WHERE: Stegeman Coliseum

WHEN: Saturday, Noon

RECORDS: Georgia 14-10, 4-7; Kentucky 16-8, 7-4

TV/RADIO: ESPN (Rich Hollenberg, Jimmy Dykes); Georgia Bulldog Radio Network (Scott Howard, Chuck Dowdle, Adam Gillespie)

On one hand, the fact Georgia has 14 wins going into Saturday’s game against Kentucky (Noon, ESPN) certainly qualifies as an improvement over the six contests the Bulldogs won all of last season.

However, head coach Mike White isn’t about to get reflective about that. Considering his team has dropped six of its last seven games, there’s a lot more work that needs to be done.

“I look at it as we’re struggling to get a ‘W’ right now. I look at our deficiencies, how we can continue to improve upon them, and what the keys are for tomorrow,” White said. “We had a pretty good practice today. When the season is over, we’ll do all that, but right now it’s about how can you be competitive against Kentucky. In Lexington, we were. The first half was probably our best half of the year, and obviously, we really struggled in the second half to hold on. We have to play better tomorrow to have a chance.”

In that game on Jan. 17 at Rupp Arena, the Bulldogs led by as many as 11 points in the first half, before settling for a 30-27 lead.

But in the second half, it was too much Oscar Tshiebwe. The preseason SEC Player of the Year dominated the Bulldogs, scoring 37 points to go with 24 rebounds to bring the Wildcats back. During one stretch, Tshiewbwe scored all of the points during an 11-3 surge. His 24 rebounds represented the second-most boards ever by a Georgia opponent since Vanderbilt’s Clyde Lee had 27 in 1965.

“At that time, I think we were playing the best ball that we have played during the season – during that stretch of games at the beginning of SEC play,” guard Kario Oquendo said. “But I don’t think we have had a complete half like that since that game. It would be good if we can get back to playing like that. (Saturday) is supposed to be sold out so that will boost our confidence, too.”

To make that happen, the Bulldogs have to find a way to slow down Tshiebwe.

“He’s one of the best players in the country, and he’s one of the best competitors that we’ve ever competed against, at a couple of different programs, for us in particular,” White said. “In Lexington, his overall rebounding and points numbers were obviously significant, but 11 offensive rebounds and 12 drawn fouls, that’s dominance.”

So, how can the Bulldogs give themselves a chance? It starts with effort.

“You’ve got to compete. You’ve got to compete at an all-time level to have a chance, and we have to do it collectively,” White said. “It’s not all on one guy, and it’s not just on the frontcourt. We’ve got to swarm the basketball, our guards have to rebound, we’ve just got to play with a lot more physical toughness than we did in Lexington.”

Boxscore

Terry Roberts has missed the past two games with what White called a concussion. However, it appears there is at least a chance he will play against Kentucky.

The Bradley transfer returned to the court for the first time Friday since suffering the injury against Auburn.

“He went today for the first time. He’s day-to-day, so we’ll see,” White said. “I’ll get with him and Lance (Georgia basketball trainer Lance Schuemann) probably have some conversations here this evening. Obviously tomorrow we’ll have shootaround in the morning, and we’ll take it from there.”

Roberts scored 21 points in the first meeting against Kentucky, his third 20-point outing in five SEC games at that time.

The Wildcats had their six-game winning streak in league play snapped with a setback to Arkansas on Tuesday night.

Oscar Tshiebwe leads Kentucky offensively (15.5 ppg) and on the glass (13.3 rpg). In fact, he enters the weekend as the nation’s top rebounder.

Three more Wildcats are scoring at a double-figure pace – Antonio Reeves (12.9 ppg), Cason Wallace (12.3 ppg) and Jacob Toppin (11.7 ppg).

Former Bulldog Sahvir Wheeler is averaging an SEC-best 5.6 assists per game. Wheeler has led the league in assists the past two seasons as well, dishing out 7.4 passes-to-points per game at Georgia in 2020-21 and 6.9 per contest at Kentucky last season.

Georgia hosts LSU Tuesday at 8:30 p.m.