Georgia (1-0) vs. Wake Forest (1-0)

Friday, November 11 at 8:30 p.m.

Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum (14,665) in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Series History: UGA leads, 4-2

Last meeting: UGA, 72-50, on 12/8/07

Streaming: ACC Network (Doug Sherman, pbp; Cory Alexander, analyst)

Radio: Georgia Bulldogs Radio Network (WSB AM 750; SXM App: 983) (Scott Howard, pbp; Chuck Dowdle, analyst; John Rockwell, producer)

The Starting Five

• UGA owns a 4-2 advantage in its all-time series with Wake Forest, including a 1-1 record in Winston-Salem.

• Friday night’s outing at Wake Forest will be the Bulldogs’ first-ever appearance on the ACC Network.

• UGA’s 5 returning letterwinners accounted for 60.9 percent of the Bulldogs’ points last season.

• 5 of UGA’s 6 new transfers – Anselem, Hill, Holt, Moncrieffe & McBride – have played on NCAA Tourney teams.

• UGA signed 2 ESPN.com top-100 prospects – Dylan James and Lamariyon “Mari Jodan” – on Wednesday.

The Opening Tip

Georgia will venture on the first road trip of the 2022-23 season – and its initial away outing with Mike White as head coach – on Friday. The Bulldogs will face Wake Forest at – appropriately enough on Veterans Day – Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum at 8:30 p.m. The contest will air on the ACC Network, with Doug Sherman and Cory Alexander on the call.

Georgia enjoyed a successful start to the season on Monday as preseason All-SEC Kario Oquendo scored 18 points to lead the Bulldogs in a 68-55 win over Western Carolina.

Keepin An Eye On: Entering Today’s Game . . .

Mike White is...

• 6 wins from 250 for his career

Braelen Bridges is...

• 120 points from 1,000 for his career

• 64 rebounds from 500 for his career

Jailyn Ingram is...

• 70 points from 1,500 for his career

• 16 rebounds from 700 for his career

Series History With Wake

Georgia owns a 4-2 advantage in all-time meetings with Wake Forest in a series that dates back well over a century to Feb. 1913.

The Bulldogs and Demon Deacons have split their two previous matchups in Winston-Salem.

UGA and WFU last met on Dec. 8, 2007, with the Bulldogs securing a 72-60 win in Athens. That’s the Georgia team that went on an improbable run to win the 2008 SEC Tournament after the Georgia Dome was damaged by a tornado.

Sundiata Gaines and Terrance Woodbury posted game-high tallies of 15 points apiece to lead Georgia.

Georgia led 34-31 early in the second stanza before Woodbury scored six straight points to break open what had been a tight contest. That sparked a 12-0 surge that gave Bulldogs control the rest of the way.

Scouting The Demon Deacons

Wake Forest christened its campaign on Monday with a 71-59 victory over Fairfield. Andrew Carr, Cameron Hildreth and Daivien Williamson paced the Demon Deacons with 15 points apiece.

Wake used a 10-0 run over the final 3:58 of the first half to grab the lead for good. The Stags did pull within 50-49 with 5:58 left; however, the Demon Deacons closed out the contest on a 21-9 surge.

Williamson is the lone returning starter and Hildreth is among six letterwinners back from last year’s team that finished 25-10 overall and 13-7 in the ACC. Williamson contributed 12.2 ppg last season, while Hildreth added 3.9 ppg.

Carr is one of six newcomers. That ledger includes five transfers – two graduates, two juniors and a senior – and a freshman.

Last Time Out

Kario Oquendo’s 18-point performance led Georgia in a 68-55 win over Western Carolina in both team’s season opener on Monday night at Stegeman Coliseum.

Though Georgia never trailed, the game was as close as four points midway through the second half.

The Bulldogs jumped out to an 11-3 lead and pushed their advantage to double figures with 11:43 left in the first half. Georgia held the Catamounts to 25.8 percent shooting from the floor en route to a 37-22 lead at the intermission.

Western opened the second stanza with an 18-3 surge to close the gap to 42-40 at the 13:00 mark. Frank Anselem, who scored a career-high 11 points in his Georgia debut, scored 18 seconds later and the Bulldogs quickly moved their margin back to eight points.

After the Catamounts inched within 48-44, Oquendo scored five points in a 7-0 surge to put the victory in hand.

Bulldogs Against The ACC

Georgia has compiled a 193-188 record all-time against the teams currently competing in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Bulldogs have faced every league school but one, Duke.

The majority of Georgia’s ACC action has come against the two closest schools geographically. The Bulldogs are 91-106 against Georgia Tech and 56-26 versus Clemson.

In addition to being 4-2 vs. Wake Forest, Georgia is: 0-1 vs. Boston College, 10-10 vs. Florida State, 1-1 vs. Louisville, 2-1 vs. Miami, 5-13 vs. North Carolina, 10-9 vs. N.C. State, 1-2 vs. Notre Dame, 3-2 vs. Pitt, 0-1 vs. Syracuse, 5-3 vs. Virginia and 5-2 vs. Virginia Tech.

Bulldogs In Season Openers

Georgia opened its 118th season of intercollegiate basketball on Monday. The Bulldogs improved to 85-33 in the initial contests of those campaigns, including an even more impressive 39-6 mark in openers at Stegeman Coliseum.

Georgia’s most significant win in an opener at the Coliseum also was its first. In the Bulldogs’ initial opener on Dec. 3 1964, UGA bested No. 13 North Carolina, 64-61.

White In Season Openers

Mike White is now 9-3 in season openers as a head coach as outlined below.

White’s Initial Outings

Date Opponent Score

11/13/11 Mississippi College W 92-70

11/9/12 at Texas A&M L 59-71

11/8/13 at Saint Mary’s L 70-83

11/14/14 at Southern W 85-76

11/13/15 at Navy W 59-41

1/11/16 vs. FGCU W 80-59

11/13/17 Gardner-Webb W 116-74

11/6/18 at Florida State L 60-81

11/5/19 North Florida W 74-59

12/2/20 vs. Army W 76-69

11/9/21 Elon W 74-61

11/7/22 Western Carolina W 68-55

Bulldogs Ink Top-100 Pair

Georgia opened the NCAA’s early signing period with a bang as two players ranked among the nation’s top-100 prospects in the Class of 2023 inked scholarship papers to play for the Bulldogs.

Forwards Lamariyon “Mari” Jordan and Dylan James are currently ranked No. 72 and No. 94 nationally by ESPN.com, respectively.

“It’s an exciting day for us to be able to sign two players that we targeted and invested a lot of time and energy in,” head coach Mike White said. “Both of these guys are excited to be Bulldogs. Mari grew up right down the road from Athens and has always admired this university. He is a high-energy player who possesses much versatility and has a very good positional size. Dylan has tremendous length for a guy who shoots the ball the way that he does. He also has the ability to post. Like Mari, he has a chance to be a very good defender as well.”

James, a 6-9, 190-pound power forward helped lead Winter Haven High School to the semifinals of the 2022 Florida Class 6A state tournament. He was selected as the Lakeland Ledger’s Player of the Year after averaging 15.2 points, 8.5 rebounds, 3.4 blocks, 2.0 assists and 1.3 steals per game last season for the Blue Devils, who finished 23-8 overall. James helped Winter Haven compile a 23-9 record as a freshman before playing at The Rock School during his sophomore year.

James’ and his Winter Haven teammates will begin the 2022-23 season ranked No. 67 nationally by MaxPreps.

James also was ranked as the nation’s No. 94 prospect by 247Sports.com, as well as No. 115 by On3.com and No. 133 by Rivals.com.

Jordan, a 6-6, 185-pound small forward was tabbed first-team All-State for Class 6A by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution as a junior after averaging 19.7 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.4 blocks and 1.2 steals per game for Dacula High School. Over three seasons, Jordan has compiled 1,257 points, 434 rebounds, 128 blocks, 109 assists and 104 steals for the Falcons. He was voted the Region 8-6A Player of the Year and named second-team All-Gwinnett County by the Gwinnett Daily Post as a junior.

Jordan will spend his senior season playing at Norcross High School, where he has already been tabbed second-team preseason All-State by the Georgia High School Coaches Association (GHSA).

Nationally, Jordan is ranked No. 101 by 247Sports.com and No. 137 by Rivals.com.

Oquendo Named All-SEC

Kario Oquendo was tabbed second-team preseason All-SEC in balloting of the league’s 14 head coaches announced on Nov. 2.

Oquendo was the Bulldogs’ scoring leader, both overall and in SEC play, last season. He averaged 15.2 points overall and upped his contributions to 18.3 points per game in league play. Oquendo is the SEC’s leading returning scorer from conference action last season.

Oquendo notched 10 20-point performances, with eight of those versus league competition. He poured in a season-high 33 points at Texas A&M, equaling the highest single-game output in league play during the 2021-22 season.

The junior from Titusville, Fla. also built a reputation as one the nation’s top in-game dunkers, appearing on ESPN’s Top-10 plays three times last season – No. 3 on Nov. 16 against S.C. State, No. 6 on No. 23 versus Northwestern and No. 3 on March 1 against Tennessee.

Bridges Finds Bottom Of Net

Braelen Bridges converted on 63.4 percent of his shots from the floor for Georgia last season. That not only led the SEC and ranked No. 7 nationally, it was one of the most efficient campaigns ever for UGA and in league history.

The Union Grove High School product knocked down 161 of his 264 field goals in his first year as a Bulldog in 2021-22.

Among the best single-season field goal percentages for the Bulldogs and within the SEC, Bridges’ effort ranks No. 2 and No. 17 all-time, respectively.

Bridges became the first Bulldog to pace the SEC in shooting efficiency since Lavon Mercer did so in 1980 at 61.1 percent. Interestingly, Mercer set the UGA record (64.3 percent) in 1979 but did not lead the SEC that season.

Ingram Offers Experience

According to research by Middle Tennessee’s SID staff, Jailyn Ingram is one of five seventh-year players in college basketball this season.

The Madison, Ga., native spent five seasons at Florida Atlantic before returning to his home state. Ingram played in 122 games for the Owls from 2016-21, including a redshirt campaign in 2018-19. All told, he recorded 1,334 points and 630 rebounds while at FAU.

Ingram played in nine games last season for Georgia before suffering a season-ending injury on Dec. 7 against Jacksonville. He received an additional red-shirt from the NCAA to return to the Bulldogs this season.

That makes Ingram among of quintet of players – including a well-traveled Nittany Lion – competing for a seventh college basketball season this winter as outlined below.

7th-Year Super Duper Seniors

Name Schools

Jailyn Ingram FAU, Georgia

DeAndre Dishman EKU, MTSU

Juan Munoz Longwood, Hawaii

DeJuan Clayton Coppin State, Cal

Michael Henn UC-Davis, Cal Baptist, Portland, Denver, Penn State

A “March Madness” Pedigree

Five of Georgia’s six first-year transfers played for teams that reached the 2021 or 2022 NCAA Tournaments at their previous school.

Justin Hill (Longwood) and Jusaun Holt (Alabama) both took part in the “Big Dance” last spring.

Frank Anselem (Syracuse), Madrez McBride (North Texas) and Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe (Oklahoma State) all had tickets punched to the 2021 edition of “March Madness.”

A Doubleheader Opener

Both Georgia’s men’s and women’s basketball program began their seasons with a doubledip at Stegeman Coliseum on Monday, Nov. 11.

The Lady Bulldogs, who are also under a first-year head coach, defeated Coastal Carolina, 78-61, in the first outing.

Katie Abrahamson-Henderson, more commonly known as “Coach Abe,” was on the sidelines for the first time in Stegeman Coliseum. She also for the Lady Bulldogs from 1985-87. Prior to returning to Athens, “Coach Abe” compiled a 370-156 (.703) record over 17 seasons as a head coach and led teams to postseason bids in 14 of 16 possible seasons, including 11 NCAA Tournament appearances.

The last time the Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs hosted a season-opening twin bill was 19 years ago on Nov. 21, 2003.

That evening Lady Bulldogs opened what culminated as an “Elite Eight” campaign by besting Georgia State, 87-48.

The Bulldogs then topped Western Carolina, 78-67, in Dennis Felton’s first outing as Georgia’s head coach. Damien Wilkins led a trio of Bulldogs in double figures with 16 points to counter a 44-point explosion from WCU’s Kevin Martin. Martin went on to score more than 12,000 points during a 12-season NBA career with Sacramento, Houston, Oklahoma City, Minnesota and San Antonio.

©2022 Cox Media Group