Bulldogs Season Still Alive with a Bid to the NIT and a Game Against Xavier

Georgia men's basketball plays Xavier in the first round of the NIT tonight at 7PM EST in Athens.

Georgia men's basketball plays Xavier in the first round of the NIT tonight at 7PM EST in Athens.

Athens, GA – As of 9:30 PM last Sunday, the Georgia Bulldogs had made the postseason and are now playing in the NCAA NIT. In the first round of the 32-team tournament, Georgia will face the Xavier Musketeers in Athens at 7 PM EST tonight. The Bulldogs finished the season 17-16 (6-12 in the SEC). Xavier finished 16-17 (9-11 in the Big East). Georgia is favored by 1.5 points.

This is Georgia’s first time reaching postseason basketball in seven years; the Dawgs previously entered the NIT in 2017, where they lost in the first round to Belmont. UGA’s best performance in the NIT dates back to the 1982 and 1988 seasons when they reached the semifinals.

Georgia reached the second round of the SEC tournament, defeating Missouri in the first round and falling to Florida in the second. Both of these games were one-possession games with 30 seconds left. Senior guard Justin Hill sank two free throws to give the Dawgs a three-point lead with 15 seconds left against Missouri. Freshman guard Blue Cain did the same, but at the 4-second mark, the Dawgs came out on top 64-59 over the Tigers. In the Florida game, freshman guard Silas Demary Jr. brought UGA within three with 12 seconds left. Despite a layup by Hill with 6 seconds remaining, the Gators’ Riley Kugel made 4 of 4 free throws over the last 12 seconds, and Florida defeated UGA 85-80.

Georgia guard Noah Thomasson (3), Georgia guard Silas Demary Jr. (4) during Georgia’s game against Ole Miss at Stegeman Coliseum in Athens, Ga., on Tuesday, Mar. 5, 2024. (Cassie Baker/UGAAA)

Georgia has been headed by a few players this season. The Bulldogs average 74.8 pp, and graduate student guard Noah Thomasson leads this effort with 12.8 ppg. Senior Jabri Abdur-Rahim follows with 12.2 ppg. Abdur-Rahim, however, has missed the last four games due to an ankle injury, and it is unsure when he will return. The Bulldog bench has also been key in their scoring game, putting up an average of 28.6 ppg and ranking 20th nationally in bench scoring. Hill has been the consistent assist leader for the Dawgs, with an average of 3.2 assists per game. Graduate student guard Russel Techewa has been leading the Bulldogs in rebounds, collecting 6.7 per game. Junior guard R.J. Melendez is second behind Tchewa with 4.3 rebounds per game.

The Musketeers are collectively averaging 75.8 ppg and have three players in the double-digit range: senior guard Qunicy Olivari (19.4 ppg), sophomore guard Desmond Claude (16.2 ppg), and senior guard Dayvion Mcknight (12.5 ppg). McKnight is also the leading distributor for Xavier, with 4.8 assists per game; Calude has 3.2 assists per game. Senior forward Abou Ousmane is the Xavier rebound leader with 6.3 rebounds per game. Olivari follows Ousmane with 5.6 rebounds per game, and senior forward Gytis Nemeiksa is grabbing 4.3 rebounds per game.

The last time each of these teams faced each other was in November of 2011, when No. 12 Xavier trounced the Dawgs 70-56 and never trailed. A win tonight would keep the Georgia season alive, and advancing in the postseason would be great for the Dawg’s confidence going into next season. 

Other Georgia News:

• The Light On Georgia's Season Stay On with a Win over Missouri in the First Round of the SEC Tournament
• Bulldogs Add Sixth Game to Losing Streak After Being Up over Florida
• UGA Suffers Fourth Consecutive Loss after Falling to Mississippi State

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