Coach White
J. Bailey
J. Wilkinson
The Starting 5
- The Georgia Bulldogs – America’s most explosive offensive basketball team during the 2025-26 season – return to action on Saturday when they travel to State Farm Arena in Atlanta to face Cincinnati in a Holiday Hoopsgiving matchup at 2:00 p.m.
- Georgia enters this weekend leading the nation’s 365 Division I teams in scoring offense (99.9 ppg), scoring margin (+28.7), fastbreak points (28.7 ppg), bench scoring (44.6 ppg) and blocks (8.8 bpg).
- Georgia has topped the 100-point plateau in four of its first nine games…one shy of the Bulldogs’ single-season record of five century mark tallies during the 1990-91 campaign.
- The Dunkyard Dawgs have scored a nation-leading 22.6 percent of their field goals on dunks this season. Somto Cyril’s 22 dunks ranked No. 10 nationally on Friday despite not playing in 11 days.
- The Bulldogs are the only Power Conference team in the country with an 11-man rotation with every player averaging double-figure minutes and seeing action in every game.
The Opening Tip
The Georgia Bulldogs – college basketball’s most explosive offense to date during the 2025-26 season – will play their first game following an 11-day break during Final Exams on the UGA campus on Saturday. The Bulldogs will face Cincinnati at 2:00 p.m. in a Holiday Hoopsgiving matinee at State Farm Arena in Atlanta.
Georgia enter this weekend leading the nation in all four point related statistics tracked by the NCAA – scoring offense (99.9 ppg), scoring margin (+28.7), fastbreak points (28.7 ppg) and bench scoring (44.6 ppg). The Bulldogs also are the top rim protectors in the country, averaging 8.8 blocks per game – an almost unfathomable 1.7 bpg better than any other Division I team.
Georgia features the nation’s deepest Power Conference rotation while playing at a breakneck pace among the quickest in college hoops
Among the 79 Power Conference programs, the Bulldogs are the only team with a 11 players averaging double-figure minutes with everyone seeing action in every game. According to the oft-used metric KenPom.com, Georgia enters this weekend ranked No. 2 nationally in average offensive possession length (14.0 seconds), as well as No. 6 nationally in adjusted tempo (74.6).
It would be hard to fathom a better beginning to the 2025-26 campaign for Georgia, at least statistically speaking. As of Friday, the Bulldogs were not only leading five of the 28 stats tracked by the NCAA, but also were in the top 10 in nine categories and in the top 25 of 15 .
Georgia’s depth is not just in numbers but also in its offensive production. Ten of the 11 Bulldogs playing double-digit minutes also have double-figure scoring outputs. Jeremiah Wilkinson and Blue Cain pace Georgia offensively, averaging 17.1 and 15.4 ppg, respectively. Kanon Catching provides a third double-digit scorer at 10.0 ppg, while two more Bulldogs are just shy of double figures, with Jake Wilkins averaging 9.4 ppg and Marcus “Smurf” Millender chipping in 9.2 ppg.
Scouting The Bearcats
Cincinnati enters Holiday Hoopsgiving with a 6-3 record.
Day Day Thomas leads the Bearcats on the offensive end at 13.9 ppg, while Baba Miller adds a double-double of 13.6 ppg and 11.1 rpg. Shon Abaev also contributes double digits in the scoring column at 12.0 ppg. Moustapha Thiam has scored 88 points, a single bucket shy of being a fourth double-figure scorer for UC.
The Bearcats and Bulldogs have faced two common opponents this season. Georgia defeated Xavier, 78-77, at the Shriners Children’s Charleston Classic, while Cincinnati is coming off a 79-74 road setback to the Musketeers. UGA and UC also defeated Georgia State, the Bulldogs (64-61) in a preseason exhibition in Atlanta and the Bearcats (74-64) in their second regular-season outing.
Series History With UC
Cincinnati has won two of the previous three meetings between the Bulldogs and the Bearcats on the hardwood.
In the most recent matchup in Wes Miller’s first season at UC, Georgia dropped a 73-68 decision at Cincinnati despite an efficient career-best output of 24 points from Braelen Bridges. Georgia fouled down 70-67 with just 23 ticks left in regulation. Cincinnati missed the front end of a one-and-one but grabbed a crucial offensive rebound.
On Dec. 19, 2020, a 15-0 run to close out the first half propelled the Bulldogs en route to a decisive 83-68 victory over the Bearcats.
Cincinnati won of the initial match-up, a 57-51 decision on December 2, 2011. Then-freshman Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s 16 points paced the Bulldogs offensively.
Last Time Out
Jeremiah Wilkinson’s 22-point performance helped Georgia cruise to a 107-73 victory over Florida State in the ACC/SEC Challenge last Tuesday night in Tallahassee. Wilkinson notched his third consecutive 20-point performance, the first Bulldog to reach that mark in three consecutive games since Kario Oquendo in 2022.
The Bulldogs’ 34-point margin of victory was their largest against a Power Conference opponent since defeating Ole Miss 74-38 (36 points) on January 3, 1996
“I’m not overly surprised offensively, but I really liked our attention to detail,” head coach Mike White said. “Man, we can score it. We can, especially if we’re allowed to play in space and the open floor. These guys turn people over so much. We’ll struggle more probably against some of those other teams that really pack the paint and make us execute in half court, which we’ll continue to get better at, but we’re a talented offensive team.”
Georgia’s Hoopsgiving History
The Bulldogs are making their third appearance in the six-year history of Holiday Hoopsgiving.
Last season on Dec. 14, freshmen big men Asa Newell and Somto Cyril led Georgia in a 73-68 win over Grand Canyon, an eventual NCAA Tournament team. Newell scored 17 points, while Cyril chipped in 12. They were a combined 11-of-14 from the field, a white-hot 78.6 percent.
In the Bulldogs’ first Hoopsgiving outing on Dec. 18, 2022, Braelen Bridges scored 18 points in 18 minutes to lead Georgia in a 77-62 victory over Notre Dame. Bridges was 9-of-9 from the field en route to a performance that earned him SEC Player of the Week honors the next day.
Dogs Are Nation’s Top Point Producers…In Every Way Measured
The NCAA tracks scoring in four ways – overall, margin of victory, on fastbreaks and from the bench. In each of those categories, Georgia entered this weekend ranked No. 1 nationally.
The Bulldogs are putting up 99.9 points per game, producing a scoring differential of +28.7 ppg. Of that scoring, 28.7 ppg are on fastbreaks and 44.6 ppg are from Georgia’s reserves.
Though bolstered by reaching 120 points twice, Georgia’s scoring has been consistent. In 18 halves of hoops, the Bulldogs scored 40 or more points 17 times, with eight 50-point periods and three segments of 60 or more points.
Georgia played 102 games in Mike White’s first three seasons in Athens. The Bulldogs reached 90 points nine times and 100 points twice. In nine games this season, Georgia has topped 90 points in seven outings and surpassed the century mark in four contests.
Georgia Features Nation’s Deepest Power Conference Rotation
Georgia is the only Power Conference team in the country that features an 11-player rotation with those players averaging double-figure MP and also seeing action in every game.
Only two other teams among the 79 in the ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten and SEC have 10 players who have played in every game logging 10+ mpg – Clemson and Ole Miss.
Georgia Among Nation’s Top-10 In Nine Stats
Peruse the NCAA basketball statistical leaders and you’ll find a multitude of categories featuring the Georgia Bulldogs at or near the top.
Entering the weekend, Georgia was ranked in the nation’s top-25 teams in 15 of the 28 stats the NCAA measures, including nine in the top 10 as outlined below.
Top-10 Stats
Statistic
Rk.
No.
Scoring Offense
1
99.9
Scoring Margin
1
+28.7
Fastbreak Points
1
28.7
Bench Points
1
44.6
Blocks Per Game
1
8.8
FTs Made Per Game
6
21.4
Rebounds Per Game
7
44.6
Steals Per Game
8
11.1
Turnover Margin
9
+5.9
Dogs Enjoy D-I’s Highest Scoring Nov. since ’18
Georgia’s scoring average of 99.9 points per game entering December was the highest by any Division I team in a traditional season since 2018.
The Bulldogs’ average was the biggest since The Citadel was putting up 100.0 points through its November games during the 2018-19 campaign. Editor’s note: we skipped with 2020-21 campaign due to its late start…on Dec. 1, 2020, Murray State led the nation at 173.0 ppg after one contest.
Georgia Plays At One of the Nation’s Quickest Paces
The Bulldogs average possession length on offense is 14.0 seconds, which according to KenPom.com was the second-fastest in the nation entering this weekend. The Bulldogs also ranked No. 6 by KenPom.com in “adjusted tempo” at 74.6 possessions per 40 minutes.
Charleston resident and longtime college basketball analyst Jeff Goodman, currently of “Field of 68,” was at the Bulldogs’ game with Xavier on Nov. 21 and offered the assessment below on “X” after watching Georgia’s fifth 50-point half of the season against the Musketeers.
Double-Digit Dogs’ Have Hit Double Figures
No less than 10 different Georgia Bulldogs recorded double-figure scoring outputs in the first nine games of the season.
Those Bulldogs have combined to produce 38 double-digit performances. Blue Cain leads that pack by scoring 10+ in each game, followed by Jeremiah Wilkinson with eight; Jake Wilkins with four; Kanon Catchings and Smurf Millender with four; Justin Bailey, Somto Cyril, Dylan James and Jordan Ross with two; and Kareem Stagg with one.
Seven of the aforementioned Bulldogs scored in double digits against Morehead State on Nov. 9.
That marked the first time seven Bulldogs hit the 10-point plateau in a single game since a 99-72 decision over Tennessee Tech on Dec. 29, 1994 – a span of 979 contests. Georgia came within a bucket of repeating that feet against…Tennessee Tech when six Bulldogs topped 10 and both Jake Somto Cyril and Wilkins finished with eight points in a Nov. 29 date with TTU.
Georgia Rewriting Its Scoring Records
The Bulldogs produced two of their top-10 single-game scoring tallies ever during their first eight games of the 2025-26 season. Georgia’s 123 points against Tennessee Tech and 120 versus Morehead State rank No. 3 and No. 7 all-time in program history.
Dunkyard Dogs Leading The Nation In Slams
According to BartTorvik.com, Georgia has scored a nation-leading 22.6 percent of its field goals this season on dunks – 70 of 308 the Bulldogs’ total FGs – as outlined below.
Individually, Somto Cyril leads Georgia and as of Friday ranked No. 10 nationally with 22 dunks followed by Jake Wilkins with 12; Kareem Stagg with nine; Justin Abson, Kanon Catchings and Jeremiah Wilkinson with six each; Blue Cain with five; and Dylan James with four.
Dunking It
Rank
Team
Pct.
1.
Georgia
22.6
2.
Duke
20.2
3.
Kentucky
19.9
4.
N. Carolina
19.7
5.
Indiana
19.2
6.
Michigan
17.3
7.
Louisville
16.7
8.
Kansas
16.6
Arkansas
16.6
10.
Providence
16.5
Wilkins Windmill Dunks Are #SCTop10s
Mark down November 5, 2025 as the day Jake Wilkins made his first appearance in SportsCenter’s top-10 plays as a Bulldog.
Mark down November 9, 2020 as the day Wilkins returned to #SCTop10 with an early candidate for college basketball’s “dunk of the year.”
On Nov. 5, Wilkins’ breakaway, windmill dunk capped off the scoring in Georgia’s 94-29 win over Maryland Eastern Shore and was tabbed as the No. 7 effort of the day. The highlight was matched up on the highlights with a similar effort by Dominique Wilkins from an NBA Slam Dunk contest.
Four days later, Wilkins accepted a lob from Jeremiah Wilkinson and instead of simply slamming it home added a windmill to the action for quality points. That ended up at No. 2 on SportsCenter, only topped by a bicycle kick goal scored in a snowstorm.
Dogs Are SEC’s Best At Stealing, Swatting
With Georgia leading the SEC in both steals and blocks per game, it would be a reasonable assumption individual Bulldogs are also among the league’s best in those statistics.
Within Georgia’s SEC-best 11.1 steals per contest, Jeremiah Wilkinson is ranked No. 2 in the league (2.3 spg) and Blue Cain is No. 6 (1.9 spg). Also of note, Dylan James, who recorded 11 steals in 32 games last season, has already 11 takeaways in nine contests this year.
The Bulldogs’ nation-leading 8.8 blocks per game as a team features Justin Abson and Somto Cyril tied as league leaders at 2.4 bpg, which also ranked them tied at No. 18 nationally entering this weekend.
COMPLETE GAME NOTES PDF
View the full game notes PDF.
