WHERE: Stegeman Coliseum

WHEN: Saturday, 1 p.m.

RECORDS: Georgia 14-9, 7-9; South Carolina 5-12, 3-10

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

Trying to figure out what you'll see game in and game out from the Georgia basketball team has been a tricky endeavor.

This has been a hard group to figure out. However, despite the inconsistencies, the Bulldogs enter Saturday’s game against South Carolina (1 p.m., SEC Network) with more than just bragging rights on the line.

Stay with me now.

Should the Bulldogs (14-9, 7-9) find a way to upset Alabama on March 6 and win a pair of games in the SEC Tournament, Georgia would—don't laugh—at least put itself in position to be in the conversation for a postseason bid.

Head coach Tom Crean wasn't about to suckered into such a hypothetical during a Zoom session Friday with reporters. But he did acknowledge his team is playing with a raised level of confidence.

“They’ve shown really good resilience in bouncing back from the tough games. I think it’s a credit to how they come in and how the coaching staff comes in. The coaching staff comes in with a very demanding, but ‘let's get better’ mindset, and the players come in with the same thing and understand it,” Crean said. “I think that’s what's helped us, so I would think the confidence level is raised. The moment you take your foot off the gas or relax for a second, it will leave you. So, for us, we just have to continue to remain absolutely focused on how we get better and how we prepare for each game, because as usual, each game is its own entity.”

The Gamecocks should certainly have Georgia’s attention, despite a paltry record of 5-12, 3-10 in the SEC.

On Jan 27 in Columbia, South Carolina routed the Bulldogs 83-59, one of four conference losses this year by 18 points or more.

“It’s very hard for me to watch that game. I have watched it a couple of times over the last couple of days, and it's not good for my stomach. I don’t know how much of it we’ll show the team,” Crean said. “We’ve shown them some clips, but it’s more about where they’re at right now, how they’re playing, what we have to do there, and then, what adjustments we have to make from how they guarded us the first time. A lot more gets done on the floor than from film.”

So, what's different this time around?

Graduate P.J. Horne said it's due to a renewed focus on the defensive end.

Even last Saturday’s seven-point loss to Florida, Horne said, the Bulldogs did a better job applying some of the lessons Crean and his staff have been preaching all year.

"I'd just say, as a group, we realized there's a lot that goes on in a college basketball game. Defensive plays are a really great part of the game,” Horne said. “I feel like once we get on the court defensively, we can beat anybody."

Actually, there's a little more to it than that.

According to Crean, he and his assistants have stopped worrying about what the Bulldogs lack in terms of rim and shot-blocking presence, instead just preaching the aggressiveness in which they need to play.

“Whether we're mixing defenses, whether we're trapping ball screens, switching ball screens—whatever it is. We just needed to become a more aggressive team, and you always get worried about that when you don’t have that shot-blocking rim presence, because you can lose the game on layups and dunks,” Crean said. “It’s a lot easier to challenge a three than it is a dunk or a layup, but at the same time, we have to play to our strengths. I think their aggressiveness has really helped, and it’s helped build their confidence.”

Graduate Andrew Garcia said the new strategy is working out well.

"Our level of how we're locked in at practice, especially the time and emotion we put into it, plays a part in [the difference between] where we are now and where we were before,” Garcia said. “We're ready and super locked-in, trying to get the defensive part down first, because offensively, we want to push that pace. We've got to make sure defensively, in transition and the half-court, we're playing at a high level."

With four more assists, Sahvir Wheeler will establish a new Georgia single-season record for assists.

Former Bulldog Pertha Robinson holds the record, currently at 169.

In Georgia's win against LSU, Wheeler scored 14 points, dished out 13 assists, and recorded 11 rebounds to post the first triple-double in Georgia’s 116 seasons of basketball. It was just the 29th triple-double in SEC history.

The following question was posed to both Horne and Garcia: With the NCAA’s decision to grant waivers to any senior wishing to return for another year, would either of the two consider coming back to Georgia for another season?

Predictably, both players dodged the question, although Crean appeared to leave the door open when asked about his trio of grad transfers—Horne, Garcia, and Justin Kier.

“It’s a unique senior day, not only because of the season, but because they’re going to have the option to come back if they want,” Crean said. “That’s something we’re going to deal with down the road. I think the three of them, if we're going to generalize it, have brought a real maturity. They've brought an excellent spirit. They've been well coached, and that absolutely benefited us when they came in. They've been great to be around. They've gotten better. I'd say that what I’ve loved, too, is that they’ve appreciated being at a school like the University of Georgia.”

South Carolina is currently 5-12 overall and 3-10 in SEC play this season.

The Gamecocks’ schedule has been dramatically impacted by Covid. To date, South Carolina has canceled four games and postponed four more due to the pandemic. The Gamecocks lost four games between Dec. 10-29, then played two contests before a second pause postponed two more outings.

AJ Lawson and Keyshawn Bryant lead the Gamecocks offensively. Lawson is scoring a team-high 17.8 ppg, and Bryant is chipping in 14.2 ppg.

The Bulldogs will have the next six days off before hosting Alabama in the regular season finale on March 6. Tip-off for the game against the Crimson Tide will be 2 p.m.