When Mike White decided to raise the level of non-conference competition of his schedule, he knew there might be a few bumps in the road.

Monday’s 82-71 loss to Oregon in the season-opener at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas was a good example.

Although they tried, the Bulldogs were unable to dig out from a dreadful start shooting, while being completely dominated on the boards by a more physical Oregon team.

“It was a lid on it early. I loved the fight down the stretch, the press was effective for us, even though we were not really a pressing team. But we fought to the bitter end,” White said. “We had the pick-6 at the end, it could have been more respectable than that had we got some of those (later) shots to fall.”

After trailing by as much as 20 points with 9:47 left, Georgia tried to rally, ultimately cutting the Ducks’ lead to 10 on a three-pointer by Jabri Abdur-Rahim with 1:57 left.

Blue Cain followed shortly with a three-pointer of his own to bring Georgia to within 79-71, but the Bulldogs drew no closer.

“We weren’t crisp enough,” White said. “They’ve got a really good nucleus back. We’re trying to build something, and we’ve got to do a better job. We’ve had better cohesiveness and connectivity both offensively and defensively leading into that, but a good program will expose you. That’s why you play these games, so you can self-evaluate.”

The Bulldogs had no answer for Oregon big man N’Faly Dante, who dominated the boards for the Ducks, pulling down 21 rebounds, 15 on the defensive end. Oregon crushed Georgia on the boards, finishing with a 63-40 advantage.

Dante also scored 16 points, one of four players in double-figures for Oregon.

“They dominated us on the glass. My goodness, those rebounding numbers are staggering. Unbelievable,” White said. “I liked our spacing, I like the fact we got off 30 threes. That’s what this team needs to do, but 16 turnovers were too many for us.”

Abdur-Rahim paced the Bulldogs with 18 points, followed by RJ Melendez and Cain with 12 each.

“You like the competitive spirit. You like that guys were ready to fight, but we weren’t disciplined enough there, and that’s on me,” White said. “We’ve got to get back to the drawing boards defensively with our basics in practice this week with defending with as much intensity without fouling.”

A slow start from the field did the Bulldogs no favors.

Georgia converted just 3 of its first 18 shots, and combined with Oregon’s dominating inside, the Ducks jumped out to a 28-11 lead.

But Cain and Abdur-Rahim, who led Georgia with 13 first-half points, would bring the Bulldogs back.

An 11-0 run by Georgia highlighted by a pair of three-pointers by the pair, brought the Bulldogs within four, 32-28, with 3:59 to go in the first half.

The two teams traded two free throws after that, only for Oregon to close the half on a 6-0 run to lead 40-30.

Boxscore

…This was the third time under White that Georgia had six different players making a three-pointer. The other two times took place Nov. 11 at Wake Forest and Feb. 1 at Auburn.

…The Bulldogs converted 6 of their final 11 three-point attempts after starting the game 4 of 19.

…This was Jabri Abdur-Rahim’s sixth career game with 15-plus points. It was his first with 15-plus points and five-plus rebounds.

…Melendez scored nine of his 12 points in the second half.

…Silas Demary Jr. scored all eight of his points in the second half.

…Georgia plays its home opener Friday at 7 against Wake Forest.