ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia men’s basketball begins its 122nd season Monday night at Stegeman Coliseum against N.C. Central, the back half of a doubleheader that opens with the Lady Bulldogs hosting West Georgia.
Coach Mike White starts his fifth season with something rare in today’s college game: continuity. The Bulldogs return the four starters who closed last season: Smurf Millender and Blue Cain in the backcourt and Kanon Catchings and Kareem Stagg up front. Georgia, Colorado and Florida are the only power-conference programs that return four season-ending starters. White has said the returning players passed on attractive offers elsewhere to stay together.
Cain averaged 13.1 points last season, Millender 12.0 and Catchings 11.6. Catchings averaged 13.7 points a game in league play, best among returning SEC scorers, and led the team with 14.3 a game across three preseason contests.
Last season’s team went 22-11 and 10-8 in the SEC, set a school record with 22 regular-season wins and reached the NCAA Tournament for a second straight year, the third consecutive season with at least 20 wins. It also rewrote the program’s offensive record book, averaging 89.4 points per game and making 324 3-pointers, both school records. White has won 78 games in his first four seasons, the most by any of the program’s 23 coaches over that span.
Georgia has won 36 straight non-conference games at home going into the opener and is 55-17 at Stegeman under White. New faces include former Ole Miss center James Scott, Saint Louis transfer Brady Dunlap and Penn State transfer Freddie Dillione, the Nittany Lions’ top scorer a year ago.
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