Georgia is dancing! On Thursday, the Bulldogs of Georgia will face the Bulldogs of Gonzaga. This will be the 13th time that Georgia will go to the NCAA Tournament and the first since 2015 (two of those seasons have been vacated – 1985 and 2002). The last time Georgia won a game in this format was in 2002 against Murray State; however, since that season’s game was vacated, the last official win was in 1996. But 1996 was so long ago that current Georgia head coach Mike White was in his first season at Ole Miss as a player. That season, his Rebels did not make the NCAA Tournament, but they did the three following seasons.
This is the White’s third season as Georgia. He has a record with Georgia of 56-45 and has 299 career wins overall. He has a 6-4 record as a head coach in the NCAA Tournament (all with Florida). This season’s Georgia team has had its ups and downs, but it is March, and they are in a spot where they need to be.
Georgia is 20-12 this season. Of the 32 games, 19 have come against teams currently in the NCAA Tournament. The Bulldogs have four wins against ranked teams this season compared to three wins against the top 25 in the previous four seasons combined. Speaking of three, that's how many Duke has against ranked teams this season.
This is the 15th time that the Bulldogs have won at least 20 games. Last season, they won 20 games as well. This is the first time that Georgia won at least 20 in back-to-back seasons since doing it three straight seasons from 2013-14 to 2015-16.
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Georgia has faced Gonzaga five times in all and all five times have been in a neutral site. Georgia is 2-3 against those other Bulldogs (from Washington) with wins in 2002 and 2006. The 2006 victory came when Gonzaga was ranked 16th in the nation. Levi Stukes led all scorers with 25 points and made four three-pointers. Sundiata Gaines had a great all-around game, scoring 21 points, adding eight rebounds, five assists, and six steals.
Georgia freshman Asa Newell has had a great season so far. He is averaging 15.3 points per game. In 32 games, he has five games with 20 or more points compared to three games in which he scored in single digits. He also has 6.8 rebounds a game. Among every freshman ever to play for the Dawgs, he is near the top in both categories.
Newell has seven double-doubles this season. He ranks tied for fifth in the SEC in that category. He also ranks tied for fourth among all freshmen throughout the nation in double-doubles. That list has some pretty big names attached to it.
While he has seven, the rest of the SEC freshmen have a combined eight. One of the players that has one of the eight is Newell’s teammate Somto Cyril. Cyril is known more for his shot-blocking ability. His 51 blocked shots are tied with Donte’ Williams for the 11th most by Bulldog in a single season. He is also fifth in the SEC in blocked shots. He leads all SEC freshmen in the category. His 51 are far ahead of the two players who are in second with 32. One of the two players is teammate Asa Newell.
Another Georgia player who has shone this season is sophomore Silas Demary Jr. Demary had a good season last year but has improved in almost every category. Since February 8th, he has improved even more.
One of the other guards for the Dawgs is Blue Cain. Bulldog fans have been shaking their blue canes all season as his hustle has helped him climb near the top in almost every team category.
One of Georgia's spark plugs this season has been transfer Dakota Leffew. Leffew came from Mount St. Mary's and is second on the team with 50 three-point field goals made despite having just five starts. When he is hitting from long distance, Georgia's record improves.
Speaking of three's, the next one for another transfer Tyrin Lawrence (from Vanderbilt) will be his 100th of his career.
