Georgia Basketball Game Notes
Wooden Legacy First Round
Georgia (3-0) vs. Cal State Fullerton (1-2)
Thursday, November 23, 2017 at 10:30 p.m. ET
Titan Gym (4,000) in Fullerton, Calif.
Listen: Georgia Bulldog Sports Network. Flagship: AM 750 (Atlanta); (Cabell Philpott, play-by-play; Mark Slonaker, analyst)
Watch: ESPNews (Steve Quis, play-by-play; Corey Williams, analyst)
The Starting 5…
• Yante Maten was ranked as one of the nation’s top-25 players by CBS (22), ESPN (23) and NBC (24).
• Rayshaun Hammonds became the first UGA freshman to start an opener since KCP in ‘11-12.
• Yante Maten is the first Bulldog to open the year with three double-doubles since 1987.
• Turtle Jackson posted career-high point productions (11 & 13) in the season’s first two games.
• Mark & Cindy Fox donated $18,976 to Athens charities, $1 for each fan at UGA’s Nov. home games.
Georgia Treks To Wooden Legacy
The Georgia Bulldogs take to the road for the first time during the 2017-18 campaign this week when they venture to California for the Wooden Legacy.The eight-team event will be contested on Thursday, Friday and Sunday in Fullerton.
The Bulldogs will open play against tourney host Cal State Fullerton on Thanksgiving night at 10:30 p.m. on ESPNews. Georgia is in the half of the bracket that also features San Diego State and Sacramento State. The other half includes Harvard, Saint Joseph’s, No. 21 Saint Mary’s and Washington State.
Georgia was a relatively solid road team a year ago when the Bulldogs notched wins at Georgia Tech, Auburn, Ole Miss, Tennessee and Alabama and played overtime outings at No. 23 Florida and No. 8 Kentucky.
The Bulldogs are 3-0 on the young season.
Yante Maten, a National Player of the Year candidate (including the Wooden Award Watch List) and preseason SEC Player of the Year honoree, leads Georgia. The senior from Pontiac, Mich., has posted double-doubles in each game to date and is averaging 20.7 points and 13.0 rebounds per game. Maten enters the tournament 12 points shy of joining Georgia’s top-20 career scoring leaders.
Freshman Rayshaun Hammonds provides the Bulldogs with a second double-digit scoring average at 15.0 ppg. Hammonds has done so in extremely efficient fashion, connecting on an eye-catching 77.0 percent of his shots from the floor.
Cal State Fullerton is 1-2 on the year, with a pair of road losses to No. 10 Southern Cal and No. 21 Saint Mary’s.
Jackson Rowe paced the Titans in those contests with averages of 12.5 points and 6.5 rebounds but did not play in Fullerton’s last outing against Bethesda.
Khalil Ahmad also is scoring at a double-figure clip, chipping in 10.0 ppg.
Series History Vs. Wooden Field
The meeting between Georgia and Cal State Fullerton will be the first ever on the hardwood.The Bulldogs are 2-1 against team competing with the Titans in the Big West Conference – 1-0 against Long Beach State and 1-1 versus Hawai’i.
In fact, Georgia has only faced two of the other seven teams in the Wooden Legacy field. The Bulldogs 0-1 vs. Saint Mary’s and 1-0 vs Washington State.
Keeping An Eye On…Entering Today’s Game Among UGA’s Career Leaders:
Yante Maten is...
• 12 points from No. 20 Kenny Gaines
• 36 points from No. 19 Willie Anderson
• 9 rebounds from No. 14 James Banks
• 19 rebounds from No. 13 Marcus Thornton
• 29 FTs from No. 5 Vern Fleming
• 10 FTAs from No. 12Terry Fair
• 16 FTAs from No. 11 Shandon Anderson
• 14 blocks from No. 3 Terrell Bell
Georgia’s “Wooden” History
Georgia is making its third appearance in a “Wooden” event. The Bulldogs played in the 1997 and 2002 editions of the Wooden Classic in Anaheim.
Most recently, current Georgia assistant coach Jonas Hayes scored 16 points and logged 41 minutes of playing time in the Bulldogs’ 78-73 overtime victory against Cal on Dec. 7, 2002.
In the other Wooden outing, No. 22 Georgia fell 76-74 to No. 12 Stanford on Dec. 6, 1997. Jumaine Jones led the Bulldogs with a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds, while Mark Madsen countered with 23 points and 13 boards for the Cardinal.
Last Time Out...
Yante Maten’s third double-double in as many games – 19 points and 13 boards – led Georgia in a 68-65 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Sunday.
Maten’s streak is Georgia’s first trio of consecutive double-doubles since Trey Thompkins’ in 2011 and the first to open a season since Eric Burdette’s in 1987-88.
Rayshaun Hammonds added 15 points, his third-straight double-figure output.
Early on, the contest looked like it was headed anywhere but a one-possession score. Georgia opened up a 17-2 lead and led 30-16 after haltime, only because of Kareem South’s 25-foot 3-pointer as time expired.
The Islanders continued that momentum in the second half, using a 20-6 surge to tie the score at 36-36 with 14:29 remaining.
Though Georgia never trailed, the Islanders tied the game three more times and were within one point twice in the final 13 seconds. Hammonds and Jordan Harris connected on 4-of-4 trips to the line for the Bulldogs and Joseph Kilgore’s potential game-tying 3-pointer as time expired was off the mark.
Ratin’ Maten A Popular Task
Preseason recognition was consistent and plentiful for Yante Maten.
Maten was ranked as one of the nation’s top-25 players by three different online ledgers. CBSsports.com put him at No. 22, ESPN.com listed him at No. 23 and NBCsports.com tabbed him at No. 24 .
Maten was tabbed the preseason SEC Player of the Year by the Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook and a panel of SEC and national media. The media poll named Maten, Texas A&M’s Robert Williams and Missouri’s Michael Porter, Jr. as co-players of the year.
Maten was included on various watch lists. Most notably, he was featured on ledgers for both the Oscar Robertson Trophy and the Naismith Trophy for the National Player of the Year. In addition, Maten was on the list for the Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award and the Lute Olson Award, which is awarded to the nation’s top Division I player who has played at least two seasons.
He also received preseason All-America recognition. Jay Bilas, in an obvious plot to prove he’s the wisest college hoops analyst in the nation, included Maten on his first-team All-America ledger. Among others, Maten also earned All-America props from the Blue Ribbon Yearbook (third team), www.collegesportsmadness.com (fourth team) and NBCsports.com (honorable mention).
Foxes Donating From Nov. Games
Head coach Mark Fox and his wife Cindy will be donating $1 to charity for every fan who attended the Bulldogs’ three November home games. The amount will be split equally between the Boys and Girls Club of Athens and the Clarke County Mentor Program.
Georgia drew 7,387 fans for the opener against Bryant – UGA’s biggest crowd for a season opener in a decade – as well as 5,369 for the Upstate date and 6,220 against Texas A&M-CC. Therefore, the Foxes will contribute $18,976 to the aforementioned groups ($9,488 to each).
Fox announced their effort in an Oct. 12 tweet and was later asked about his decision to make the donations.
“I just think that no matter where you turn somebody’s complaining about something,” he said. “I meant what I said. People in positions like I have, we have an obligation to try and make things better. We’re fortunate to have great opportunities to impact the world and we should do that, we should try to do that. I think we have too many people complaining and not enough people trying to make a difference, if you want my honest opinion.”
Cindy Fox is on the board for Clarke Mentors, which recruits community volunteers to mentor children who attend the Clarke County School District. Derrick Floyd, director of operations for the Athens Boys and Girls Club, was a letterwinner for the Bulldogs from 1980-83 and today serves as the official scorer for Georgia basketball games and the SEC Tourney.
“Those groups are working to try and make the next generation better and to make society better,” Mark Fox said. “If we can give them a little help, that’s great.”
Hammonds Gets Nod For Opener
Rayshaun Hammonds became the first Bulldog freshman to start a season opener since Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in 2011-12.
Hammonds was expected to do so after he got the nod for both of Georgia’s preseason exhibitions, including a double-double of 17 points and 11 rebounds versus Valdosta State.
Hammonds also enjoyed an impressive “official” debut, scoring 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the floor and grabbing seven rebounds.
That was the highest output by a UGA freshman in an opener in a decade and a day – since Jeremy Price scored 18 points against Jacksonville State on Nov. 9, 2007. FYI, Caldwell-Pope, who signed an $18-million contract to play for the Lakers this season, put up a game-high 15 points to lead Georgia in a 62-49 win over Wofford on Nov. 11, 2011.
While Hammonds became the first freshman to start an opener in six years, freshman starters is nothing new for Georgia during Mark Fox’s tenure.
Six members of the Bulldogs’ 10 returning letterwinners this season also started as freshmen – seniors Yante Maten and Juwan Parker, juniors Mike Edwards and Derek Ogbeide and sophomores Tyree Crump and Jordan Harris.
This Turtle Starting Quickly
William “Turtle” Jackson entered the season with two double-digit scoring performances in 66 games played at Georgia.
In the Bulldogs’ first two outings of the 2017-18 campaign, Jackson reached double figures in the scoring column...in the first half alone.
He also upped his career-high output in each contest.
Jackson scored 11 points – all in the first half – against Bryant. That represented more than a quarter of Georgia’s 40 points in the period and also bettered his best of 10 points versus both Oakland and Belmont last year.
Against USC Upstate, Jackson scored 10 points in the first half and added three more in the second stanza.
Jackson continues to do much of his damage from behind the 3-point arc. To date, six of his nine makes from the floor have been 3-pointers. For his career, 60.0 percent (42-of-70) of Jackson’s made FGs have been 3s.
Dogs Flip Script With Starting 5
Four-guard lineups are a relatively common fixture in college basketball. To start the season, Georgia is utilizing a four-forward starting quintet.
Point guard William “Turtle” Jackson is the only starter to date with a “G” featured by his name on the Bulldogs’ roster.
In addition, Georgia has started 6-6 E’Torrion Wilridge at the ‘2,’ 6-8 Rayshaun Hammonds at the ‘3,’ 6-8 Yante Maten at the ‘4’ and 6-8 Derek Ogbeide at the ‘5.’
The athleticism of Wilridge and Hammonds allows them to handle the defensive challenges of guarding guards – not to mention their shooting range and passing abilities.
“I really think the way we flew around defensively was exactly what we needed to see, and I was very pleased,” Mark Fox said after the season opener.
Freshman Birthday Bonanza
Three-fourths of Georgia’s freshman class will celebrate birthdays during the first dozen days of the season. On Nov. 10, Rayshaun Hammonds not only played in his collegiate debut, he also celebrated his birthday. Isaac Kante’s birthday was Nov. 15, while Teshaun Hightower’s was Nov. 21.
Hopefully, all four of Georgia’s freshmen will enjoy in-season birthdays. Nicolas Claxton, the fourth member of Georgia’s freshman quartet, has a March 17 birthday.
Maten Big-Time Vs. Top-10 Foes
Yante Maten poured in 33 points in an Oct. 29 exhibition game against No. 2 Michigan State. While those numbers won’t count, that would have equaled his career-high scoring output established against Belmont in the opening round of the 2016 NIT.
Maten has displayed a knack for playing extremely well against top-ranked opponents throughout his career in Athens.
Maten has averaged 17.8 ppg and 7.2 rpg in five “games” versus top-10 opponents while making 61.2 percent of his shots from the floor and 76.5 percent from the line.
A year ago, he poured in 30 points and grabbed 13 boards against No. 5 Kansas in the championship game of the CBE Hall of Fame Classic in Kansas City.
In three outings against top-10 foes as a freshman – one versus No. 10 Gonzaga and two against No. 1 Kentucky – Maten was a combined 10-of-17 (58.8) from the field and 6-of-9 (66.7) at the charity stripe.
Bulldogs Are HomeGrown
More than half of Georgia’s roster – eight of 15 to be exact – played high school hoops in the Peach State. That list features Tyree Crump (Bainbridge HS), Rayshaun Hammonds (Norcross HS), Jordan Harris (Seminole County HS), Christian Harrison (Woodward Academy), Teshaun Hightower (Collins Hills HS), “Turtle” Jackson (Athens Christian), Connor O’Neill (Blessed Trinity School) and Derek Ogbeide (Pebblebrook HS).
SEC Hoops Moving Forward
SEC Basketball enters the season looking to continue its upwardly trending reputation.
The SEC received five bids to the 2017 NCAA Tournament, the fifth-most of any conference. The league then proceeded to tie the ACC (which received nine bids) for the most wins during “March Madness” with 11.
Three league schools reached the “Elite Eight,” including an All-SEC East Regional final between South Carolina and Florida.
Dogs Sign In-State Duo
Amanze Ngumezi and JoJo Toppin, a pair of premier in-state prospects, signed letters-of-intent to play for Georgia, Mark Fox announced on Thursday, Nov. 16.
Ngumezi (whose name is pronounced “Uh-mahn-zay In-goo-meh-zay), a 6-9, 235-pound power forward from Savannah, averaged a double-double of 12.8 points and 11.6 rebounds last season. He led Johnson High School to a 19-10 finish and the second round of the Georgia 3A State Tournament. The Atom Smashers, who finished the season ranked No. 9 in the state, lost to eventual state champion Pace Academy, 49-41, in the tourney’s round of 16.
Toppin, a 6-6, 180-pound small forward from Norcross, posted averages of 10.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game as a junior at Norcross High School. Toppin – and current Bulldog freshman Rayshaun Hammonds – helped lead the Blue Devils to a runner-up showing in the 7A State Tournament and a final record of 26-6.
Wooden Legacy First Round
Georgia (3-0) vs. Cal State Fullerton (1-2)
Thursday, November 23, 2017 at 10:30 p.m. ET
Titan Gym (4,000) in Fullerton, Calif.
Listen: Georgia Bulldog Sports Network. Flagship: AM 750 (Atlanta); (Cabell Philpott, play-by-play; Mark Slonaker, analyst)
Watch: ESPNews (Steve Quis, play-by-play; Corey Williams, analyst)
The Starting 5…
• Yante Maten was ranked as one of the nation’s top-25 players by CBS (22), ESPN (23) and NBC (24).
• Rayshaun Hammonds became the first UGA freshman to start an opener since KCP in ‘11-12.
• Yante Maten is the first Bulldog to open the year with three double-doubles since 1987.
• Turtle Jackson posted career-high point productions (11 & 13) in the season’s first two games.
• Mark & Cindy Fox donated $18,976 to Athens charities, $1 for each fan at UGA’s Nov. home games.
Georgia Treks To Wooden Legacy
The Georgia Bulldogs take to the road for the first time during the 2017-18 campaign this week when they venture to California for the Wooden Legacy.The eight-team event will be contested on Thursday, Friday and Sunday in Fullerton.
The Bulldogs will open play against tourney host Cal State Fullerton on Thanksgiving night at 10:30 p.m. on ESPNews. Georgia is in the half of the bracket that also features San Diego State and Sacramento State. The other half includes Harvard, Saint Joseph’s, No. 21 Saint Mary’s and Washington State.
Georgia was a relatively solid road team a year ago when the Bulldogs notched wins at Georgia Tech, Auburn, Ole Miss, Tennessee and Alabama and played overtime outings at No. 23 Florida and No. 8 Kentucky.
The Bulldogs are 3-0 on the young season.
Yante Maten, a National Player of the Year candidate (including the Wooden Award Watch List) and preseason SEC Player of the Year honoree, leads Georgia. The senior from Pontiac, Mich., has posted double-doubles in each game to date and is averaging 20.7 points and 13.0 rebounds per game. Maten enters the tournament 12 points shy of joining Georgia’s top-20 career scoring leaders.
Freshman Rayshaun Hammonds provides the Bulldogs with a second double-digit scoring average at 15.0 ppg. Hammonds has done so in extremely efficient fashion, connecting on an eye-catching 77.0 percent of his shots from the floor.
Cal State Fullerton is 1-2 on the year, with a pair of road losses to No. 10 Southern Cal and No. 21 Saint Mary’s.
Jackson Rowe paced the Titans in those contests with averages of 12.5 points and 6.5 rebounds but did not play in Fullerton’s last outing against Bethesda.
Khalil Ahmad also is scoring at a double-figure clip, chipping in 10.0 ppg.
Series History Vs. Wooden Field
The meeting between Georgia and Cal State Fullerton will be the first ever on the hardwood.The Bulldogs are 2-1 against team competing with the Titans in the Big West Conference – 1-0 against Long Beach State and 1-1 versus Hawai’i.
In fact, Georgia has only faced two of the other seven teams in the Wooden Legacy field. The Bulldogs 0-1 vs. Saint Mary’s and 1-0 vs Washington State.
Keeping An Eye On…Entering Today’s Game Among UGA’s Career Leaders:
Yante Maten is...
• 12 points from No. 20 Kenny Gaines
• 36 points from No. 19 Willie Anderson
• 9 rebounds from No. 14 James Banks
• 19 rebounds from No. 13 Marcus Thornton
• 29 FTs from No. 5 Vern Fleming
• 10 FTAs from No. 12Terry Fair
• 16 FTAs from No. 11 Shandon Anderson
• 14 blocks from No. 3 Terrell Bell
Georgia’s “Wooden” History
Georgia is making its third appearance in a “Wooden” event. The Bulldogs played in the 1997 and 2002 editions of the Wooden Classic in Anaheim.
Most recently, current Georgia assistant coach Jonas Hayes scored 16 points and logged 41 minutes of playing time in the Bulldogs’ 78-73 overtime victory against Cal on Dec. 7, 2002.
In the other Wooden outing, No. 22 Georgia fell 76-74 to No. 12 Stanford on Dec. 6, 1997. Jumaine Jones led the Bulldogs with a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds, while Mark Madsen countered with 23 points and 13 boards for the Cardinal.
Last Time Out...
Yante Maten’s third double-double in as many games – 19 points and 13 boards – led Georgia in a 68-65 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Sunday.
Maten’s streak is Georgia’s first trio of consecutive double-doubles since Trey Thompkins’ in 2011 and the first to open a season since Eric Burdette’s in 1987-88.
Rayshaun Hammonds added 15 points, his third-straight double-figure output.
Early on, the contest looked like it was headed anywhere but a one-possession score. Georgia opened up a 17-2 lead and led 30-16 after haltime, only because of Kareem South’s 25-foot 3-pointer as time expired.
The Islanders continued that momentum in the second half, using a 20-6 surge to tie the score at 36-36 with 14:29 remaining.
Though Georgia never trailed, the Islanders tied the game three more times and were within one point twice in the final 13 seconds. Hammonds and Jordan Harris connected on 4-of-4 trips to the line for the Bulldogs and Joseph Kilgore’s potential game-tying 3-pointer as time expired was off the mark.
Ratin’ Maten A Popular Task
Preseason recognition was consistent and plentiful for Yante Maten.
Maten was ranked as one of the nation’s top-25 players by three different online ledgers. CBSsports.com put him at No. 22, ESPN.com listed him at No. 23 and NBCsports.com tabbed him at No. 24 .
Maten was tabbed the preseason SEC Player of the Year by the Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook and a panel of SEC and national media. The media poll named Maten, Texas A&M’s Robert Williams and Missouri’s Michael Porter, Jr. as co-players of the year.
Maten was included on various watch lists. Most notably, he was featured on ledgers for both the Oscar Robertson Trophy and the Naismith Trophy for the National Player of the Year. In addition, Maten was on the list for the Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award and the Lute Olson Award, which is awarded to the nation’s top Division I player who has played at least two seasons.
He also received preseason All-America recognition. Jay Bilas, in an obvious plot to prove he’s the wisest college hoops analyst in the nation, included Maten on his first-team All-America ledger. Among others, Maten also earned All-America props from the Blue Ribbon Yearbook (third team), www.collegesportsmadness.com (fourth team) and NBCsports.com (honorable mention).
Foxes Donating From Nov. Games
Head coach Mark Fox and his wife Cindy will be donating $1 to charity for every fan who attended the Bulldogs’ three November home games. The amount will be split equally between the Boys and Girls Club of Athens and the Clarke County Mentor Program.
Georgia drew 7,387 fans for the opener against Bryant – UGA’s biggest crowd for a season opener in a decade – as well as 5,369 for the Upstate date and 6,220 against Texas A&M-CC. Therefore, the Foxes will contribute $18,976 to the aforementioned groups ($9,488 to each).
Fox announced their effort in an Oct. 12 tweet and was later asked about his decision to make the donations.
“I just think that no matter where you turn somebody’s complaining about something,” he said. “I meant what I said. People in positions like I have, we have an obligation to try and make things better. We’re fortunate to have great opportunities to impact the world and we should do that, we should try to do that. I think we have too many people complaining and not enough people trying to make a difference, if you want my honest opinion.”
Cindy Fox is on the board for Clarke Mentors, which recruits community volunteers to mentor children who attend the Clarke County School District. Derrick Floyd, director of operations for the Athens Boys and Girls Club, was a letterwinner for the Bulldogs from 1980-83 and today serves as the official scorer for Georgia basketball games and the SEC Tourney.
“Those groups are working to try and make the next generation better and to make society better,” Mark Fox said. “If we can give them a little help, that’s great.”
Hammonds Gets Nod For Opener
Rayshaun Hammonds became the first Bulldog freshman to start a season opener since Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in 2011-12.
Hammonds was expected to do so after he got the nod for both of Georgia’s preseason exhibitions, including a double-double of 17 points and 11 rebounds versus Valdosta State.
Hammonds also enjoyed an impressive “official” debut, scoring 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the floor and grabbing seven rebounds.
That was the highest output by a UGA freshman in an opener in a decade and a day – since Jeremy Price scored 18 points against Jacksonville State on Nov. 9, 2007. FYI, Caldwell-Pope, who signed an $18-million contract to play for the Lakers this season, put up a game-high 15 points to lead Georgia in a 62-49 win over Wofford on Nov. 11, 2011.
While Hammonds became the first freshman to start an opener in six years, freshman starters is nothing new for Georgia during Mark Fox’s tenure.
Six members of the Bulldogs’ 10 returning letterwinners this season also started as freshmen – seniors Yante Maten and Juwan Parker, juniors Mike Edwards and Derek Ogbeide and sophomores Tyree Crump and Jordan Harris.
This Turtle Starting Quickly
William “Turtle” Jackson entered the season with two double-digit scoring performances in 66 games played at Georgia.
In the Bulldogs’ first two outings of the 2017-18 campaign, Jackson reached double figures in the scoring column...in the first half alone.
He also upped his career-high output in each contest.
Jackson scored 11 points – all in the first half – against Bryant. That represented more than a quarter of Georgia’s 40 points in the period and also bettered his best of 10 points versus both Oakland and Belmont last year.
Against USC Upstate, Jackson scored 10 points in the first half and added three more in the second stanza.
Jackson continues to do much of his damage from behind the 3-point arc. To date, six of his nine makes from the floor have been 3-pointers. For his career, 60.0 percent (42-of-70) of Jackson’s made FGs have been 3s.
Dogs Flip Script With Starting 5
Four-guard lineups are a relatively common fixture in college basketball. To start the season, Georgia is utilizing a four-forward starting quintet.
Point guard William “Turtle” Jackson is the only starter to date with a “G” featured by his name on the Bulldogs’ roster.
In addition, Georgia has started 6-6 E’Torrion Wilridge at the ‘2,’ 6-8 Rayshaun Hammonds at the ‘3,’ 6-8 Yante Maten at the ‘4’ and 6-8 Derek Ogbeide at the ‘5.’
The athleticism of Wilridge and Hammonds allows them to handle the defensive challenges of guarding guards – not to mention their shooting range and passing abilities.
“I really think the way we flew around defensively was exactly what we needed to see, and I was very pleased,” Mark Fox said after the season opener.
Freshman Birthday Bonanza
Three-fourths of Georgia’s freshman class will celebrate birthdays during the first dozen days of the season. On Nov. 10, Rayshaun Hammonds not only played in his collegiate debut, he also celebrated his birthday. Isaac Kante’s birthday was Nov. 15, while Teshaun Hightower’s was Nov. 21.
Hopefully, all four of Georgia’s freshmen will enjoy in-season birthdays. Nicolas Claxton, the fourth member of Georgia’s freshman quartet, has a March 17 birthday.
Maten Big-Time Vs. Top-10 Foes
Yante Maten poured in 33 points in an Oct. 29 exhibition game against No. 2 Michigan State. While those numbers won’t count, that would have equaled his career-high scoring output established against Belmont in the opening round of the 2016 NIT.
Maten has displayed a knack for playing extremely well against top-ranked opponents throughout his career in Athens.
Maten has averaged 17.8 ppg and 7.2 rpg in five “games” versus top-10 opponents while making 61.2 percent of his shots from the floor and 76.5 percent from the line.
A year ago, he poured in 30 points and grabbed 13 boards against No. 5 Kansas in the championship game of the CBE Hall of Fame Classic in Kansas City.
In three outings against top-10 foes as a freshman – one versus No. 10 Gonzaga and two against No. 1 Kentucky – Maten was a combined 10-of-17 (58.8) from the field and 6-of-9 (66.7) at the charity stripe.
Bulldogs Are HomeGrown
More than half of Georgia’s roster – eight of 15 to be exact – played high school hoops in the Peach State. That list features Tyree Crump (Bainbridge HS), Rayshaun Hammonds (Norcross HS), Jordan Harris (Seminole County HS), Christian Harrison (Woodward Academy), Teshaun Hightower (Collins Hills HS), “Turtle” Jackson (Athens Christian), Connor O’Neill (Blessed Trinity School) and Derek Ogbeide (Pebblebrook HS).
SEC Hoops Moving Forward
SEC Basketball enters the season looking to continue its upwardly trending reputation.
The SEC received five bids to the 2017 NCAA Tournament, the fifth-most of any conference. The league then proceeded to tie the ACC (which received nine bids) for the most wins during “March Madness” with 11.
Three league schools reached the “Elite Eight,” including an All-SEC East Regional final between South Carolina and Florida.
Dogs Sign In-State Duo
Amanze Ngumezi and JoJo Toppin, a pair of premier in-state prospects, signed letters-of-intent to play for Georgia, Mark Fox announced on Thursday, Nov. 16.
Ngumezi (whose name is pronounced “Uh-mahn-zay In-goo-meh-zay), a 6-9, 235-pound power forward from Savannah, averaged a double-double of 12.8 points and 11.6 rebounds last season. He led Johnson High School to a 19-10 finish and the second round of the Georgia 3A State Tournament. The Atom Smashers, who finished the season ranked No. 9 in the state, lost to eventual state champion Pace Academy, 49-41, in the tourney’s round of 16.
Toppin, a 6-6, 180-pound small forward from Norcross, posted averages of 10.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game as a junior at Norcross High School. Toppin – and current Bulldog freshman Rayshaun Hammonds – helped lead the Blue Devils to a runner-up showing in the 7A State Tournament and a final record of 26-6.
