Georgia at Arkansas

WHERE: Bud Walton Arena, Fayetteville, Ark.

WHEN: Wednesday, 9 p.m.

RECORDS: Georgia 14-4, 2-3; Arkansas 11-7, 0-5

TV/RADIO: SEC Network (Roy Philpott, Jimmy Dykes); Georgia Bulldog Radio Network (Scott Howard, Chuck Dowdle, Adam Gillespie)

Pregame Notes

Arkansas is struggling, but Georgia basketball coach Mike White knows better than to take the Razorbacks for granted.

In the SEC, that’s never a good approach.

Although the Bulldogs (14-4, 2-3) are facing a Razorback squad (11-7, 0-5) searching for its first conference win, White knows his Georgia squad is in no position to be overconfident.

Especially, when the coach on the other end of the court is John Calipari.

“I probably would have been surprised at this point with really any coach in any program in our league. There's some elite teams and then there's a bunch of parity,” White said. “There's a bunch of really good teams, again, with really good coaches and good players. There's going to be teams in our league, obviously, that have pretty records and teams who aren't very proud of their record at certain times. But it can change quickly in a heartbeat. Those guys, he's been there before. He's going to figure it out. They're very, very capable.”

Still, White hopes that doesn’t happen until after Wednesday night’s game. Tip-off at Bud Walton Arena is set for 9 p.m. ET and will be televised on the SEC Network.

The Tigers are coming off an 83-65 loss to Missouri.

“Look, all I can tell you is my whole thought is, 'How do I keep this team in a mindset that they understand, it’s a team that beat Michigan,’” Calipari said after the game. “It’s a team that went on the road and won. It’s a team that has won tough games and lost a couple of tough ones. Then you get in this league, it can demoralize you.”

The Bulldogs have had their share of tough losses.

After back-to-back wins over ranked Kentucky and Oklahoma, Georgia was blown out by Tennessee before dropping a two-point decision to top-ranked Auburn Saturday afternoon, 70-68.

“Early on (Against Auburn), I didn't think we played with a lot of confidence. We didn't play down. It just looked like we were a step slower to loose balls,” White said. “Some of that is those guys playing hard, too, and their speed and quickness and all that stuff. They made shots early and we didn't. I'm glad we made some early second half because we left a few pretty good looks against an elite defense on the table early in the game.”

Against Arkansas, White’s message is simple.

“Every one of these is going to be very, very difficult,” White said. “Home … away, it doesn't matter. Good players, good coaches, and great environments. We've got a great environment now too. We've just got to continue to prepare and continue to get better at certain things and grow together. We've got a number of games left. Let's see if we can maximize this team's potential.”

• Georgia, which played five straight ranked opponents to begin the SEC campaign, is in the midst of a six-game span featuring four top-10 opponents – No. 6/6 Tennessee, No. 1/1 Auburn, No. 5/6 Florida, and No. 4/3 Alabama – with three of those matchups being on the road.

• The Bulldogs entered the week ranked 31.8 in an average of six popular metrics (NET, KenPom, Torvik, KPI, BPI, and SOR) – an increase of 187.2 spots since Mike White became UGA’s head coach.

The Arkansas matchup is the third in a six-game span when the Bulldogs will play four top-10 teams. Georgia dropped decisions to No. 6/6 Tennessee and No. 1/1 Auburn last week. After playing No. 5/6 Florida on Saturday, UGA will take on No. 4/3 Alabama the following Saturday.

• Georgia’s balanced offense features seven players who have led the Bulldogs in one or more games. Two more players have posted double-figure scoring outputs. All told, those nine Bulldogs have produced 70 double-digit performances.

• Asa Newell, who was named SEC Freshman of the Week for the third time this season last Monday, leads a trio of Bulldogs averaging double figures at 15.3 points per game. He also paces UGA on the boards at 6.8 rebounds per game. Among league leaders, Newell is ranked No. 17 in scoring and No. 13 in rebounding – including an SEC-best 3.4 offensive boards per game. He also is No. 3 in the SEC and No. 37 nationally in field goal percentage (.570).

• A single point separates the production of Georgia’s other double-digit scorers, with Dakota Leffew at 11.8 ppg and Silas Demary Jr. at 11.7 ppg.

The Razorbacks will be without freshman point guard Boogie Fland, who is out with a hand injury.

Arkansas is 11-7 overall and 0-5 in the SEC to date. The Razorbacks spent six of the first eight weeks of the season ranked in the nation’s top 25 before league play began.

Adou Theiro, who transferred from Kentucky to remain with head coach John Calipari, leads Arkansas in both scoring (16.4 ppg) and rebounds (6.0 rpg).