ATHENS — Georgia basketball’s deep dive into non-conference play continues Friday when Wake Forest visits Stegeman Coliseum for the Bulldogs’ home opener.
Coach Mike White’s second Georgia team dove in deep in Monday’s season opener against Oregon in the Naismith Hall of Fame Series tournament in Las Vegas. After falling behind by huge deficits in both the first and second halves, the Bulldogs got the score down to single digits each time before falling 82-71.
Georgia might like to see what it’s like to play from ahead against Wake Forest in another Hall of Fame Series game. The Demon Deacons won their home opener against Elon 101-78 on Monday. Rebounding better would be a step in the right direction. The Bulldogs were outrebounded by 22 against the Ducks.
“I don’t know who’s a better rebounding team, but I know Wake’s another good rebounding team,” White said before the Bulldogs practiced Thursday. “As we’re focused on Wake, we’ve been focused on ourselves and some of our deficiencies. There are a few other (areas) we’ve got to get better at, too, to be competitive at this level and in league play. But that’s why you play these games, to win certainly, but to learn about yourselves, too.
“But we got pounded on the glass (before), and we’ve got to do better to have a chance.”
Wake Forest is the first of four ACC opponents the Bulldogs will be taking on during non-conference play. In addition to the annual December game against archrival Georgia Tech (Dec. 5), Georgia also plays Miami in the Baha Mar Championship in the Bahamas (Nov. 17) and Florida State on the road (Nov. 29).
It’s all part of a get-tough scheduling approach White has taken for his second season in Athens. The Bulldogs play “power-conference” opponents in four of their first five games. It might seem somewhat risky considering Georgia’s roster consists of only four returning lettermen from last season’s 16-16 squad.
“We need it to be electric, and I anticipate that,” White said. “There will be a lot of Dogs in town Friday night for obvious reasons with Saturday’s big-time football matchup. … So we expect a big crowd, and we’ve got to give our crowd something to be excited about, and they’ve got to help us a little bit. We expect that. But at the end of the day, we’ve just got to play well.”
Georgia lost at Wake Forest 81-71 last season. The Bulldogs actually outscored the Demon Deacons 49-40 in the second half after trailing by 19 at halftime.
Georgia still will be well short of 100% healthy for Friday’s game. Guard RJ Sunahara missed the opener with a knee sprain sustained in the Bulldogs’ exhibition win against Eastern Kentucky and remains questionable. Junior Jalen Deloach played against Oregon but was limited to 12 minutes because of a preseason knee injury.
Otherwise, the Bulldogs are getting a lot of contributions from new players. Four of the five starters in the opener just arrived this year, including Illinois transfer RJ Melendez (12 ppg last season) and freshman point guard Silas Demery (8 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists). Russel Tchewa, a 7-foot, 275-pound graduate transfer from South Florida, had nine rebounds against Oregon but scored only five points. Freshman guard Blue Cain came off the bench to score 12.
Getting the new and old to mesh better is the challenge facing the Bulldogs.
“Having the most experience, I’m trying to help the (new players) be as successful as they can be,” said senior Jabri Abdur-Rahim, who led the Bulldogs with 18 points Monday. “My goal is just to make them as good of players and teammates as they can be because they’re all very talented.”
Wake Forest (1-0) also had a lot of newcomers in four transfers and three freshmen. The Demon Deacons return three starters and three lettermen from last season’s squad that finished 19-14. They actually trailed at halftime Monday against Elon only to storm back behind 6-4 guard Cameron Hildreth, who finished with 33 points. Hildreth also had 38 points in an exhibition win over Alabama.
“I like the response we’ve had this week,” White said of Georgia coming off Monday’s loss. “Our lack of connectivity on the glass and offensively were a little surprising to me. But the fight to compete to the end (against Oregon) didn’t surprise me. These guys made it interesting late, and Oregon will be a team that wins a lot of games this year.”
About the Author
