ATHENS — Georgia basketball’s brief break from playing Top 25 opponents is over.
The Bulldogs (15-6, 3-5 SEC) will tip off against another SEC powerhouse at 4 p.m. Saturday when they visit No. 4 Alabama.
UGA finished its first month of SEC play having faced six ranked teams in eight games. February won’t have much love for Georgia, either, as the Crimson Tide (18-3, 7-1) are the first of six more Top 25 teams this month.
The Bulldogs have stayed above water thus far through the SEC gauntlet, with ranked wins over Kentucky and Oklahoma keeping its March Madness dreams afloat. UGA is a projected No. 10 seed, according to ESPN’s most recent bracket projection, which has 13 SEC teams making the NCAA Tournament.
Georgia coach Mike White needs his team to keep winning, and there aren’t many inferior teams in the near future. The Bulldogs’ last three SEC games in March could come against unranked teams, but Georgia needs to survive February first.
February is when recent Georgia teams have lost momentum for good, crumbling under the SEC’s superiority with a morale-killing losing streak.
By no means do the Bulldogs need to finish February above .500, but a couple of upsets and beating unranked LSU on Tuesday could be vital in helping UGA survive the SEC.
That starts Saturday, as White hopes to ride the momentum of Tuesday’s win over South Carolina into Tuscaloosa.
White was encouraged by his team’s 51% shooting from the field — 47% from 3-point range — and an offensive chemistry boost from Dakota Leffew.
Leffew, a graduate transfer from Mount St. Mary’s, had been a key bench player in Georgia’s offense all season before Tuesday. White changed his starting lineup for the first time this season, swapping Leffew for guard Tyrin Lawrence.
Leffew responded with 14 points while leading Georgia with four assists and a plus-17 in the plus-minus. The veteran guard had several impressive passes, but White mentioned one specific play that he wants to see more of in February.
Leffew helped dismantle South Carolina’s press defense with plays like his transition pass to Dylan James, who found Blue Cain for a crushing 3-pointer in the waning minutes of the win.
”The one late with Blue, I hope that we can ride some momentum with that,” White said. “When we’re being pressed, make some good decisions, simple plays and pitch ahead. We shot it with confidence, and that’s what you’ve got to do in this league, make or miss.”
The Bulldogs have reason to play with confidence moving forward, considering they have several Top 25 wins on their resume.
What they have not done is complete an upset on the road. Georgia will arrive in Tuscaloosa with a 1-4 away record, its only win coming at Georgia Tech.
The defensive-minded White will have to slow the country’s top scoring offense if he wants his team’s first SEC road win Saturday. Alabama is averaging 90.2 points per game, with an SEC-best 44.4 rebounds and 17 assists.
Senior guard Mark Sears leads Alabama with 18 points and five assists per game. Sears is a career 38% 3-point shooter who can also make a run at the rim.
Georgia is 53-100 against Alabama all-time. The Bulldogs are 11.5-point underdogs, according to FanDuel.
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