WHERE: Reed Arena, College Station, Tex.

WHEN: Saturday, 8:30 p.m.

RECORDS: Georgia 14-8, 4-5; Texas A&M 15-7, 7-2

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

It sounds strange to suggest that a player’s offensive production would improve once he began coming off the bench, but that’s exactly what seems to be happening with fifth-year player Mardrez McBride.

After starting 77 of his previous 79 games, McBride has come off the bench to lead the Bulldogs offensively in the last two games, producing season-high tallies of 17 and 20 points, respectively, against South Carolina and Auburn.

McBride scored just 14 points in Georgia's first seven SEC games.

“I’m just staying comfortable, finding a rhythm, and taking those open shots,” said McBride, who transferred to Georgia after two seasons at North Texas.

McBride—an Augusta native—and the rest of the Bulldogs (14-8. 4-5) hit the road again Saturday with a trip to College Station, Tex., for a game against Texas A&M (8:30 p.m., SEC Network).

“Maybe he should have come off the bench a little earlier,” head coach Mike White said after the game against the Gamecocks. “Maybe I should have done that for him. That’s my mistake. He played his best game as a Bulldog (against South Carolina). He was terrific. He was really good defensively, got some two-handed, tough rebounds in traffic, and goes 5 for 7 (on threes). I’d like to see a lot more of that out of him.”

Against Auburn, he did.

Although the game was a blowout in favor of the Tigers, McBride was fantastic again, going for 20 points while converting six of his eight three-pointers.

“You just got to be ready when your number is called,” McBride said. “It really doesn’t matter if you’re starting or coming off the bench; it’s all about finishing in this league.”

Teammate Jailyn Ingram it’s been fun seeing McBride play with the confidence he showing.

“He’s a talented shooter, we’ve always known that. It’s just been a case of once they go in, he’s been able to get into a rhythm,” Ingram said. “It takes your game to another level. You see one go in, it’s like OK, now the pressure is off. You’ve still got to do your footwork and prep for the shot, but it gives you that sense of confidence once you take it.”

White said he’s also noticed a change in practice.

“It starts with his body language. He’s talking a little bit more, he’s leading a little bit more, and he’s focused on the right thing,” White said. “He’s earned some more minutes. He’s been solid defensively; he’s been following his open looks, and he’s become a guy who feels pretty good about himself. I’m happy for him, but the challenge is to stay in a good place mentally, and he had a good practice today.”

McBride, who helped lead North Texas to the NCAA Tournament and the NIT during his two seasons there, has the numbers to back up his recent surge.

His 79 three-pointers rank as the sixth-most ever for UNT, converting six in each of the team’s NIT wins against Texas State and Virginia.

“I think he’s battled a certain level of consistency and has had a pretty good attitude throughout, whether he’s not starting, or starting, or playing fewer minutes than some other guys, whether it’s going for him or not from a shot-making standpoint,” White said. “We’ve challenged him all year to get out of his comfort zone a little bit. He’s not a real vocal guy, but he’s trying. We’re starting to see some more of that.”

McBride is happy to be helping his home-state team as much as possible.

A graduate of Augusta’s Butler High, McBride said he always hoped to get back to Georgia to finish out his college career.

“It’s something I dreamed about growing up, being able to play for here and being from here is all good,” he said. “It wasn’t easy, but nothing in life is. It’s just something you have to get used to.”

Pregame Notes

• Eight different Dogs have been used to comprise 10 different starting lineups for UGA this season.

• No Dog has started every game, though M-A Moncrieffe, K. Oquendo, and T. Roberts have started every game when they've played.

• UGA is on pace to hold opponents under 30.0 from 3-point range for just the 2nd time in program history.

• UGA’s assist-to-TO ratio is up by +.23 since Thanksgiving, the best improvement by an SEC team during that span.

Texas A&M enters Saturday evening’s matchup at 15-7 overall and 7-2 in SEC play. Much like Georgia, the Aggies, who are tied for second in the league standings, have been impressive at home this season. A&M is 10-1 at Reed Arena.

The Aggies enter this weekend ranked No. 2 nationally in both free throw takes and makes, averaging 25.0 trips and 18.5 conversions at the line. This equates to the Aggies scoring 24.8 percent of their points (406 of 1637) with the clock stopped.

Texas A&M's most recent starting five has combined to score 76.5 percent (1252 of 1637) of A&M’s points. Leading the way are a trio of double-digit scorers in Wade Taylor (14.9 ppg), Tyrece Radford (13.7 ppg), and Henry Coleman III (10.4 ppg).

Taylor also leads the Aggies in assists (3.9 apg) and steals (1.3 spg), while Coleman is A&M’s top rebounder (6.2 rpg).

On the Auburn game

“We were dominated in the paint, just absolutely dominated. On the glass, especially on the defensive glass; interior defense, inability to get anything going offensively on the glass, in the paint. The battle in the paint wasn’t even a battle. We’ve just got to be a lot better. And now, here we go today on a flight to A&M, and you’re playing a team with some of those similarities, some of those strengths: in the paint, how they defend, how they defend the glass, how elite they are on the offensive glass, scoring it on the interior. (They are a) big, strong, physical, hard-playing team just like Auburn. They have some differences from Auburn, but they’re really good, and we’ve got our work cut out for us.”

On the team’s play in the paint

“We’ve got to play harder. We’ve got to match the level of physicality, the level of intensity when the shot goes up and there’s a one-on-one battle. We’ve got strengths and weaknesses, and I’m not sure we can win seven or eight out of 10 against a team on the interior like that, one-on-one, but we’ve got to win three or four. We’ve got to get some of those rebounds, some of those loose balls in the paint. We’ve got to provide more resistance. It was a tip drill at times at Auburn. We’ve had two or three games where we, I thought, showed a lot of toughness physically on the interior. Mississippi State comes to mind—another elite offensive rebounding team, and we matched that intensity level and gave ourselves a chance. We fought and we didn’t fight as much as we needed to the other day. Tomorrow has got to be different, or we have no chance. We’ve got to fight in that paint collectively.”

On Texas A&M’s guards

“Speed, quickness, talent—those guys are really good. They’re fast, they’re shifty. They draw fouls. They get downhill in transition. They’re good with ball screens. They’re good on the offensive glass, even their guards. They’re unique in that regard, but they get after you. They play as hard as anyone in our league, with respect to the way they play. They defend. They run good stuff. It’s going to be very difficult, and we’re going to have to play really well.”