Mike White says following up Notre Dame game with a win was 'huge'

Having your team prepped and ready each and every game is already hard enough. When you throw in distractions like Christmas or general outside noise, it only gets that much harder. That’s why, after Georgia defeated Chattanooga 72-65 on Wednesday, Mike White believed it was such a big win for his Bulldogs.

White spoke about the different things that affected his team’s latest win during his postgame press conference. He said the holidays, Chattanooga’s recent success, and Georgia feeling good about themselves following their win over Notre Dame all came together to create a challenge that his team had to overcome.

“Huge. This was whatever cliche you want to throw out there,” said White. “It’s right before Christmas, Chattanooga’s coming off a game at home that they had a chance to win, the game before that they end Middle Tennessee’s home winning streak. They can compete with anybody in the country. And we’re coming off our biggest win of the year hands down.”

“This was one we were very on edge for as a staff. Chattanooga certainly had all of our attention,” White said.

The Mocs had Georgia on the ropes throughout this game because. They led by as much as eight in the game. However, the Bulldogs put their foot on the gas late. They finished on a 17-5 run over the final six minutes to take it by seven. Kario Oquendo was key to their comeback as he scored 16 of his team-high 22 points in the second half.

The Bulldogs were able to overcome all of the clutter in order to pick up their second consecutive and ninth overall win. That has them sitting at 9-3 as they prepare for SEC play. Still, there’s one last hurdle for White’s team to leap as they’ll host Rider on the 28th before kicking off their conference season on January 4th against Auburn.