Georgia at Missouri

WHERE: Mizzou Arena, Columbia, Missouri

WHEN: Saturday, 1 p.m.

RECORDS: Georgia 10-3, 0-0; Missouri 8-5, 0-0

TV/RADIO: SEC Network (Richard Cross and Jon Sunvold); Georgia Bulldog Radio Network (Scott Howard, Chuck Dowdle, Adam Gillespie)

Georgia senior Jabri Abdur-Rahim hopes lessons learned during a tough non-conference schedule will pay dividends in Saturday’s SEC opener at Missouri (1 p.m., SEC Network).

“The biggest thing I would say is just our ability to respond to adversity. I think I learned about that when we were at Florida State, right?” said Abdur-Rahim, referring to the game earlier this season when the Bulldogs roared back from a 17-point deficit with 6:40 to win 68-66.

“I think we showed a lot when we didn't give up and came all the way back, and even in some of our home games, we we've been down a couple possessions and we were able to come back really, really quickly,” he continued. “So, I think it's just our ability to respond to adversity.”

A victory over a solid Missouri squad (8-5) would be another feather in the collective cap of the Bulldogs, winners of eight straight.

For those counting, the current streak is Georgia’s longest since a nine-game winning stretch during the 2010-2011 campaign.

For players like grad transfer Noah Thomasson, the opportunity to play in his first SEC game is highly anticipated.

“I'm excited. It’s my first SEC opponent I've ever played in my career, so I just want to go out there and give him my all,” Thomasson said. “It's going to be physical. It's going to be a tough game. But every game is hard, you know?” Thomasson said. “But you know, it's a chance for us to try to win a game, you know, on the road and make a statement.”

To do that, the Bulldogs will need to do a better job on the boards.

Although Georgia is holding opponents to just 39.3 percent from the floor (4th in the SEC), the Bulldogs have struggled to keep opponents off the boards. Opponents are averaging just over 39 rebounds per game, an average that ranks Georgia dead last in the SEC.

Nobody knows that better than head coach Mike White.

“Our defensive numbers have been pretty good throughout the year,” White said. “That said, our defensive rebounding numbers have really hurt us for so long. Hopefully, we can improve in those areas.”

White is interested in seeing how his team responds.

The game at Mizzou Arena will just be the Bulldogs’ second true road contest, following the one at Florida State.

Although the Bulldogs were successful previously, he knows the atmosphere in Columbia will be much different and something his players taking part in their first SEC game will need to get used to.

“Everybody's gotta go through it, you know, and every roster in this league will have to go through it for the first time,” White said. “We are fortunate that we have played away from home a few times ... this will be I think, magnified a little bit more. But we'll see. I like the maturity level of our freshmen to this point, and we've got a few guys that have been around."

Thomasson is confident the Bulldogs will do exactly that.

“I like the challenge of it. When I entered the transfer portal the main goal was finding a place where I could be successful at a higher level,” Thomasson said. “So throughout the season I've had ups and downs a little bit, but I'm starting to really find it and do some of the things I did in Niagara. Maybe not the same number of points but starting to do more things to help this team win.”

Pregame Notes

• Georgia’s eight-game winning streak equals the sixth-longest streak in program history and is the Bulldogs’ longest in a single season in more than a decade (since the 2010-11 campaign).

• Georgia is slated to play 14 of 31 (45.2 percent) of its regular-season games against teams featured in the most recent edition of ESPN.com’s bracketology.

• Georgia is 9-0 at Stegeman Coliseum this season, improving to 22-4 in Mike White’s two seasons at UGA. He is a combined 29-5 at Stegeman, including a 7-1 mark while at Louisiana Tech and Florida.

• Georgia was the nation’s only Power conference team to: 1) open its season with back-to-back games versus Power conference programs (Oregon and Wake Forest); and 2) face four Power conference foes in its first five outings (UO, WFU, Miami and Providence).

• The Bulldogs enter SEC played ranked No. 29 nationally in benching scoring, with the Bulldogs’ reserves contributing 30.2 points per game.

• Georgia’s reserves have outscored their counterparts in every game since the season opener. After being outscored 28-22 by Oregon, the Bulldogs now sport a +164 scoring margin in bench points – a 170-point swing and a massive differential of +14.2 points per game in Georgia’s last 12 outings.

Missouri compiled an 8-5 record in non-conference play. Three of the Tigers’ five losses came to teams ranked in this week’s AP poll – No. 2 Kansas, No. 9 Illinois and No. 15 Memphis.

Like the Bulldogs, Saturday’s game will be Missouri’s first game in a week. The Tigers wrapped up their non-conference slate with a 92-59 win over Central Arkansas on Dec. 30.

Sean East II paces Missouri and is ranked fifth in the SEC in scoring, averaging 17.1 points per game. Interestingly, East is shooting matching .568 field goal percentages both overall and from 3-point range. Noah Carter and Nick Honor also are scoring in double figures for the Tigers, chipping in 11.4 and 11.3 points per game, respectively, while Carter leads Missouri in rebounding at 6.5 rebounds.