SEC Tournament

WHEN: Wednesday, 8 p.m.

WHERE: Amalie Arena, Tampa, Fla.

RECORDS: Georgia 6-25, 1-17 SEC; Vanderbilt 15-15, 7-11 SEC

TV/RADIO: SEC Network (Tom Hart, Daymeon Fishback, Alyssa Lang); Georgia Bulldog Radio Network (Scott Howard, Chuck Dowdle, Adam Gillespie).

Although Tom Crean’s future in Athens certainly appears to be a forgone conclusion, don’t look for any official word from Georgia until the Bulldogs are done competing in this week’s SEC Tournament.

Georgia takes on Vanderbilt Wednesday in Tampa Wednesday night at 8 p.m.

“I’m really just focused on doing my job, and any questions about my future would have to go to the athletic department,” Crean said during a Tuesday Zoom. “I’m just locked in to doing what I’m trying to do.”

Crean’s future has been a hot topic of conversation for a while.

With just one win in 18 SEC games, the Bulldogs come into play at Amalie Arena as losers of 11 straight, including both games to the Commodores (15-15) earlier this year.

“I’m not really reflective right now when you’re still in the season,” Crean said. “I’m really locked in on Vanderbilt, on what we can do there and what we would need to do should we advance. That’s really totally where my mind has been—where we can get better from each game, and what we can improve on. That’s kind of where I’m at.”

It’s been a season of outside noise for the Bulldogs.

Three weeks ago, a halftime altercation resulted in the suspension of assistant coach Wade Mason after he allegedly made physical contact with director of player personnel Brian Fish.

Even before then, rumors of Crean’s future in Athens were already starting. Whether or not those questions affected his team in any way, Crean could not say.

“I don’t know. It’s the same answer I’ve had in the past. We really don’t talk about that. We stay really locked in, because it doesn’t affect me. If it was affecting me, then I would look at it differently,” Crean said. “I know they’re young people and I’m not trying to be naïve, so I’m not saying that it doesn’t. But it’s not anything we really talk about, because all that becomes is wasted energy, and the energy needs to be spent on how we get better.

"That’s the most important thing, and that’s one of the reasons our energy has been high. I don’t know that those play into it when we get down in a game; where we are inside of that game plays into it.”

For those who’ve watched the Bulldogs, having belief has been a huge problem.

“I think we practice very hard. No question. We’ve had two really good days. The energy level in that was high,” Crean said. “Today was short, because we’ll shoot tonight at the arena, but I think their energy has been very, very good. The belief comes and goes in seasons like this and inside of the games. The energy and belief going into it has been consistent; it just doesn’t always carry out the way we’d like it to.”

NOTES:

• Braelen Bridges leads the SEC and ranks No. 4 nationally in FG pct. .642...which also is second-best ever by a Bulldog.

• Aaron Cook will be playing in his 164th college basketball game, the third-most ever by any MBB Division I player.

• Cook’s 161 assists ranks No. 3 among UGA’s all-time season leaders...and is 8 from the No. 2 mark.

• Eight of Kario Oquendo’s 10 20-point games have come in SEC play, including a career-high 33 at Texas A&M on 2/22.