Mike White explains decision to start Dakota Leffew vs. South Carolina

Georgia basketball coach Mike White made a change to his starting lineup ahead of Tuesday’s game against South Carolina in an effort to help the Bulldogs snap a four-game losing skid. White inserted senior guard Dakota Leffew into the starting lineup and opted to bring fellow senior Tyrin Lawrence off the bench.

The move worked as Georgia earned a 71-60 win. After the game, White was asked about the decision.

“Just to change it up a little bit,” White said. “You’re not penalizing one guy and rewarding another guy. I don’t care who starts, but I know young people do. When I was in college I enjoyed hearing my name being called. But more important to me was winning and trying to get into the Tournament and winning a big game.

“But you know, when you’ve got a really good culture it shouldn’t matter that much. And I don’t think Dakota was much different, you know. He’s really handled it well coming off the bench. We’ve considered him a starter, of course.”

Leffew played well for Georgia after moving into the starting lineup, scoring 14 points and reaching double figures for the first time in five games. The move didn’t help Lawrence, though, as he was 1-for-5 from the field and scored two points, with four turnovers. White explained that he made the move hoping to get both players going after they had struggled recently.

“What went into it, trying to jump-start [Leffew] and jump-start Tyrin at the same time,” White said. “Trying to get Tyrin on the ball a little bit more and Dakota off the ball a little bit more, just changing our rotations and how those first couple of substitutions would go.

“It was that simple, let’s see if both of them will play better if we flip flop them here against South Carolina.”

Mike White pushes back on narrative that South Carolina was a must-win for Georgia

Georgia appears to be in position to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time under the leadership of Mike White. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi currently has UGA in the ‘Last Four Byes’ category, with the latest Bracketology update coming on Wednesday. The Bulldogs were fresh off a positive result vs. South Carolina, a game some dubbed as a must-win.

White pushed back on that idea during his postgame press conference, though. He argued no game is truly a must-win, instead viewing them as a chance to go out there and compete. A similar mindset remains true about everything Georgia in the coming weeks.

“None of them are must wins,” White said. “All of them are opportunities. Our practice here in a couple days is must do well, must grow. But we need to celebrate all of them because they’re so hard to come by for sure.”