Oakland at Georgia

WHERE: Stegeman Coliseum

WHEN: Tuesday, 7 p.m.

RECORDS: Georgia 5-4; Oakland 4-7

TV/RADIO: SEC Network Plus (Jeff Dantzler, Dean Keener); Georgia Bulldog Radio Network (Scott Howard, Chuck Dowdle, Tony Schiavone); XM (386

E’Torrion Wilridge figures it was during Tom Crean’s first week as head coach of the Georgia basketball team when he walked into his office and made what some might consider a rather unusual request.

“I told him whenever the season rolls around, I want to be on the best player from the other team,” Wilridge said. “I told him that in the spring, I told him early.”

As you might suspect, Wilridge takes his defense seriously.

Against Arizona State, he helped hold freshman Luguentz Dort nearly 10 points below his season average of 22 points, and on Tuesday night against visiting Oakland (7 p.m., SEC Network-plus), he is expected to have a hand in defending forward Xavier Hill-Mais who is averaging 22.9 points per contest.

“I take a lot of pride in my defense,” Wilridge said. “Because that is something that I know will help me get on the court and I know it’s something the team needs, so I take a lot of pride in that.”

Head coach Tom Crean credits Wilridge’s versatility for helping to make him such a defensive presence.

“He has some swiss army knife to him. He can cover a lot of ground for us and make a lot of things happen. What he needs to do now is to be a consistent defender, a consistent rebounder and – well the ultimate swiss army knife is Nicolas Claxton at 7-foot – but at 6-foot-7 (Wilridge) that is what we need which is be very versatile,” Crean said. “He is one of the best on our team with moving without the ball. He needs to continue to do that, continue to facilitate. He just needs to play hard and aggressive and play like a senior.”

Crean apparently feels Wilridge is capable of doing just that.

After missing the previous three games with a concussion that he suffered against Clemson in the Cayman Islands Classic, Wilridge returned for the first time against Arizona and played 22 minutes.

Although Wilridge has never been a prolific scorer – his career high in points is eight – his ability to defend continues to ensure he gets plenty of court time.

“It’s something I knew I had to do,” Wilridge said. “What really helped me out was when Juwan Parker was here. His redshirt year, he was on the scout team and I had to guard that guy every day, all day, it was really a challenge, but it helped me to lock down on the defensive end.”

Fellow senior Turtle Jackson said the player teammates call “Toe” – a nickname given to him by his uncle - probably doesn’t get the credit that he deserves.

“E’Torrion is a very versatile player. He can guard smalls, he can guard bigs because his footwork is moving, but also his size,” Jackson said. “It’s a blessing that he’s utilizing those God-given talents that he’s got.”