Georgia (8-4, 0-0) at Auburn (10-2, 0-0)

WHERE: Auburn Arena

WHEN: Thursday, 7 p.m.

TV/RADIO: ESPNU (Mike Couzens, Daymeon Fishback); Georgia Bulldog Radio Network (Scott Howard, Chuck Dowdle, Tony Schiavone).

As Georgia gets set to open SEC play Thursday night at Auburn, there’s one specific area the Bulldogs must improve – consistency.

Unfortunately, that’s a major issue for the Bulldogs (8-4), who have scuffled at times playing a non-conference schedule that the NCAA rates as the 20th-most difficult in the country.

With the SEC play now underway, corrections need to be made – now.

“The biggest thing we’ve learned is that we’re a work in progress, and not consistent in any area,” head coach Mark Fox said in a teleconference on Wednesday. “We do some things well on both ends, but we have to become more consistent as we grow and continue to add depth. There’s a next level we have to play at.”

Take Georgia’s recent loss at Oakland, a game the Bulldogs led at the half 45-38 before losing, 86-79.

“We all decided that we can’t have another game like up in Michigan,” junior Yante Maten said. “We have to be determined and show that we’ve made progress. I think we’ve had a good week of practice, and we’re going to come out stronger and finish stronger. At Oakland, we came out strong but didn’t finish.”

The Bulldogs likely won’t be able to have a repeat performance to a 10-2 Auburn team which comes into the contest on a four-game winning streak, and features a trio of players – Mustapha Heron (15.9 points per game), Daniel Purifoy (14.7 ppg) and Jared Harper (12.8) – averaging in double-figures.

“Auburn is a good offensive team, with a lot of guys that can shoot the 3-point shot,” Fox said. “Defensively, they’re forcing a lot of turnovers and off to a very good start,” Fox said. “For us, we have to defend the 3-point line better than we have to date, take care of the basketball which we didn’t do a good job of last week. Auburn has a lot of firepower, so we have to make sure we’re prepared.”