Georgia Looking to Get a Win Against Second in SEC South Carolina

The Georgia bulldogs tip off with South Carolina at 1 PM EST at home today.

Athens, GA – The Georgis Bulldogs meet the South Carolina Gamecocks in a sold-out rematch on home turf today at 1 PM EST. Georgia previously defeated UofSC on January 16th, 74-69. This is the second in a pair of home games for UGA, which is now 14-7 and 4-4 in the SEC after a heartbreaking loss to No. 24 Alabama. South Carolina is riding a four-game win streak, which includes wins over No. 5 Tennessee and No. 6 Kentucky. The Gamecocks are ranked second in the SEC with a 6-2 conference record and 18-3 overall.

Georgia has suffered its first two back-to-back losses since November and has yet to lose three straight this season. The Dawgs are also 11-2 at home this season, only losing to No. 24 Alabama and No. 5 Tennessee in Stegmam.

In their last outing with the Gamecocks, the Dawgs came back after trailing by 9 with 14:05 left to serve the Gamecocks with their only home loss this season thus far. Freshman guard Silas Demary Jr. led the Dawgs with 15 points, and junior guard R.J. Melendez followed closely behind with 12 points. Junior guard Meechie Johnson put up 19 points for South Carolina, and senior forward B.J. Mack had 16. Each team recorded 23 field goals, but the Dawgs racked up 8 more free throws than South Carolina, who shot 53.1% from the line. The Dawgs collected 45 rebounds to the Gamecocks’ 36. The UGA defensive effort was led by senior guard Jabri Abdur-Rahim, who had 8 total rebounds, and Demary Jr., who had 7. Johnson and freshman forward Collin Murray-Boyles each had 6 rebounds for the Gamecocks.

As for the season, Abdur-Rahim leads the offensive attack, averaging 13.1 points per game. Graduate student guard Noah Thomasson is second behind Abdur-Rahim with 12.0 ppg, and Melendez is next with 11.1 ppg. The Dawgs’ offensive statistics have improved during SEC play; UGA’s total ppg has moved from 75.4 to 80.3. Melendez is one of three Bulldogs (Russel Tchewa and Demary Jr. being others) whose scoring average has increased through SEC play. Melendez is UGA’s leading scorer in conference play with 13.6 ppg. The Georgia bench also enters the weekend ranked No. 16 nationally in bench scoring, averaging 30.8 ppg. Senior guard Justin Hill has been the consistent leading distributor for the Dawgs and is currently averaging 3.7 assists per game.

Defensively, graduate student guard Russel Tchewa leads UGA in rebounds and, with a 9-rebound performance on Wednesday, is averaging 7.0 rebounds per game. Melendez and Demary Jr. follow Tchewa with 4.6 and 4.1, respectively. Melendez also recently recorded a double-double against Alabama, with 15 points and 10 assists.

The Gamecocks have four athletes on their roster averaging over double-digits this season: Johnson (15.1), Mack (14.0), senior guard Ta’Lon Cooper (10.3), and senior guard Myles Stute (10.1). Cooper also leads the team in assists, 4.2 per game, and Johnson is next best behind him with 2.6 assists per game.

South Carolina is averaging 36.7 total rebounds per game, and the biggest contribution to this average comes from Mack, who is racking up 5.3 per game. Mack is followed by three other Gamecocks averaging over 4 rebounds per game: Cooper (4.5), Johnson (4.2), and Murray-Boyles (4.1).

Georgia is averaging 4.5 more points per game than South Carolina (77.2 to 72.7); however, the Dawgs are allowing 9.5 more points on average than the Gamecocks (73.7 points allowed to 64.2 points allowed). South Carolina is also coming off a game where they held No. 5 Tennessee to just 59 points, while Tennessee has been averaging 78.5 points per game.

South Carolina would love to collect a win on the road and tie up the series for the season. But a win against a good South Carolina team that is second in the SEC would be monumental for the Bulldogs in getting back their momentum for the rest of the season.

Other Georgia News:

• After Leading the Majority of the Game, Georgia Falls to No. 24 Alabama
• After Crawling Back From Trailing by 21, Georgia Loses in Overtime to Rival, Florida
• Tchewa Comes Up Big for the Dawgs with Game Winner to Beat LSU

Join the Community:

Follow Brooks Austin on Twitter: @BrooksAustinBA

Subscribe to our YouTube Page HERE.

You can follow us for future coverage by clicking "Follow" on the top right-hand corner of the page. Also, be sure to like us on Facebook @BulldogMaven & follow us on Twitter at @DawgsDailyFN