Baha Mar Hoops Bahamas Championship

WHAT: Georgia versus Miami

WHEN: Friday, 3:30 p.m.

WHERE: Baha Mar Convention, Arts & Entertainment Center, Nassau, Bahamas

RECORDS: Georgia 2-1; No. 12 Miami 3-0

TV/RADIO: CBS Sports Network (Chris Sylvester play-by-play; Kyle Macy, color analyst; Sam Hyman, sideline reporter); Georgia Bulldog Network - SiriusXM 387 (Cabell Philpott, play-by-play; Chuck Dowdle, color analyst; Adam Gillespie, producer).

UP NEXT: Georgia will play either the winner or loser between Friday’s second game featuring Providence and Kansas State on Sunday.

Georgia’s trip to this weekend’s Baha Mar Hoops Bahama’s Championship certainly qualifies as a challenge.

For head coach Mike White, it means even more.

“It’s a great opportunity, right, against one of the best teams in the country,” White said. “Our mentality and approach will have to be on point, and we’ll have to play really, really well to have a chance against those guys.”

First up for the Bulldogs is ACC power Miami, which advanced to last year’s Final Four and comes into the game with a perfect 3-0 mark.

The tourney concludes on Sunday with the Bulldogs (2-1) taking on either Providence or Kansas State.

“We wanted to beef up the schedule a little bit. You’ve got a couple of neutral site opportunities against high-level opponents, who knows who that next opponent will be?” White said. “We’ll continue to find out more about our team like we did a week ago.”

Bulldog Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe said players are looking forward to proving themselves.

“It’s going to be a great opportunity to see where we’re at,” Moncrieffe said. “Miami went to the Final Four last year, so it will be a great opportunity, and we’re looking forward to seeing how we do.”

The Bulldogs come into Friday’s 3:30 p.m. tipoff with back-to-back wins over Wake Forest and North Carolina Central, following a season-opening loss to Oregon.

Freshman Silas Demary Jr. said the Bulldogs have already shown some fight two weeks into the campaign.

“Definitely. We can fight through adversity. Being down, understanding we’re still in it, playing together, and figuring out who does what best,” Demary said. “I feel these first few games have been really good. We’ve showcased our good abilities and we’ve showcased that we can fight through adversity.”

After somewhat of a mental letdown in the team’s 64-54 win over North Carolina Central, White doesn’t anticipate he’ll have any such issues this weekend.

“Each team is different. I thought we were a little bit lethargic at times (Monday), and we will re-evaluate everything we did (Sunday and Monday morning),” White said. “That said, whoever we play on Sunday will have our guys’ attention immediately. If we’re not really fired up about that opponent on Sunday, then something bigger is there. But I can perceive that happening. But how much mentally you do, how much physically you do is really team to team, depending on guys’ minutes as well.”

The Bulldogs, who arrived in the Bahamas on Wednesday, have been able to take in some of the local sights.

But White made clear this is a business trip.

“When there is extra time like we had in Italy, we want our guys to experience it. We want our guys to have a great college experience, but we do remind them that it is in addition a business trip and we’re being afforded the opportunity to travel to the Bahamas and represent the University of Georgia and compete and grow at the same time,” White said. “We’ll have fun, but there will have to be a serious approach as well.”