Mike White's first contest in Stegeman Coliseum went pretty much according to plan.

His Georgia Bulldogs faced Georgia College on Tuesday night. White's squad earned a 66-52 victory over the Bobcats, but the UGA head coach had his eye on other things besides the scoreboard.

"It’s early, and we’re all learning about each other and developing as a team," White said. "I thought the camaraderie was good, I thought our culture was pretty good. We had a bunch of contributions from different guys. The goal, the biggest one at least for tonight, was growth, trying to get a little bit better than our last outing in a closed scrimmage, and we did that."

White told reporters on Monday that the team's defense is probably a bit ahead of the offense. Tuesday night showcased some highs and lows for that side of the ball.

Georgia shot just over 47 percent overall. The Bulldogs committed just seven turnovers, a far cry from some of the sloppy performances of last year. The turnovers contrasted with 12 assists, a ratio that satisfied White after the game.

But the team also had several extended scoring droughts where it couldn't buy a bucket.

Junior guard Kario Oquendo said the team spent so much time focused on defense in the offseason that they've had to "revise" the offense in recent weeks. The Bulldogs are still learning the finer points of White's system.

"We’re trying to play some inside-out, at least in certain lineups and certain possessions. We were playing really fast in practice until about a week or so ago," White said. "We’re just trying to pick our spots a little bit more. I think there are going to be some possessions and some games where we try to execute maybe a little bit more in the half-court than other games. We tried to do that a little bit more in the second half, call guys’ numbers. When you don’t shoot it great, of course, that paint is really clogged. We didn’t shoot it great. Again, it starts with us trying to find ways to get guys going."

That paint emphasis showed up in the box score. Georgia outscored Georgia College 36-18 on points in the paint.

As for individuals, Oquendo and Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe tied for the team lead with 15 points each.

Speaking of Moncrieffe, he had a fantastic outing in his first game inside Stegeman Coliseum.

In addition to his 15 points, the Oklahoma State transfer also tallied nine rebounds, two assists, and two steals. A member of the starting five, Moncrieffe finished the night with a plus-minus of 14.

"He’s a developing offensive player. But he's a guy that you’re not coaching effort, with this guy," White said. "What you saw today is every day, it’s every day. He pursues balls with two hands, he throws his body around offensively, defensively. He’s ultra competitive. He’s just a hard-playing guy. You love coaching guys like that."

Moncrieffe flashed on several hustle plays throughout the game. He pulled down six offensive rebounds and dove on the floor for loose balls on a couple different occasions.

"What I like to do, I like to just play hard, rebound. Those are the things they’re going to ask me to do every night—play hard, rebound, defend, make the right play," Moncrieffe said. "Somebody’s got to do it. I love for it to be me. I take pride in that stuff, for sure."

Out of Georgia's three freshmen, only KyeRon Lindsay saw extensive playing time on Tuesday night. He certainly made the most of his first 20 minutes of action in front of the home fans.

The Texas native tallied 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting. He added two rebounds and two assists as well. White referred to Lindsay's game as "quirky."

"He’s kind of got some old-school skill level to him," White said. "He’s just got stuff that’s hard to teach. He’s got an ability with either hand. He’s a lefty but he’s so good with his right hand. He’s got hooks and half-hooks and junk shots. Again, stuff that you don’t really work on a lot. He’s just got a nose to score it."

Lindsay also came up big down the stretch. With the game still too close to call, he scored Georgia's final six points to seal the 14-point victory.

"He’s a very talented freshman, for sure," Moncrieffe said. "We’re going to expect big things like that, big performances from him going down the stretch. I’m just happy, first college game, got his feet wet. He’s going to come in the next one confident."