Mike White weighs impact SEC schedule has had on momentum for Georgia

Georgia is one of those teams in the Southeastern Conference that has had league play impact their season in a worse way.

Mike White spoke on the effect of the conference schedule on their year after the Bulldogs lost their third straight and fourth in the last five in a 87-74 defeat to No. 21 Missouri. He said this time of year is tough for every team, especially when you look back at the opportunities they’ve missed in the SEC.

“You know, I think it’s, I think the grind has an impact on everybody – everybody at this level, period, you know,” said White. “We’ve also had two or three that could have gone the other way. With just one thing that could have been a little bit differently, we wouldn’t be talking about the grind. We’d be talking about how good of a position we’re in, you know.

“It’s a monster league.”

Georgia went 12-1 in the non-conference as one from the conference that had a very good start to the season. However, UGA is just 4-9 in the SEC, which has them in tenth in the standings, as they’ve won just two of their past ten. Nine of those losses have come against ranked opponents, five of those being against teams in the top-ten, but that’s just the nature of the league in this year.

That includes this 13-point loss to Mizzou this weekend where the Bulldogs lost it in the second half at home.

“This one was big. Our guys knew it was big. I think it was early second half when we couldn’t collect any stops – I think there was an emotional toll. You could see the body language, see the way our guys carried themselves. The connection reduced a little bit. You could see it offensively, defensively,” said White. “Missouri came out early second half and won the game right there.”

With that, Georgia (16-10) is now heading toward the outside of the NCAA Tournament after the last month and a half. On3’s James Fletcher does still have them in as the final team in the Last Four Byes but ESPN’s Joe Lunardi now has them as the second team out on the bubble in the First Four Out.

Because of that standing, White doesn’t mind if his team gets mad about where they are. He’s in favor of it coming out in their play after their week off if it means they win enough to get back into the field.

“I’m not really big into that, honestly. I wish we’d get a little more frustrated, you know,” said White. “Frustration boiling over? Sure. Let’s do it…If, you know, a tough week of practice can get some more out of some guys in terms of their intensity and our mental and physical toughness and our ability to fight through fatigue and get stops and get rebounds? Then, if you’re frustrated, that’s fine. That’s fine. Just as long as you continue to be a good teammate, be connected with your teammates, continue to do what we’re asking you to do? We’ve got to play a little more frustrated.”

The SEC will keep coming at them with Georgia set to play at No. 1 Auburn and versus No. 2 Florida in each of their next two coming off their off week. They’ll need to win some somewhere on that schedule, though, if they want to be back in the tournament projections before the start of the postseason.