ATHENS -- There will be some clean, old-fashioned hate flowing in Stegeman Coliseum Tuesday night as Georgia and Georgia Tech renew their basketball rivalry for the 199th time. And, for the first time in a while, it looks like two pretty good teams will be going at it.
The Bulldogs (5-3) are coming in on a three-game winning streak sandwiched around a 17-point comeback win over Florida State on the road. The Yellow Jackets (4-2) also are coming in hot. In their first season under coach Damon Stoudamire, Tech arrives fresh off a pair of Top 25 wins – 67-59 over No. 21 Mississippi State in the ACC/SEC Challenge last Tuesday and then 72-68 over No. 7 Duke on Saturday in their ACC opener.
“They’re good; they’re really good,” Georgia coach Mike White said before the Bulldogs’ practiced Monday. “They made some adjustments after their first few games, of course, and their last couple of games they’ve been as competitive as any team in the country. Coming off two really good wins, they’ve got a lot of momentum.”
Tech’s last two victories came after dropping a 74-71 decision to UMass-Lowell at home and then getting throttled on the road against Cincinnati (89-54).
Georgia hasn’t been hiding from competition either. This will be their fourth game against an ACC opponent. In addition to beating the Seminoles (68-66) last Wednesday, the Bulldogs defeated Wake Forest 80-77 on Nov. 10 in Athens. They lost to No. 11 Miami 79-68 on Nov. 17 in the Bahamas Championship.
The Bulldogs also have close losses against Oregon and Providence. Georgia is the only power conference team to play four fellow power-conference opponents in the first five games. They defeated Mercer 80-69 in the latest outing last Saturday.
But in terms of meaningful games, they come no bigger for Georgia than facing Tech. For Bulldogs basketball, there is no greater rival. For a team featuring a 10 newcomers between transfers and freshmen, that’s something that needed to be communicated this week.
“I think that’s really going to speak for itself tomorrow,” said senior Jabri Abdur-Rahim, the Bulldogs’ leading scorer at 13.1 points per game. “I don’t think a lot of the guys understand how important people take (the Tech game). I think it’s going to be a good environment tomorrow and for a lot of those guys it will be their first crazy environment in college basketball. So, I’m glad it’s at home.”
The Bulldogs are expecting a full house in Stegeman Coliseum, especially in the student section. Final exams get under way later this week and coming off Georgia’s loss to Alabama in the SEC Football Championship game this past weekend, they’re expected to unleash some pent-up frustrations.
“It’s a good time to play anybody, really,” White said. “They’re next up on the schedule and, you know, they’ve got a lot of momentum. They’re playing really well. It’s another great opportunity for us. Our schedule’s been rough, but we’ve got a little momentum as well and it ought to be a great environment.”
One Georgia player who might be especially fired up is freshman Blue Cain. The 6-5 freshman from Knoxville was a Tech signee until the Jackets parted ways with former coach Josh Pastner. Cain is Georgia’s second-leading scorer off the bench with 6.4 points per game.
Cain is one of five different plays who have led the Bulldogs in scoring this season. Most recently Illinois transfer RJ Melendez had 21 in the win over Mercer.
There will be some familiarity for White as well. Tech’s 6-6 guard Kowacie Reeves, who’s averaging 11.3 points per game, played for White at Florida. The Macon native transferred to Tech this season.
The Yellow Jackets are led in both scoring and rebounding (18.8 ppg, 6.7 rpg) by 6-6 guard Miles Kelly. Baye Ndong, a 6-9 forward from Senegal, averages 10.3 points and 5.3 rebounds.
Georgia owns a 54-31 edge in games played in Athens, but Georgia Tech leads the all-time series 107-91. The games tend to be highly-competitive. Case in point, last year’s meeting in Atlanta. The Jackets won 79-77 in a battle that featured 11 ties and 18 lead changes.
The Bulldogs are 4-0 at Stegeman Coliseum this season and 17-4 at Stegeman under Mike White.
After playing Tech, the Bulldogs will have an 11-day break from competition for final exams. Georgia will then play three more outings at Stegeman between Dec. 16-22 before an eight-day holiday hiatus. The Bulldogs’ last game of the calendar year is Dec. 30 vs. Alabama A&M. Georgia’s football team is playing Florida State the same day.
“I think we have a good amount of momentum right now,” Abdur-Rahim said. “I think we responded the right way to losing a couple of tough ones early against some really tough opponents. And I think those early games have helped us. We’re battle tested.”
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