Georgia hosting No. 2 Florida in final top-10 test of SEC season

ATHENS — The eighth and final top-10 team on Georgia’s SEC basketball gauntlet comes to Athens for a 7 p.m. showdown Tuesday night.

The Bulldogs (16-11, 4-10 SEC) will host No. 2 Florida, their fifth consecutive Top 25 team, before ending their conference slate with three consecutive unranked opponents.

It’s the first time Georgia will play consecutive unranked teams since starting SEC play.

The Gators (24-3, 11-3) roll into Athens red-hot, riding a six-game winning streak. Every win has been by at least 10 points, except for a 90-81 upset at No. 1 Auburn on Feb. 8.

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Florida represents the top-ranked Tigers’ only SEC loss.

Georgia has lost its past four games, all against top 25 teams. It has been a frustrating stretch for the Bulldogs, but coach Mike White feels better about his team after its most recent loss at Auburn.

The Bulldogs struggled through the opening minutes before pushing the Tigers to the last couple minutes on Saturday, Auburn finally pulling away with free throws in an 82-70 decision.

“There’s been negativity from our staff to our guys, led by me, obviously, after wins, and there’s sometimes positivity communicated to our guys after losses, and this was certainly one of those,” White said. “I’m not sitting here celebrating the fact that we lost. We played better than we did on Saturday.

“Auburn made some big plays late (in the shot) clock as we talked about and otherwise, it would have been even more interesting down the stretch. If we continue to play like that down the stretch of the season, I’ve got faith that we got some more wins in us.”

Georgia will try to use that momentum and the comfort of Stegeman Coliseum to avoid many of the early mistakes from its first loss to the Gators. The Bulldogs’ offensive mishaps — namely 14 first half turnovers that turned into 24 Florida points — killed their upset chances before they had a chance to settle in.

Florida led 51-26 by halftime and expanded to an 89-59 win, the largest margin of defeat for Georgia this season.

Silas Demary Jr. will be asked to handle the ball better, especially as no timetable remains in place for Tyrin Lawrence’s return. The Vanderbilt transfer has missed three straight games with a hamstring injury, and White says he doesn’t know when Lawrence can be back.

Freshman superstar Asa Newell will also fight to get involved early, something Florida’s dominant big men shut down in game one. Newell didn’t score until the second half and ended with eight points, shooting 4-of-14 from the floor.

Florida has received more production from its guards recently, as forward Alex Condon has been sidelined with an ankle injury since last Tuesday. Condon, who scored 14 points with eight rebounds against Georgia in January, was listed as a game-time decision before ultimately not playing on Saturday.

Leading scorer Walter Clayton Jr. will challenge Demary, Blue Cain and other Georgia guards on the perimeter and at the rim. Fellow guard Denzel Aberdeen has shined recently, leading the Gators in scoring in two of the last four games.

Florida’s roster poses potential matchup problems no matter how they are defended. It’s why they have the highest point differential in the SEC at 17.2 points per game.

White, just like he has all season, plans on simplifying the game for his relatively young SEC roster. He is keeping perspective small, focused on the next play and off the SEC and national picture.

“It’s not about outcomes with us, really all season, but especially right now,” White said after the Auburn game. “We told our guys in this one here, ‘If you’re overly focused on the outcome of the game, it’s going to be too big.’

“I have faith that we got little wins in us if we play well and practice well.”

Georgia is 100-125 against Florida all-time, the Gators winning the past 12 matchups. The last time Georgia beat Florida, White was coaching the Gators.