No. 5 Tennessee at Georgia

WHERE: Stegeman Coliseum

WHEN: Saturday, noon.

RECORDS: Georgia 12-3, 2-0; Tennessee 11-4, 1-1

TV/RADIO: ESPN2 (Kevin Fitzgerald, Dayne Bradshaw); Georgia Bulldog Radio Network (Scott Howard, Chuck Dowdle, Adam Gillespie)

Georgia basketball coach Mike White was in good humor following his team’s 76-66 win Wednesday night over Arkansas.

So, when the conversation in his post-game press conference turned to Saturday’s opponent Tennessee, he decided to have a little fun.

When asked what jumps out to him about the fifth-ranked Vols (11-4, 1-1) who take on the Bulldogs Saturday at noon in Stegeman Coliseum, White had a quip already prepared.

“Great AD,” smiled White, whose older brother Danny White is the athletic director for the Volunteers.

Of course, White was only joking.

Under head coach Rick Barnes, the Vols have consistently been one of the top programs in the Southeastern Conference, and on paper will be the toughest team the Bulldogs have faced to date.

“You’ve got the utmost respect for what they’ve accomplished since he’s gotten there. They’re going to be extremely prepared and disciplined, and tough mentally and physically,” White said. “This current Tennessee team is just like a few that he’s had, that has a chance to go to the Final Four, I really do. This Tennessee team is really, really good, and we will have to play our best game down the stretch to have a chance down the stretch.”

At least the Bulldogs are playing in Athens.

Georgia is 10-0 at home this year. Considering the Bulldogs are also on a 10-game winning streak–the program’s longest since the 1930-31 season–getting the Vols in Stegeman Coliseum beats the alternative of being in Thompson-Boling Arena.

“Getting any team in our league at home is better. When you travel in this league, you hold your breath and hope to be competitive these days,” White said. “The other day we played really well; we wish they were all in Steg, especially considering the way they showed up for the late tip at 9 p.m., especially our student section, they showed up.”

Graduate transfer Noah Thomasson hopes the crowd will be in good voice against the Vols.

“They want to come in here and get a win; that’s the main thing we have to pay attention to,” Thomasson said. “They’re going to be hungry, they’re going to be sharp, so we’re going to have to be prepared to run our stuff and play defense.”

Thomasson is also confident the Bulldogs will be ready. If there’s one thing he’s learned about his new team, it will play hard.

“It started at Florida State when we were down 17. I think the 10-game win streak is big, but I kind of think that game helped us see our culture and what we can hang our hats on to play the entire game, play the entire 40 minutes the right way,” Thomasson said. “I think a lot of good things can happen when we play that way.”

With the quick turnaround from Wednesday night to Saturday at noon, White said getting rest between then and now is the top priority.

“It seems like we tip it off in a few hours, right?” White said after the game with the Razorbacks. “There’s not a lot we can do physically. (Thursday) especially with some of these guys, but we’ll start the mental preparation, get after them there on Friday, then wake up and tip it off on Saturday.”

Although White cannot predict what Saturday’s game and the rest of the season will hold, he’s learned some lessons about this team.

“I’ve learned that this group is resilient, they’ll come in ready to work and to prepare,” White said. “This group is really competitive, they like each other. This group has the ability to coach each other, to hold each other accountable to a pretty high standard. It still needs to improve, but we’ll learn from this win (against Arkansas) as well.”

Pregame Notes

• Georgia’s 10-game winning streak equals the fourth-longest streak in program history and the Bulldogs’ longest since an 11-game streak 75 years ago during the 1947-48 season.

• Georgia is 10-0 at Stegeman Coliseum this season, improving to 23-4 in Mike White’s two seasons at UGA. White is 30-5 all-time at Stegeman, including a 7-1 mark while at Louisiana Tech and Florida.

• Georgia is 2-0 in the SEC for the first time since 2013-14. That season ended with the Bulldogs’ dropping a 79-71 decision to the Mike White-coached Louisiana Tech team.

• Georgia was the nation’s only Power Conference team to face four Power Conference foes in its first five outings (Oregon, Wake Forest, Miami, and Providence).

• Justin Hill is Georgia’s third-leading scorer and coming off back-to-back season-high offensive outputs of 16 points at Missouri and 19 against Arkansas. In the process, he has upped his scoring average by more than a full point per game, from 8.5 points per game to 9.7 points per game. Hill has been the best Bulldog in assisting others’ points as well. The senior from Houston leads Georgia in assists at 3.2 assists per game and ranks No. 5 in the SEC and No. 47 in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.67.

No. 5 Tennessee enters this weekend’s game at 11-4 overall and 1-1 in the SEC. The Vols had their seven-game winning streak snapped with a 77-72 setback at Mississippi State on Wednesday. Tennessee’s other three losses are to teams ranked in the top 10 of this week’s AP poll: No. 1 Purdue, No. 3 Kansas, and No. 7 North Carolina.

Dalton Knecht leads a quartet of double-digit scorers for the Vols at 15.9 points per game, followed by Jonas Aidoo at 11.3 ppg, Josiah-Jordan James at 10.5 points per game and Zakai Zeigler at 10.0 points per game. Zeigler also leads the SEC in assists at 5.1 assists per game.