The score won't necessarily be the focus for Georgia on Tuesday night.

Sure, the Bulldogs want to win their exhibition opener in Stegeman Coliseum against Georgia College. But when the final horn sounds, the scoreboard will be wiped clean and the game won't count on either team's record.

With that in mind, head coach Mike White is looking for continued growth in all aspects of his team on Tuesday.

"Playing for one another, the connection, of course, offensive and defensive execution is obviously really important. But we have to take it with a grain of salt, being in front of the fans for the first time," White said. "But hopefully, going back to that growth word, we do get a little bit better, both offensively and defensively tomorrow.”

The Bulldogs have already technically hit the floor once. They scrimmaged Central Florida on Oct. 22.

White said that outing showed that Georgia still had a ways to go offensively. That has been the focus over the past week or so.

"We've made a significant jump offensively, to go from incredibly challenged to somewhat challenged," White said. "We were a little bit ahead defensively early in our practices. Guys have embraced that side. We spent a little more time on that side as a staff, just going through these processes and trying to figure out on a daily basis where to plug holes and where you put points of emphasis."

The Bulldogs have embraced competing against each other in practice over the past few weeks and months. Now they get to hit the court again against somebody else. That provides valuable lessons. As transfer guard Justin Hill noted, opponents can throw in surprises that don't come as often in practice when teammates are familiar with each other.

Center Braelen Bridges, one of five returners on this year's squad, wants to see the defense feed the offense. Bridges hopes to see stops on defense and good flow on offense as the Bulldogs look to build their chemistry.

On White's end, he's looking for the team's growth to continue and the culture to keep building. In the exhibition and the early part of the season, those will be the main focuses as White lays the foundation for his time in Athens.

"Culture is a word we all beat up as coaches. It's an action, in terms of how we define it as a staff, and you want to see guys helping each other up off the floor, celebrating winning plays, being happy for one another, evaluating body language coming off the court," White said. "Whether the guy off the bench goes in as the sixth man, the 10th man, how does he handle that? How do we handle who gets what type of shot? Culture is really important."