NCAA Tournament
No. 9 Seed Georgia vs No. 8 Seed Gonzaga
WHEN: Thursday, 4:35 p.m.
WHERE: INTRUST Bank Arena, Wichita, Kansas
RECORDS: Georgia – 20-12; Gonzaga – 25-8
WHAT’S NEXT: The winner plays the victory of Houston-SIU Edwardsville for a trip to the Sweet 16.
TV/RADIO: TBS (Tom McCarthy, Debbie Antonelli, Steve Smith and AJ Ross); Georgia Bulldog Radio Network (Scott Howard, Chuck Dowdle, Adam Gillespie)
WICHITA – There’s a lot of newness for most of Georgia’s roster playing in the NCAA Tournament on Thursday for the very first time.
Of course, there are exceptions.
RJ Godfrey was part of a Clemson team that advanced to last year’s Elite Eight, but otherwise, there’s little NCAA experience for the Bulldogs to draw from.
But could Georgia’s recently completed SEC gauntlet wind up helping the Bulldogs?
Head coach Mike White hopes so.
“Yeah, I think it's prepared us to be as resilient as just about any team in the country, which is really unique for the lack of experience that our group has. It shows the character and the connectivity, the mental toughness that our group has,” White said during Wednesday’s pre-game press conference. “We'll have to respond to adversity, to runs. What does that mean for the outcome of the game, who knows, but it's a resilient group, and you've got to be resilient in situations like this against really good teams on the big stage because adversities are coming.”
The Bulldogs (20-12) have certainly held their own against some of the best the SEC had to offer.
While there were certainly some ugly defeats, Georgia also beat some of the best – topping Florida 88-83 in Athens and taking No. 1 Auburn down to the wire in Athens before falling by two, 70-68.
“I'm just so thankful we played in the best conference in the history of the sport,” RJ Godfrey said. “I think it's really going to help us prepare us.”
The Bulldogs will need to be prepared.
At 24-8, the Bulldogs are certainly no stranger to the NCAA Tournament and they’re no stranger to success.
This marks the Zags’ 26th trip to March Madness and are shooting for their 10th straight appearance in the Sweet 16.
“Man, that's a crazy stat,” Godfrey said. “know Coach (Mark) Few does a good job with his guys. He has a lot of experience coaching the Olympics, coaching just all over the place.”
Few said doesn’t take his team’s streak for granted. He also knows it will mean absolutely nothing when his team tangles with Georgia.
“I mean, if it was so easy and everybody did it, there would be more of us that have done it 27 straight times,” Few said. “It's really, really, really hard. There are some great teams out there. There are some really, really good teams out there, and there are obviously some hungry teams that would do anything. There are some good players.”
Few likes what he sees with Georgia.
“That’s a really, really, really good team,” added Few, who said his team cannot assume a single when it comes to advancing in the tournament once again this year.
“It's human nature, right? When something happens over time, I think we all tend to expect it to happen. That's not the case. But that's what makes this tournament so cool and so fun and such an amazing worldwide sporting event.”
White said his Bulldogs plan on attacking Thursday’s game a certain way, too.
“We're attacking it with hunger. You know, we're chasing it with excitement. We're going to play with joy, and we're going to play with connection,” White said. “We're playing a program that's been to a bunch of Sweet 16s in a row. It's important to them. It's got to be important to us just to play our best. Again, it's not nearly as much about outcomes for us. It's about playing well. It's just about playing well.”
