The Georgia Bulldogs have had a strong start to SEC play and were rewarded for it Monday by breaking into the AP Top 25. As significant as the return to the rankings was for the Bulldogs, they had no time to celebrate given what awaits them Wednesday night.
No. 23 Georgia (14-2, 2-1 SEC) has a huge road test ahead when they square off with No. 6 Tennessee (15-1, 2-1 SEC) at 8 p.m. ET in a game that will be televised by SEC Network. Both teams enter the action off of wins thanks to Georgia beating Oklahoma 72-62 and Tennessee topping Texas 74-70 on Saturday.
Wednesday’s matchup between the Bulldogs and the Volunteers marks the first top-25 matchup Georgia has been a part of since March 2003.
Georgia was riding high ahead of its showdown with Oklahoma, and the Bulldogs met that moment. The home Dawgs trailed by three at halftime before taking the game over in the second half. After halftime Georgia held the Sooners to 31% from the field, Dakota Leffew dropped 12 of his 15 points, and the Bulldogs only turned the ball over four times on their way to another big win.
Saturday’s win coupled with the victory over Kentucky on Tuesday marked the first time since 2007 that Georgia beat ranked teams in consecutive games.
“We’ll continue to learn and grow,” Georgia coach Mike White said after the Oklahoma game. “Our detail wasn’t great tonight. Oklahoma missed a few for us. I think they’d probably agree with that. Shoot-around was okay today, so the handling of success from the other day I thought was good not great. If you want to be in the upper half of this league, you’ve got to respond to negativity as we’ve talked about and positivity.
“Pretty good but not great [response]. Got to be better there. And so here we go: you beat Oklahoma. What’s it going to look like these next few days preparing for another big one, another huge challenge?”
White recognized that Georgia’s strong play has still left room for improvement. He agreed with the assessment that the Bulldogs have to shoot better, though he pointed out that his bigger issue was Georgia posting 8 assists while turning the ball over 13 times against the Sooners.
As much as White wants Georgia to clean things up, there is no denying that these Dawgs have risen to the occasion.
Perhaps the biggest difference in White’s third team in Athens compared to his second is how they’ve finished in close games. Last year’s team took the likes of Tennessee and Alabama to the limit but were unable to get the job done. There was no sense of panic this time around against Kentucky and Oklahoma, which loomed large in both wins.
“This team really handles adversity well just like last game,” center Asa Newell said. “We recreate it in practice all the time. We have to come back when we’re down like four, maybe three, in our four-minute games. But this team continues to strive and push through adversity. We’re just all very connected.”
Georgia’s next form of adversity is a road trip to face one of the nation’s top teams.
The Volunteers’ reign as AP No. 1 ended Monday after five weeks, but it’s no secret that they’re still considered one of the teams to beat in the SEC. Rick Barnes‘ squad has been outstanding defensively once again, as the Vols lead the conference in points allowed per game (57.9), opponent field goal percentage (35.8%), and opponent 3-point percentage (24.8%),
Tennessee guard Chaz Lanier leads the team in scoring (19.0 ppg) and entered the week just a single point shy of the SEC lead. He’s been especially effective from 3-point range, as he stands fourth nationally with 3.7 3-pointers per game and ranks second in the conference with a 43.7 3PT%.
Other notable Volunteers include guard Zakai Zeigler (11.9 ppg, SEC-high 7.6 apg, 28 steals), guard Jordan Gainey (11.2 ppg, 42.7 FG%), and forward Igor Milicic Jr. (10.4 ppg, 8.5 rpg).
The Bulldogs have their work cut out for them with Tennessee being their fourth straight ranked opponent, the first time that’s happened in program history. White understands his team will face its share of ups and downs this season, but the key is making the most of each game and finding a way to respond no matter the circumstance.
“We’ve got a ways to go. We do,” White said. “We’re going to lose [some games]. We just are. We lost in Oxford, and, boom, we bounced right back and had some really good preparation leading into the Kentucky game. Had some pretty good preparation into this one. We’ve got to be really sharp on Monday. We’ve got to take advantage of the day off.
“I want to keep these guys in that mindset. They’ve embraced that, and I think it gives us the best chance, obviously, to continue to grow and develop as a team. Everything else will take care of itself.”
