Georgia Basketball readies for road test, SEC opener at Missouri

Georgia Basketball begins its “second season” to the 2023-24 campaign on Saturday. With a 10-3 record under their belt, the Bulldogs hit the road to Missouri for their first SEC game, and everybody knows, a different type of challenge awaits.

“It’s go time. It’s SEC time,” head coach Mike White said. “There are great opportunities right around the corner. It’s the best league in the country.”

White’s team closed out non-conference play on an eight game win streak. The majority of those games however were against teams that were overmatched like Alabama A&M, who Georgia beat by 20 last Saturday. Yes, there were a pair of wins of power conference opponents including one on the road at Florida State, and yes, the non-conference schedule should have the Bulldogs as prepared as possible for what’s ahead. Winning in the SEC, especially on the road, will require even more.

“Everybody’s got to go through it,” White said about having nine newcomers to SEC play. “Every roster in this league will have to go through it for the first time. Some teams are going to have veterans that it doesn’t phase, and some teams you’re going to have guys that it will be a little bit more of a factor.”

“We are fortunate that we have played away from home a few times,” he continued. “This will be magnified a little bit more, but we’ll see. I like the maturity level of our freshmen to this point. We’ve got a few guys that have been around the block in this league, four in particular, so hopefully we can play well … I’m not sure that we’ve played in an environment that we’ll play in tomorrow. The energy level in the building will be something, I imagine, that our guys haven’t seen yet. But you’ve got to face that at some point and be tested at some point. So we’ll see how we respond.”

The four that have been around the block in the SEC before are Georgia’s four returnees: Jabri Abdur-Rahim, Justin Hill, Frank Anselem-Ibe and M.A. Moncrieffe. Abdur-Rahim is leading the team in scoring up to this point, averaging 13.2 points per game, while it’s Hill that is tops in assists with 3.2 per contest. Both play over 23.0 minutes a game and will be big factors in how this team responds to the tough tests of the SEC.

They can’t be the only ones that handle the competition though. If that’s the case, the Bulldogs won’t be faring well. Georgia also needs some of those newcomers like Noah Thomasson, RJ Melendez and Russel Tchewa to step up to the the challenge, plus the pair of freshmen Silas Demary and Blue Cain that contribute greatly.

“I tell them it’s exciting as a competitor. I mean, it’s a great time. It’s going to be an exciting environment, and it will be really physical,” Abdur-Rahim said his message to his teammates about the SEC will be. “It’s going to be a little different from what we’ve been playing, but our schedule has really prepared us, so I just tell them it’s going to be like the high major games we’ve played already.”

“I’m excited. First SEC opponent I’ve ever played in my career, so I just want to go out there, give it my all and help our team try to get a win on the road,” Thomasson added about his feelings headed into the contest. “It’s going to be physical. It’s going to be a tough game. Every game is hard, but it’s a chance for us to win a game on the road and make a statement in the SEC.”

Thomasson is right, Saturday presents the first opportunity to make a statement to the SEC about what Georgia can be in 2024. It’s also the first of the remaining opportunities for the Bulldogs to boost their resume and get in the conversation to play postseason basketball.

“It’s only a couple months away. It’s right there. It’s go time. It’s right here, it’s right in front of us. We’ve got 18 opportunities, and we’ll see what we can make of them,” Mike White, who admitted in the preseason he felt more comfortable talking big picture things like the NCAA Tournament with this team, said about the postseason and where his team stands entering the second half of the season. “I think that every team in our league is talking about the NCAA Tournament right now, and the potential is there. Our computer numbers aren’t what we want them to be, but again we’ve got 18 opportunities ahead to see what we can do with them. In order to put ourselves in that position to where potentially where we’re in that conversation in a month and a half, we’ve got to focus on today, we’ve got to focus on tomorrow.”

Tip time for Saturday is set for 1:00 p.m. ET on the SEC Network. Missouri enters with an 8-5 record but is considered to be a favorite of 5.5 points per ESPN Bet.