No. 25 Georgia, the nation’s top-ranked offensive team, will host West Georgia for the first time in program history on Monday in Athens, Ga.
The Bulldogs (10-1) have won four straight games since their only loss against Clemson in overtime in the Charleston Classic on Nov. 23. Georgia has won 34 straight nonconference games at home.
Georgia leads the nation in scoring offense (99.5 points), scoring margin (27.9 points) and blocks (8.0). Georgia is coming off a 112-82 win over Western Carolina, its school-record fifth time to score at least 100 points.
“We’re pretty hard to guard,” Georgia coach Mike White said. “I don’t know that we did a great job executing (against Western Carolina) but collectively we pass it well, we can space you with lineups where four and five guys can make shots. We’ve got pretty good speed. Our push and transition has been pretty good. When we’re making shots, we’re difficult to defend.”
Center Somto Cyril had a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds against Western Carolina.
“Coach White did a good job finding out what he wanted to do and the guys he wanted to bring in,” Cyril said. “He brought in guys that are really athletic and fast.”
Georgia’s balanced attack is led by Jeremiah Wilkinson (17.9 points), Blue Cain (15.6) and Marcus “Smurf” Millender (10.2). Wilkinson scored 26 points to lead the offense against Western Carolina.
But White wants to see a better defensive effort from his team.
“We wanted to take a step defensively in the right direction,” White said. “I’m a little disappointed in our effort overall, lack of communication, some miscues. It’s just not important enough to us right now. We’ve got to be more committed collectively if we’re going to guard some high-level offenses in the SEC.”
ASUN member West Georgia (6-5) has played an aggressive nonconference schedule with games at Nebraska, UCLA and Georgia Tech, the latter of whom beat the Wolves 82-66.
“These games are opportunities for us to let it all hang out. There’s no pressure in these games,” West Georgia coach Dave Moore said. “We need to go play good basketball. We need to try to control tempo a little bit. Taking care of the ball is going to be a huge key against Georgia.”
West Georgia is led by Shelton Williams-Dryden, who ranks third in the ASUN in scoring (17 points) and second in rebounding (8.9). He has missed scoring in double figures in only one game and has three double-doubles.
Williams-Dryden typically gets his points inside the arc, but will be tested against the bigger Bulldogs, most likely Kanon Catchings and Justin Abson, who are tied for second in the SEC with 26 blocks apiece.
West Georgia’s other player to watch is guard Josh Smith, who ranks second on the team and fifth in the ASUN with 16.2 points per game. He has had three 20-plus point games.
West Georgia will be without guard Chas Lewless, who is out with an injury. The transfer from San Diego is averaging 12.8 points and is No. 2 on the team with 21 3-pointers.
“We’ve got to find our new rotation, find out what that looks like and find a new identity as we move forward,” Moore said.
–Field Level Media
