North Georgia College at Georgia

WHEN: Wednesday, 7 p.m.

WHERE: Stegeman Coliseum

RECORDS: Georgia 1-0; North Georgia 0-1

TV/RADIO: SEC Network+ (Scott Howard, Chuck Dowdle); Georgia Bulldog Radio Network (Scott Howard, Chuck Dowdle, Adam Gillespie)

It's already been a scramble for Georgia basketball coach Tom Crean, forced to find replacements for his team’s first two games.

Last Sunday it was Florida A&M, which took the place of Gardner-Webb due to Covid issues. Wednesday, nearby North Georgia College comes to Stegeman Coliseum, a replacement for last Wednesday’s scheduled opponent Columbus State, which, like Gardner Webb, had to cancel due to Covid concerns.

Tip-off Wednesday is set for 7 p.m.

“We have a list, but it really came down to the level of date more than anything else. We wanted to play Tuesday or Wednesday this week, knowing we had a Friday game. Certainly, every day is a new day, as everybody has realized,” Crean said Tuesday. “It was not optimal to play three games right off the bat, but at some point, it’s going to come back to be valuable.”

Basically, the Bulldogs just need to play, and North Georgia (0-1 after a loss to Mercer) was fortunately able to oblige.

“We definitely did look at a couple of other teams, but this was such short notice, and it gave us a replacement for the Columbus State game—they were able to jump in,” Crean said. “They'd already been involved in the process of testing because they'd played Mercer, which was obviously a huge thing. It's not about how much money do you need and how far away you are, it's what your testing procedures are.

“That’s where we are in this day and age. But we need to play. The bottom line is, we need to play. It doesn’t matter if it’s North Georgia or North Carolina, we need to come in tomorrow with a tremendous mindset and attitude towards playing against somebody else, and build from Sunday’s game.”

Coming off an 87-75 win over Florida A&M, the Bulldogs were sparked by SEC Player of the Week Tye Fagan’s first career double-double (21 points, 10 rebounds), a 12-assist night by Sahvir Wheeler (who also scored 12 points), and a workmanlike effort by graduate transfer Andrew Garcia (22 points).

After missing out on last week’s opener, Crean felt his team bounced back well, considering the circumstances. He hopes that Wednesday night’s game helps his squad take another positive step forward.

“I think last Wednesday certainly impacted them, but they’re not going to tell any difference in North Georgia from what they did from this past weekend with Florida A&M, or how it will be next week or the next two months,” Crean said. “Obviously, you play different teams, but our whole basis is to get this down in preparation. If this were the regular season, this would be an exhibition right now, and we'd have two games under our belt. But we don't, these count, so we have to come out with the same process of what we're trying to do, get them to understand what we need to do.”

...North Georgia returns four letter-winners from last season’s team, which finished 14-15 overall and 9-11 in Peach Belt Conference play.

...Zach Brown is the Nighthawks’ leading returning scorer at 8.2 ppg. Josh Cotrell and Darnell Snyers were regular starters for UNG last season, getting the nod for 28 and 18 contests, respectively.

...The Nighthawks opened their 2020-21 season a week ago with a 79-48 loss to Mercer. Snyers led three players in double figures for North Georgia with 11 points, while Brown and Eric Jones chipped in 10 each. Mercer led by just 13 points at halftime before outscoring the Nighthawks 43-19 the rest of the way.

Jordan McGruder is a graduate assistant coach with the Nighthawks. He spent the previous two seasons as a student manager for Georgia Basketball. A native of Sharpsburg, Ga., McGruder graduated from UGA last spring with his degree in Sport Management.