Sports

If you didn’t recognize many of the faces on the Georgia basketball court tonight, there was no need to adjust your TV set. This is a brand new team.

Five players made their debuts for the Bulldogs tonight, as Georgia opened up its season with a 62-49 home victory over Wofford.

Freshman Kentavious Caldwell-Pope led all scorers with 15 in his first college game. The former McDonald’s All-American shot 5-12.

“It was a good opening game for us,” Coach Mark Fox said after the game. “We knew we would be forced to play at both ends of the floor for 40 minutes. All these guys have so much to learn and so much to experience.”

Senior guards Dustin Ware and Gerald Robinson added 14 and 11 points, respectively.

With their top three big men from last season gone, the Bulldogs had three forwards playing in their first game. Though they struggled to make an impact early on, Georgia’s post players combined to score 15 points, all of them in the second half.

“The big guys will be just fine once we start jelling and get more games under our belt. They just have to keep their confidence,” Ware said.

The Bulldogs never trailed after Caldwell-Pope’s breakaway dunk put them ahead 15-13 with 7:58 left in the first half, but they were also unable to put Wofford away until the closing minutes.

“This is my third time playing Wofford in my four years here,” Ware said. “I knew they were a good team, experienced in the backcourt just like we are. They’ve always made it tough every year.”

Georgia ended the game on just 34% shooting but took advantage of 13 Wofford turnovers, which were turned into 14 points for the Bulldogs.

Brad Loesing led Wofford with 13 points, while Drew Crowell added 12.

Nemanja Djurisic, the 6′8″ freshman from Montenegro, scored 8 second-half points for Georgia. Sophomore forward Donte’ Williams had a game-high 13 rebounds.

Georgia will be back in action this Sunday against Bowling Green.

Final score: Georgia 62, Wofford 49. Caldwell-Pope scored 13 of his 15 points in the first half to lead the Bulldogs to a season-opening victory. Dustin Ware added 14 for Georgia. The Bulldogs didn’t put Wofford away until the final minutes, but they also were never really threatened. Game recap to follow shortly. Thanks for following WUOG Sports.

Georgia 53, Wofford 45; 2:19 left in 2nd–Djurisic tacks on two more points from the free throw line. The big man is playing well in his debut.

Georgia 51, Wofford 42; 4:49 left in 2nd–Free Djurisic! The big man scores twice on a couple of assists from Robinson. Timeout, Wofford.

Georgia 46, Wofford 38; 7:47 left in 2nd–Giltner has eight points this half, and Wofford is sticking around despite sloppy ballhandling.

Georgia 44, Wofford 34; 10:16 left in 2nd–Crowell hits back-to-back jumpers to cut the Georgia lead to six, but John Florveus, also playing in his first Georgia game, responds with two straight buckets of his own.

Georgia 38, Wofford 30; 12:34 left in 2nd–Sherrard Brantley ends a Georgia six-minute field goal drought with a three-pointer. Djurisic scores the first basket of his Georgia career. Giltner starting to play well for Wofford with 10 points. Georgia shooting just 13-42 for the game, but Wofford has 11 turnovers.

Georgia 32, Wofford 23; 15:49 left in 2nd–Donte Williams hits a lay-up, and we finally have a basket from a Georgia big man. Nemanja Djurisic, the 6′8″ freshman from Montenegro, has checked in for the first time, the fourth debutant for Georgia tonight.

Second half underway…

Both teams shot just 33% from the field in the first half. It’s clear that Caldwell-Pope has been given the green light to show his shooting stroke whenever he finds space. He has taken the #1 jersey that former Bulldog Travis Leslie left behind when he was drafted in the second round of the NBA draft this past June. He may not have Leslie’s jaw-dropping athleticism, but he is a dangerous scoring threat from anywhere on the floor. The onus is on Robinson and Ware to be leaders of this raw squad.

Halftime: Georgia 30, Wofford 21–Caldwell-Pope is firing at will and leads all scorers with 13. Robinson has 9 and Ware 8. No other player has scored yet for Georgia. Brad Loesing leads Wofford with six.

Georgia 24, Wofford 19; 3:33 left in 1st–Robinson coming alive here toward the end of the half. He now has 9 after a nice drive and lay-in. Wofford endured a span of over five minutes without a field goal. Loesing’s three-point play cut the lead to five.

Georgia 15, Wofford 13; 7:58 left in 1st–Georgia continues to shoot poorly, but Gerald Robinson ties the game at 13 with a three-pointer. Caldwell-Pope then gives Georgia the lead on a breakaway dunk.

Wofford 11, Georgia 10; 11:24 left in 1st–Poor shooting has plagued the Bulldogs early on. Just 4-14 so far. Ware is up to 8 points after another three. Caldwell-Pope scored his first career basket on a lay-up after a backdoor cut. Coach Mark Fox going with substitutions early and often. Nine Bulldogs have entered the game thus far.

Georgia 5, Wofford 3; 15:51 left in 1st half–Dustin Ware with all 5 for the Dogs so far. Brad Loesing nailed a three for the Terriers. Both teams with shaky play early on, which is to be expected for a season opener.

And we’re underway…

Starting lineup for Wofford: G–Brad Loesing, G–Kevin Giltner, F–Drew Crowell, F–Jarell Byrd, F–Domas Rinkasalis

Starting lineup for Georgia: G–Dustin Ware, G–Gerald Robinson, G–Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, F–Donte Williams, F–Marcus Thornton. Caldwell-Pope, the 2011 McDonalds All-American, will start in his UGA debut.

To say that Georgia has an inexperienced team would be an understatement. Five players are gone from last year, including three starters and the three top big men. The Bulldogs’ roster features four true freshmen, a redshirt freshman, and a community college transfer. The leading returning scorer is senior guard Gerald Robinson, who averaged 12.2 points per game last season. Point guard Dustin Ware, a four-year starter, averaged 8 points a game. The next-highest returning scorer from last year is junior guard Sherrard Brantley (2.9 ppg).

Hello, Bulldog fans. Ken Nasse here to blog the boys’ home opener vs. Wofford live from Stegeman Coliseum. The Lady Dogs just wrapped up an 83-60 win over TCU in their opener, so a double-header treat for the fans here tonight. Also, I’m told that the UGA Equestrian team defeated Auburn today. I don’t have a score for that simply because I don’t even know if they keep score in an equestrian game/match/meet/contest.

Tip-off in about 30 minutes here.