TIP-OFF: Saturday, 1 p.m.
WHERE: Stegeman Coliseum
TV/RADIO: SEC Network (Mike Morgan, Dane Bradshaw): Georgia Bulldog Radio Network (Scott Howard, Chuck Dowdle, Tony Schiavone).
As Georgia gets ready to host South Carolina Saturday afternoon, the Bulldogs have their collective fingers crossed that senior Yante Maten is able to get back on track.
Maten – the SEC’s preseason Player of the Year – had a rare off game in Wednesday’s 68-56 loss at Missouri, failing to reach double-figures for the first time this year.
“Yante was due for a stinker, he really was,” head coach Mark Fox said before practice on Thursday. “He’d played so well all year, and he looked emotionally tired. He just wasn’t the guy that we’d seen all year. He didn’t play like that guy but he needed more help around him, also. Team loss, but certainly he didn’t have one of his better nights. I think he’ll be okay.”
That’s certainly the expectation.
Georgia (11-4, 2-2) enters Saturday’s sellout (1 p.m., SEC Network) against the Gamecocks (10-6, 1-3), a record largely due to Maten, second in the league in scoring at 19.3 points and first in rebounds with 8.9 boards per game.
After scoring just nine points against the Tigers, no doubt both Maten and Georgia have higher goals against a Gamecock team that’s dropped three of its first four conference games.
“I think he got a little frustrated,” Fox said. “But again, he’s been so good, has carried such a load that he was due for one.”
Fox said Maten doesn’t need to do anything out of the ordinary.
“We don’t need him to do anything spectacular. We just need Yante to be Yante. He’s a very complete player, he can usually adapt to the kind of game that it is. If he has to score outside he does, if he has to score inside he does,” Fox said. “He’s become a very patient player as a senior, we just need him to be himself. He’s had to carry an enormous load for our team, and that’s a lot to bear every night.”
Despite Wednesday’s loss, the Bulldogs have set themselves up well for postseason play – assuming of course they continue to win.
According to the latest ESPN RPI ratings, Georgia is No. 39.
“I actually looked at it (the RPI) today with one of our younger guys because we’re kind of at the halfway point. ESPN had us 39, I think in the RPI and third in the country in Top 50 wins,” Fox said. “At this point we have the same number of Top 50 wins as Duke, North Carolina and Kansas. There’s work left to be done, but to this point we’ve done enough to stay heavily in the conversation. Now, we’ve just got to go win some more.”
OFF THE BENCH: Senior Juwan Parker is the first man off the bench, and he's had his moments, averaging 7.2 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. He's not the only one. Guard Jordan Harris has averaged well over 20 minutes in each of the past five games, while Tyree Crump tallied 10 points in 13 minutes in Wednesday's loss to the Tigers. Fowards Nicolas Claxton and Mike Edwards also continue to earn rather significant minutes.
OFF THE BENCH: Veteran Frank Booker gives South Carolina a nice scoring punch off the bench, averaging 10.6 points and three rebounds per game. Fellow Georgia native Hassani Gravett (8.2 ppg, 3.7 rpg), freshman forward Felipe Haase (6.5 ppg, 5.1 rpg) and freshman guard David Beatty (5.1 ppg, 1.o rpg) are also making nice contributions.
KEYS TO THE GAME
Get Maten Going: After Wednesday's performance, there's no doubt the Bulldogs will want to get their top threat going in Saturday's contest. The guess is he will. Maten hasn't gone back-to-back games in single digits since the 2015-16 season against Murray State and High Point.
Stay defensive: On paper, this shapes up to be a good matchup for the Bulldogs, considering Georgia's strength is South Carolina's weakness. The Bulldogs lead the SEC in field goal percentage defense at .384 while South Carolina is ranked 13th in the conference in shooting percentage, converting just .419 of its shots.
Keep up the good bench work: After outscoring opponents' reserves just nine times in 34 games, Georgia's bench comes into today's game having produced more points than their counterparts in 11 of 15 games. Keeping that up against the Gamecocks should ensure another victory for UGA.
Travel Issues: Georgia’s chartered air service experience some problems, forcing the team to return from Columbia, Mo. to Athens much later than originally planned. According to Fox, not only did a mechanical delay keep the team on the ground until after dark on Tuesday, but more problems kept the team in Missouri before finally getting back to Athens at 4 p.m. Thursday afternoon, costing the team one of its valued work days. “Time for a new travel company,” Fox said.
