Marquette (5-2) at Georgia (5-2)
WHERE: Stegeman Coliseum
WHEN: Sunday, 2 p.m.
TV/RADIO: ESPNU (Alex Faust, Dalen Cuff); Georgia Bulldog Radio Network (Scott Howard, Chuck Dowdle, Tony Schiavone); SIRIUS/XM: 126/190
"Resume Game" is a term that gets tossed around a lot in sports.
Take Georgia’s game Sunday against Marquette, for example.
If the Bulldogs want to earn a spot in postseason play, wins against teams the caliber of the Big East Golden Eagles would go a long way. Still, Georgia head coach Mark Fox is careful not to place a greater importance on the game than any other his team plays throughout the course of the year.
“The game against Asheville was a resume game; the game against Furman was a resume game; the game against George Washington was a resume game,” Fox said. “They’re all resume games. You have to understand that in coaching, and this game is no different.”
Fox’s players have apparently bought into this way of thinking.
When asked about the 2 p.m. contest at Stegeman Coliseum (ESPNU), players, including senior guard J.J. Frazier, said it's always important to treat each game the same as much as possible.
“We want to play every game the right way. We feel like if we do that then everything else will take care of itself,” Frazier said. “Sometimes we won’t win, sometimes we will, but if you put yourself in position to do that, most of the time you will come out with the right outcomes.”
Derek Ogbeide agreed.
“For me and everyone else, it’s every game. It’s always a resume game, it’s always a game you need to win,” Ogbeide said. “You always want to play with the same level of effort and intensity and play as hard as possible.”
Georgia (5-2) will need to do so against the Golden Eagles (5-2), a game the Bulldogs will return with next season’s trip to Marquette.
“I think college basketball needs more home and home games. So many of the teams just want to play neutral court games. In the long run, that’s not the best thing for the game,” Fox said. “Having some of these is important and obviously to have a Big East team and someone of Marquette’s caliber is important to us. We have to go back there which won’t be easy but hopefully it will be good for both of us.”
Marquette comes into Sunday’s contest winners of three straight.
Jujuan Johnson paces a balanced offensive attack with 14.3 points per game, while Luke Fischer and Haanif Cheatham add 14.1 and 13.9 points, respectively. Five more Golden Eagles are averaging between 6.9 and 8.8 points per game.
“They do have a lot of balance. They are good in transition, they’re a very good shooting team, they’ve got low blocks, they’ve got slashers,” Fox said. “They’re a very complete offensive team and, therefore, are a very efficient offensive team because they play well together. I have a lot of respect for how they are playing and we’ll have to be very good just to slow them down some.”
NOTES: After missing Tuesday’s win over Marquette with soreness in his Achilles, Juwan Parker returned to practice on Wednesday and will play against Marquette, according to Fox.