Georgia Bulldogs (10-8, 1-3) vs. Ole Miss Rebels (12-6, 2-2)
Saturday, January 21, 2012 - Tipoff Time: 4:01 p.m. (EST) Sanford Stadium, Athens, Ga.
TELEVISION Live regional TV coverage by the SEC Network (Clay Matvick and Joe Dean, Jr.) GEORGIA RADIO Georgia Bulldog Radio Network presented by IMG College: Scott Howard (Play-by-Play), Mark Slonaker (Color) Local station: In Atlanta: WSB (750 AM) & WBTS (95.5 FM). In Athens: WRFC (AM 960). Radio Affiliates SATELLITE RADIO The majority of Georgia basketball games in 2011-12 can be heard on SiriusXM Radio. Tonight's game is on XM 200. For more SEC programming info, see: SEC Programming Info ON THE INTERNET Audio streaming http://www.georgiadogs.com/allaccess (subscription required). GameTracker - Live stats updated throughout the game. Georgia Game Notes | Ole Miss Game Notes

Dustin Ware

About the Game

• Georgia continues its 3-game homestand when it entertains Ole Miss in a Saturday contest. Today's game is just the second afternoon contest of the season at Stegeman Coliseum and third overall for the Bulldogs.
• Georgia arrives at this game with a 10-8 overall record, 1-3 in the SEC, after getting its first league win of the season three days ago at home against Tennessee in a 57-53 decision. The Bulldogs needed an overtime period for the second time this season. Gerald Robinson scored a game-high 16 points, including a tying layup with 16 seconds left in regulation. In the extra period, he assisted the go-ahead basket by Donte' Williams and added two key foul shots with 26 seconds left.
• The Tennessee contest marked the return to active duty by sophomore forward Marcus Thornton. The Atlanta native had started nine games before going down with a right knee injury in the Furman game Dec. 23. His arthroscopic surgery four days later kept him out of the five games that followed. Though he had little impact on the UT game's final stat sheet, Thornton was credited by head coach Mark Fox for his effect on the Bulldogs' defensive effort.
• Georgia continues to be led in scoring by freshman guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope at 14.2 points per game. The Greenville, Ga., native also leads all Bulldogs in minutes (31.8/game) and steals (1.8/game). There likely hasn't been as valuable a freshman to Georgia since 2005, when point guard Sundiata Gaines led the Bulldogs in minutes played, assists and steals, and he was also second on the team in both scoring (12.0) and rebounding (4.9).
• The visitor has won each of the past two Georgia-Ole Miss matchups. The Rebels, in fact, have won in their past two trips to Athens. Georgia took a 98-76 victory in Oxford on Jan. 15 of last season, a game that proved to be perhaps the Bulldogs' best performance of the season.

Probable Starters

#Assists Per Game

Head Coach: Mark Fox
Record at Georgia / Years: 45-37 / 3rd season
Overall Record/Years: 168-80 / 8th season
Assistant Coaches: Kwanza Johnson, Philip Pearson, Stacey Palmore

Head Coach: Andy Kennedy
Record at Ole Miss / Years: 117-70 / 6th season
Overall Record / Years: 138-83 / 7th season
Assistant Coaches: Sergio Rouco, Al Pinkins, Bill Armstrong

Georgia vs. Ole Miss

• Saturday's game is the 105th all-time meeting between Georgia and Ole Miss in basketball. Georgia leads the series, which began in 1928 and has been renewed annually since 1947, by an 66-39 count. Ole Miss, in fact, is one of just three SEC opponents against which Georgia has at least a .500 record in its all-time series. South Carolina (49-46) and Auburn (88-87) are the others. The Bulldogs are close to the .500 mark against several others: Florida (97-106) and Miss. State (50-51).
• Georgia has won more games in Oxford (24) than at any other SEC road venue. The Bulldogs are 24-24 all-time there, including two wins in the most recent decade (2001, 2003) and one last season. The two teams' only 2011 meeting produced a 98-76 Georgia victory in which five Bulldogs reached double figures.
• Geographically speaking, the series can be broken down as such:
  
  In Athens: UGA leads 38-11
  In Oxford: Games are tied 24-24
  Neutral Court Games: Games are tied 4-4

Noteworthy...

• Counting his two seasons at Tennessee State, Gerald Robinson enters today's game with 1,665 career points, 644 at Georgia and 1,021 in two seasons (2008-09) at TSU. That combined figure would rank 6th on Georgia's career scoring list, 14 behind Walter Daniels (1976-79) and just 23 behind Dominique Wilkins (1980-82).
• Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was named as the SEC's Freshman of the Week on Dec. 19. It marked just the seventh time in 12 years of this award that a Georgia Bulldog had earned the honor. It was the first since Trey Thompkins won the F-O-W award for the week of Dec. 1, 2008. Currently, there are nine freshmen in the SEC that are scoring in double figures. KCP ranks third among those rookies at 14.2 points per game, behind BJ Young of Arkansas and Brad Beal of Florida. He also ranks 3rd among SEC freshmen in minutes played (31.8) behind Miss. State's Rodney Hood and Beal. Additionally, KCP leads all freshmen in shots taken (223), ranking 3rd among all SEC players.
• Turnovers per Game...as in, Fewest Per Game. It's a stat that isn't kept officially by the SEC office but can be found with a little digging. Georgia leads the league with 11.2 miscues per game, a figure that ranks 10th among 338 Division I teams (the NCAA does indeed keep this stat.). Already this season Georgia has had seven games of single-digit turnovers, one better than last year's team. You must go back to the 2003 season to find the last time Georgia had single-digit turnovers in three straight games, like the Bulldogs did vs. USC/Furman/Mercer last month.
• On his current pace, senior Dustin Ware will become just the seventh player in UGA history to score 1,000 points and hand out 350 assists in his career. The most recent addition to this list was Sundiata Gaines (1,469 pts / 476 asts), and its leader is Litterial Green (2,111 pts/466 asts). The others include Rashad Wright (1,064 / 493); G.G. Smith (1,131 / 440); Vern Fleming (1,777 / 400); and Ray Harrison (1,230 / 377). Additionally, Ware and Wright are the only two players in UGA history to hand out 100 assists in each of his first three seasons.
• Four Bulldogs have posted measurable increases in their productivity during SEC play. Most notably:
  > Nemi Djurisic averages 9.5 points per game in the SEC schedule, just 6.7 overall.
  > Donte' Williams averages 9.5 points in SEC play, 7.7 overall.
  > Kentavious Caldwell-Pope's per-game scoring average is slightly higher in SEC play (14.5 vs. 14.2).
  > Reserve John Florveus is averaging 3.0 points in four SEC games, compared to 1.8 points in the entire schedule.
• Vincent Williams had two inconspicuous seasons in 2010 and 2011. This year, however, he has thrust himself prominently into a crowded backcourt rotation, even starting 11 of the past 14 games at the point position. He's already established new career highs in scoring, rebounds and minutes, most recently scoring a career-best 11 points against Mercer on Dec. 20.

  During Georgia's 5-game winning streak, Williams has compiled a +4/1 assist/turnover ratio as the Bulldogs' starter at point guard.

• Sophomore Donte' Williams has also benefitted from a greatly increased role this season. The 6-9 forward has become Georgia's top frontline offensive threat, with double-figure scoring four times already, including a career-high 17 points against South Dakota State. In just 17 games, Williams has quintupled his scoring output from his 2011 total. He also leads Georgia in blocked shots with 24.
• The 2011-12 Bulldogs began this season amid fairly low expectations...externally, at least. In the SEC-sponsored media poll -- a panel that featured two jounalists from each school's coverage area -- Georgia was pegged for an 8th-place finish in the SEC. This, after a year in which the Bulldogs posted the program's first winning record in SEC play since 2003.
• Georgia senior Gerald Robinson was named to the Coaches' Pre-Season All-SEC 2nd Team. The Nashville, Tenn., native was one of 16 players picked to two 8-man squads by the league's head coaches. Robinson is the top returning scorer and assist man for the Bulldogs.
• Dustin Ware's current career 3-point shooting percentage ranks him among the best ever in UGA history. Following are the top five long-range shooters at Georgia.

  Career 3-Point Percentage Leaders
  (Minimum 150 3FGs Made)
  1.	.444 (172-387)	Jody Patton	1988-91
  2.	.429 (194-453)	Bernard Davis	1991-94
  3.	.396 (231-583)	D.A. Layne	1999-2001
  4.	.395 (215-544)	Litterial Green	1989-92
  5.	.390 (174-446)	Dustin Ware	Present

Of RPIs and Such

A few observations about Georgia's place in the world of the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI):

A few observations about Georgia's place in the world of the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI):
• The Bulldogs have a current RPI of 108 and their schedule is rated 50th most difficult in the country.
• Despite a dificult early-season schedule for Georgia, Vanderbilt represents the highest-rated opponent yet at 21.
• From a strictly RPI point of view, Georgia's best win of the season was its Nov. 16 victory over South Dakota State. The Jackrabbits currently check in with an RPI of 68, enter the weekend with a 15-5 record and boast a 19-point win at Washington on their resume. SDSU is led in scoring by guard Nate Wolters, whose current average of 20.7 points per game ranks 7th among all NCAA Division I players. Wolters tallied 15 points against the Bulldogs on Nov. 16.

Georgia and the NBA Georgia's two premature departures from 2011 have seen early-season action with the NBA team that drafted them in the second round. Both Trey Thompkins and Travis Leslie have played for the Los Angeles Clippers, the former in four games and the latter in two.

Perhaps more noteworthy, however, is the progress of 3rd-year pro Sundiata Gaines, who finished his career at Georgia in 2008. After playing in the D-League for 1 1/2 seasons, Gaines was signed in 2010 by Utah, had cups of coffee in Minnesota and Toronto and seems to have found a home in the New Jersey Nets. The Jamaica, N.Y., native is the Nets' 5th-leading scorer, averaging 8.5 points per game and playing almost 20 minutes.

For just the third time ever, Georgia now has four alumni currently playing in the NBA: the aforementioned trio, as well as elder statesman Damien Wilkins, who now plays in Detroit. Just once has UGA placed five alums in the NBA at the same time: the 1993-94 season (Dominique Wilkins, Willie Anderson, Vern Fleming, Litterial Green and Alec Kessler).

It's also worth mentioning that Georgia's other two departures from last season -- frontcourt men Jeremy Price and Chris Barnes -- are both playing professionally now, the former in Finland, the latter in Lithuania.

Georgia and the SEC

Following are a few tidbits about Georgia's history in the SEC:


• Georgia's all-time record in SEC games, covering 77 years, is 485-715 (.404). That ranks 10th of the 12 current SEC members.
• Georgia can claim one SEC regular-season championship (1990), one regular-season divisional title (2002) and two SEC Tournament crowns (1983, 2008).
• Georgia has had just one AP SEC Player of the Year: Dominique Wilkins in 1981 and no POY, as voted by the league's coaches since 1987. Other superlative post-season awards include Coaches' SEC Defensive Player of the Year (Rashad Wright in 2004), AP SEC Newcomer of the Year (Jarvis Hayes in 2002), and Scholar-Athlete of the Year (Dave Bliss in 2008).
• Wilkins was the first of four Georgia players to lead the SEC in scoring at season's end. He averaged a league-best 23.6 points per game in 1981. Others to follow him have been Vern Fleming (19.8 ppg in 1984), Jumaine Jones (18.8 ppg in 1999) and Jarvis Hayes (18.6 ppg in 2002).
• Georgia has an all-time SEC Tournament record of 38-49. The 2008 tourney marked the first time since 1997 that Georgia has reached the finals.
• Since the league expanded and was pared into East and West Divisions in 1992, Georgia has a 139-180 (.434) record. Eight times since '92 Georgia has had a league record of .500 or better (1993, '95, '96, '97, '01,'03, 07, '11).
• Since the league's expansion, Georgia has a 75-124 record (.376) record against the Eastern Division, a 63-58 mark (.518) against SEC Western Division teams. Bulldog teams have had winning records against the West in 13 of 19 years. Georgia's only undefeated season against the West came in 2003.
• In the 16-game SEC schedule format, Georgia's most wins came in 2003, when it compiled an 11-5 mark. The Bulldogs' timing, however, left much to be desired. That same year, Kentucky won the East with a perfect 16-0 mark and Florida placed second at 12-4. Georgia's 11-5 mark would've won the West by two games.
• In case anyone was wondering, Georgia is 0-3 all-time against Missouri and has never played a basketball game against Texas A&M. The 2001 Bulldogs lost to Mizzou in the NCAA Tournament first round. The two schools also played a home-and-home series during the 2009-10 seasons.