Notre Dame at Georgia
WHERE: Stegeman Coliseum
WHEN: Tuesday, 7 p.m.
RECORDS: Georgia 7-1, Notre Dame 4-4
TV/RADIO: ESPNU (Kevin Fitzgerald, play-by-play; Richard Hendrix, analyst); Georgia Bulldog Network – Sirius 374 (Scott Howard, play-by-play; Chuck Dowdle, analyst; Adam Gillespie, Producer)
Eight games into the season, and Mike White continues to learn different things about his Bulldog basketball team.
With Notre Dame in town for Tuesday night’s game (7 p.m., ESPNU) as part of the SEC/ACC Challenge, White and the Bulldogs will find out even more.
“You want opportunities to find out more about yourselves, opportunities to learn about strengths and weaknesses and to develop, to grow together through wins or losses,” White said after Georgia’s 102-56 rout of Jacksonville. “We had a couple of those here recently. We had one at Georgia Tech. We've got another one here on Tuesday.”
So far, the Bulldogs (7-1) have certainly impressed.
With non-conference wins already over Georgia Tech and St. John’s, Tuesday’s contest is the first of five December games for Georgia before tipping off SEC play on Jan. 4 at Ole Miss.
Tuesday night’s game against Notre Dame will mark the fifth overall meeting between the two programs, but the first in a non-neutral site. The Bulldogs and Fighting Irish last met two seasons ago at State Farm Arena in Atlanta with Georgia taking a 77-62 win.
“It's definitely exciting going against another power conference,” Bulldog guard Tyrin Lawrence said. “We're looking forward to the challenge. I would say individually it's just another game, but as a team, yes, I would say it's definitely exciting to go against another great team like that.”
Sophomore Dylan James agreed.
“It'll be a test for us,” James said. “But this is a chance for fans to get excited because fans are going to look at Notre Dame. That's a big team coming in.”
It’s also one that the Bulldogs know they need to win.
“It's definitely important,” Lawrence said. “We're looking to continue to build off of the momentum we've had so far. So hopefully the fans come out and we can have a good atmosphere.”
White is banking on the same.
“We’re hopeful that we've got a really good turnout. We've got guys that are laying on the line that work every day and play hard between the lines,” White said. “We've got talented guys that are laying out on the floor and diving for loose balls and sharing it with each other and I think are doing a really good job representing all of us here at Georgia. So, we'd be appreciative for a great turnout and give us a chance to play well against a high-level program. I mean they're very, very good and extremely well coached.”
