Georgia Basketball starts off a tough January slate with #9 Memphis

The Georgia Bulldogs take on the #9 Memphis Tiger on the road, this Saturday.

At one time, this game was set to be one of the marquee match-ups in all of college basketball, this season. On one side, you have Anthony Edwards, who's nearly a lock for a Top-3 pick, and potentially the first guard off the board in the 2020 NBA Draft. On the other side you had James Wiseman, who is also a lock for a Top-3 pick, and will likely be the first post-player off of the board in the 2020 NBA Draft.

That would've made for one of the most-watched college basketball games this season, but as we all know, the 7'1 center is no longer with Memphis, after choosing to leave the program when he was suspended for breaking NCAA rules. 

Losing Wiseman was a huge loss for Memphis, considering he was leading the team in points, rebounds, and blocks in his very short amount of time played for the Tigers. While his sample size, in terms of games played (3), was small, you can see the type of impact Wiseman could've made. 

Still, the Tigers line up features a ton of talent, which is why Memphis is the heavy favorite heading into this match up. Tiger freshman and former 5-star forward, Precious Achiuwa will most likely be a first-round pick in the upcoming NBA Draft. Achiuwa is averaging 14.2 PPG and 9.8 RPG this year. Alongside, the Tigers also have former Top-100 players of the 2019 class, guard, Lester Quinones (11.4 PPG, 2.5 APG), forward, D.J. Jeffries (12 PPG, 4.7 RPG), and former Duke commit in guard, Boogie Ellis (7.6 PPG, 1.4 APG).

Memphis' head coach, Penny Hardaway is riding the #1 overall recruiting class he landed this past recruiting cycle. But much like Georgia, his team also lacks a ton of experience. This Memphis basketball team has 8 freshman in comparison to Georgia's 9. And outside of senior forward, Isaiah Maurice, Memphis doesn't have anyone above sophomore status on the entire roster. So for one of the first times this season, Georgia seems to have the more experienced team.

Georgia players in junior class or better:

Senior, G, Tyree Crump

Grad. Senior, G, Donnell Gresham Jr.

Junior, F, Rayshaun Hammonds

Senior, G, Jordan Harris

In addition to Georgia's limited amount of players with experience, they also have some talented Top-100 players from the 2019 class, like Memphis. Georgia will likely be starting the 3rd leading scorer in the SEC in Anthony Edwards (18.8 PPG, 4.9 RPG) as well as new starter, Toumani Camara (5.8 PPG, 4.3 RPG), who has been asked to play a bigger role with the absence of Amanze Ngumezi. Georgia will also call on for sixth-man, Sahvir Wheeler (8.5 PPG, 5.2 APG) to play in big minutes against Memphis. 

Both teams rank towards the top of the country offensively, with Georgia (82.2 PPG) ranking 12th and Memphis ranking 27th (80.5 PPG). The teams are also shooting similar field goal percentages (UGA's 47.5% vs. Memphis' 47.7%) and producing a similar amount of rebounds (UGA's 41.9 RPG vs. Memphis' 42.2 RPG). 

The deciding factor on whether or not Georgia can stay in this game will be limiting turnovers. The Bulldogs rank 190th in the nation in fewest turnovers, averaging 15.6 turnovers per game. Georgia can't afford to be loose in ball handling against Memphis, who currently ranks 21st in the country in turnovers forced per game. 

If the Bulldogs are able to limit their turnovers, there's a chance Memphis could be on upset-alert. If not, the Tigers will likely tack on another win without too much trouble.