Georgia ready for rematch, second round game at Wake Forest

Georgia Basketball is set to take on Wake Forest Sunday afternoon in a rematch of a regular season meeting between the two teams earlier this season. UGA won that one 80-77 in Athens, and if the Dawgs are able to come out on top again in this one, they’ll be headed to the quarterfinals of the NIT.

“They’re a different team,” Georgia coach Mike White said of Wake Forest. “They’re a team that had a really strong argument obviously to play in the other tournament. The development of their guard transfers has been significant as well. Those guys have just gotten better and better throughout the season — their guard play along with their execution, their spacing, their skill level. They’re a really good team.”

Georgia used a big night offensively on its way to the win with all five starters scoring in double figures led by Noah Thomasson‘s 21. Both he and Jabri Abdur-Rahim, who remains doubtful with a foot injury, made a trio of 3-pointers as the Bulldogs shot just shy of 50% from the field on the game. On the flip side, four Wake Forest players scored at least 12, and the Demon Deacons made 11 attempts from 3-point range, but 13 forced turnovers and a 20-point UGA advantage in the paint led the Bulldogs to victory.

Since the first meeting however, Wake Forest as added the talents of Efton Reid III. The 7-foot, 240-pound junior once considered a five-star by ESPN transferred from Gonzaga last offseason. It was his second time making a move from one school to another after starting his career at LSU, and as a result, he wasn’t made eligible by the NCAA until December. Averaging 9.7 points and 7.8 rebounds per game, having scored in double-figures eight of the last 10 games, the big man certainly is expected to make an impact in this one.

“They’re better both offensive and defensively, on the offensive glass a better rebounding team (with Reid), but they’ve improved at other spots too throughout the season,” White said.

“We don’t put a huge emphasis on that game,” he added. “You’ve got so much time on your hands though that we do go back and watch the game. Heck, we’ve watched it a few times inside and out, but we’ve watched their last few games, watched their game Wednesday night of course, but more emphasis is put on how they’re playing lately.”

The Demon Deacons are led in scoring on the season by Hunter Sallis (18.0 points per game), one of four players averaging at least 12.0 each night out. Kevin Miller (15.6), Cameron Hildreth (13.9) and Andrew Carr (12.9) chip in as well. In the earlier meeting, Miller led all scorers with 22, also adding a game-high seven assists.

Ready for Second Round

Georgia’s win over Xavier on Tuesday night marked the first postseason victory for the Bulldogs since 2016. Both White and players acknowledged it as a step in the right direction for the program after the game, but they know they’ve got to move on quickly if they want to keep building on it.

White told reporters that Georgia took Wednesday after the win over Xavier off before a lighter session on Thursday “in an effort for rejuvenation.” Friday the Bulldogs “got after it” with a productive practice with Saturday being the travel day up to Winston Salem.

“These guys, they’ve got strength and conditioning stuff, they’ve got a bunch of academic stuff, they stay pretty busy. At times, we’ve done some things off the floor, at times we try to be really quick,” White said. “One of the things from a film standpoint, we’ve tried to reduce how much we’re sitting and meeting. We try to continue to find ways to be creative in practice and make it fun and light hearted at times. At times of course it calls for a level of seriousness and focus. Played a little knockout today. We’ll continue to look at ways to be creative.”

“More of a normal prep with a little bit more time, plus a team that we had played and were just a little bit more familiar with,” he added. “It feels a little bit more normal with this one, but that said, the task is taller. On the road at Wake, who’s a very good team especially at home.”

Tip time for Sunday in Winston Salem is set for 4:00 p.m. ET on ESPN2. The Demon Deacons are 17-1 this season at home. Georgia played at Wake Forest last season and fell 81-71.

The winner of Georgia-Wake Forest will advance to play the Ohio State, who beat Virginia Tech 81-73 on Saturday, Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. ET. Should the Bulldogs be the victorious squad, that game would take place in Columbus with the Buckeyes being the higher-seeded team.