ATHENS – The Georgia Bulldogs will face Saint Joseph’s for the first time in school history on Monday night when the teams meet in the second round of the Greenlight Sunshine Slam in Daytona Beach, Fla. (8:30 p.m., CBS Sports network stream).
The venue will represent a homecoming of sorts for Georgia star Kario Oquendo. Oquendo is from Titusville, which is about an hour south of Daytona.
All eyes will be on the high-flying 6-foot-4 guard for tonight’s game as he did not play for the Bulldogs the last time out. That was due to “knee soreness” and his availability tonight is uncertain.
“Kario had a knee that is bothering him that we learned about after shoot-around,” White said after Friday’s 65-61 win over Bucknell. “I don’t know the extent, just that it’s bothering him a little bit. We’ll have to re-evaluate (before Monday’s game).”
Georgia hopes it’s only a temporary issue as Oquendo is one of the team’s most productive players. He led the Bulldogs in scoring as a first-year transfer last season with 15.2 points per game and he averaged 18.3 points in SEC play.
With Oquendo sidelined, the Bulldogs leaned on Jabri Abdur-Rahim, Jaxon Etter and Frank Anselem to pick up the slack. They combined for 26 of Georgia’s 28 points off the bench in last Friday’s win.
“Next man up, you know,” White said. “All these guys want more opportunities. What do you do? I feel for Kario.”
The Bulldogs will be looking for continued improvement when they face the Hawks (2-1). Georgia needed an 11-0 second-half run last Friday to come from behind against Bucknell in Athens in what was the first round of the tournament.
Tested by the interior size of Bucknell, the Bulldogs will face a similar challenge against Saint Joseph’s. The Hawks’ rotation features 6-foot-10 graduate Ejike Obinna (7.7 ppg, 4.0 rpg) in the starting lineup and a 6-11 and 7-footer in their center rotation.
Georgia will counter off the bench with 6-11 Braelen Bridges and the 6-10 Anselem. White has tended to start a smaller, quicker lineup with 6-8 Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe standing as the tallest man on the floor.
That formula worked well for out-rebounding the Bison 39-27. Nine of those boards came from point guard Terry Roberts, who alos led the Bulldogs with 20 points and six assists. Roberts, a 6-3 senior point guard who transferred to UGA from Bradley, is Georgia’s leading scorer at 15.8 points a game.
Having Oquendo back in the lineup gives the Bulldogs a formidable back court. He recorded 10 performances of 20 points or more as a sophomore last season, including a season-high 33 points against Texas A&M.
On Friday, 6-7 sophomore Jusaun Holt got the start in Oquendo’s backcourt spot. The Alabama transfer known as “Juice” finished with six points and five rebounds in 22 minutes of play.
But having a healthy Oquendo ready to go would obviously give the Bulldogs a better shot at getting past the Hawks. The winner of tonight’s game will face the winner of South Florida-UAB for the tournament championship on Tuesday night.
“We’re finding out who we are,” White said. “Any number of guys can step up and help us.”
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