Georgia's roster in flux due to injury, illness heading into rivalry game at Georgia Tech

Georgia, down four players when it last took the court, faces Georgia Tech Tuesday night with its chemistry and depth tested as Mike White coaches his first game in the men’s basketball rivalry.

“We’ve had a lot of stuff here with bumps and bruises and with illnesses lately” White said before the team practiced on Monday afternoon. “It’s daily.”

Guards Terry Roberts and Kario Oquendo, the team’s top scorers and leaders in minutes played, sat out Friday’s game against overmatched Florida A&M in an 68-46 rout.

White said he wasn’t sure who would practice Monday, but said he had seven or eight players go Sunday.

Oquendo (lower body contusion) and forward Matthew Alexander-Moncrieffe (ankle) missed the last two games. They gave it a go during shootaround Friday but didn’t play.

Roberts, who averages 14.0 points, a team-leading 4.2 assists and 4.8 rebounds per game, was cleared to practice Monday if the Bradley transfer felt well enough. Center Frank Anselem, a Syracuse transfer who has started three games this season, was to miss Monday practice so may he not play in the 7 p.m. game Tuesday in Atlanta.

White wore a mask on the bench and his postgame press conference for two games last week, but didn’t to his media availability on Monday.

“We’re following the correct protocol, we’re doing what we’re supposed to do, but there’s stuff everywhere,” White said. “A few of our guys, a few of our staff members. I’ve been through it, too.”

Georgia (7-2) had used up to 12 players in games this season, but White only brought his three remaining scholarship players off the bench last Friday.

White called the roster flux due to player availability “challenging,” as it relates to chemistry and staying in flow but said more minutes for some players can be a boost to them.

“You might have guys playing with a certain level of confidence then maybe they otherwise would have not knowing if they’re going to get back in if we’re playing 12 as opposed to playing eight,” he said.

Center Braelen Bridges has scored 31 points on 14 of 20  shooting with 21 rebounds the last two games. North Texas transfer guard Mardrez McBride has scored 23 points and made 5 of 8 3-pointers during that stretch that also included a win over Hampton.

Senior Jaxon Etter said the changes in the lineup has brought the team closer together.

“Togetherness has been a word we’ve used the last few days,” Etter said. “We played eight guys. It’s all about how we respond to adversity and I think we’re doing a really good job staying together, fighting through adversity.”

White, who has never gone up against Georgia Tech coach Josh Pastner, doesn’t put much increased stock in the rivalry aspect of playing Georgia Tech (5-3).

“I know this is a rivalry games, it’s huge for our fans and I get that,” he said. “I want it to be huge for our guys and it’s going to be huge. It’s a great opportunity, but so is the next one and so in the next one….We’ve got to play well every day. We’ve got to get better.”

The Yellow Jackets have lost to Utah, Marquette and Iowa. A win in this game would be the best so far for Georgia Tech just like it would be for Georgia.

“A really skilled team, not an overly big team,” White said. “They play hard, they’re athletic. They have multiple guys that can pass, dribble, shoot. They’re tough to defend, changing defenses keep you off balance as well.”

Georgia hasn’t played at Georgia Tech since 2018 after the game was scrapped in the 2020-2021 season due to a COVID-19 pandemic shortened schedule.

The Yellow Jackets won in Athens last season 88-78 to snap a five-game losing streak.

“It’s a little bit more prevalent than it is in football nowadays,” Etter said of the rivalry. “Shout out to them boys over there. The hope is we can dominate that rivalry just like football is. …Last year left a bitter taste in our mouth. We hate losing to Tech.

Georgia Tech’s top two scorers are sophomore guards Miles Kelly from Stone Mountain, who leads  the Yellow Jackets at 13.0 points per game, and Dallan “Deebo” Coleman at 10.8.

Georgia is ranked No. 176 in the debut NET rankings on Monday while Georgia Tech is No. 133. The next two games for Georgia provide opportunities to raise that number with Notre Dame next up Dec. 18 in Atlanta.

“I feel like we’re going to wake a lot of people up beating Georgia Tech and Notre Dame,” Bridges said. “I feel like we can put the world on notice if we compete and win.”

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Georgia basketball readies for Georgia Tech with roster questions