Much has been made of Anthony Edwards' season so far.

Although the stats have been there, inconsistencies in the freshman’s game have been apparent, leaving many Georgia fans wanting more.

Whether or not its fair to place such lofty expectations on an 18-year-old is a topic for another time.

Saturday, at least, Edwards showed what the preseason fuss was all about as he turned in a performance worthy of the accolades that have been doled out his way.

His stat line in the Bulldogs’ 63-48 win over Texas A&M spoke for itself: 29 points and a season-high 15 rebounds. As head coach Tom Crean pointed out, there were also 14 deflections, making this arguably the freshman's most complete game thus far.

“I guess you can say that,” said Edwards, who quickly diverted the attention away from himself and to the teammate sitting just to his left—fellow freshman Sahvir Wheeler, who was back on the court after sitting out last Tuesday’s game at Missouri with an upper-body injury.

The double-double was the second of Edwards’ career and second in as many games, but reporters hoping the Atlanta native would offer a few more sound bites about himself were left disappointed.

“He’s the best PG in the country, man; he finds me when I’m open,” Edwards said. “I’m thankful for guys like Jordan (Harris), like Rayshaun (Hammonds), they always find me. We find each other and just play together out there.”

Wheeler led the team with five assists, consistently spotting Edwards, who went 10 of 21 from the floor, converting four of his 12 three-point attempts.

“I’m proud of the 15 boards, big time, but I’m really proud of the fact he had 14 deflections with his defensive activity today,” Crean said. “We had 47, which is the first time we’ve been there in a while, which is a huge, huge barometer of how we win.”

Edwards, who was averaging just 4.4 rebounds coming in, said doing a better job on the boards was a huge focus coming in.

“I just took it upon myself to go out there and grab every rebound that I could,” he said. “I feel we can compete with anybody if we put our mind to it, avoid thinking too much, and just play basketball. If we do that, we can compete with anybody.”

Aggies coach Buzz Williams was left impressed.

“I don’t study it a lot relative to, 'Is he the first pick, or the second pick?' I’ve heard all of those things, but based on his performance today, I just thought he was incredible,” Williams said. “I’ve obviously studied his game and his numbers, but I thought his impact on winning may have been as good as its been all year, particularly his job on the glass. His physicality, not just when he had the ball, but also when he was chasing after the ball.

“Defensively, I thought he was engaged, ball-pressure wise. I thought he did a lot of things that impacted winning. He was dominant in every specific category.”

Edwards became the first Bulldog freshman to post back-to-back double-doubles since Jumaine Jones in 1999-2000.

With 406 total points so far in his freshman season, Edwards tops Bulldog greats D. A. Layne (384 in 1999) and Walter Daniels (404 in 1977) for the No. 6 spot in UGA’s Top-10 freshman scorers.

Kobe Bryant would have been proud.

Edwards said the former NBA star, who died in a helicopter crash earlier this week, was definitely on his mind when he took the court on Saturday.

“To me, he was the greatest player I’ve ever seen. I went to a Hawks game when they played the Lakers, and he was the greatest player I’ve ever seen, face to face. He was un-guardable,” Edwards recalled. “I saw the video of him telling kids in college, to destroy their points—make your opponent reconsider why they wanted to play basketball. That sticks with me. I text my trainer every day, remember what The Mamba says. He texted me today, and I came out there and just played.”

For Georgia to climb out of its early-season hole, Edwards will obviously need more days like this. But as he showed Saturday, when he’s on, the Bulldogs can still be a dangerous team.