,” Fox said. “If he plays well he will get more minutes.”
Claxton said that’s certainly his goal.
“I have a lot of heart and I have a lot of fight,” he said. “I’ll keep trying to give it everything I have when I step on the court.”
This and that
• In stats for league games only, UGA is No. 2 nationally in FG defense among Power 5 teams.
• UGA is “2nd out” in Joe Lunardi’s latest bracketology, but is 5-4 vs. teams included in field.
• Among, UGA career scoring leaders, Yante Maten is 17 points from No. 5 and 26 points from No. 4.
• Yante Maten is the only player in the SEC’s top 10 in scoring, rebounding, FG pct. & FT pct.
• Juwan Parker, the only DI MBB player with a master’s, is 3rd on UGA’s career FT pct. leaders list.
• Maten, one of 25 players on the Midseason Watch List for the Wooden Award, leads the SEC in scoring by nearly a full point per game at 19.6 ppg (Arkansas’ Jaylen Barford is second at 18.8 ppg). Maten also is second in the league in rebounding at 9.0 rpg and is the only SEC player ranked among the conference’s top-10 in scoring, rebounding, FG pct. (No. 6) and FT pct. (No. 7).
• In 21 games this season, Maten has 20 double-figure outings, with nine double-doubles and 11 20-point performances. Over 84 games since the start of his sophomore year, Maten has 76 double-digit scoring performances, with 33 20-point and five 30-point outings, and 24 double-doubles.
• “Turtle” Jackson is the Dogs’ second-leading scorer at 9.8 ppg, with 12 double-figure games. Parker is UGA’s second-best point producer in SEC action at 9.7 ppg.
