Georgia Bulldogs vs. North Florida Osprey Pick & Prediction DECEMBER 22nd 2023

Georgia basketball coach Mike White has plenty of options at his disposal this season, and he has two more chances to sort it all out.

Riding a six-game winning streak, White’s club welcomes in North Florida for the first of its final two final nonconference tune-ups on Friday afternoon at Athens, Ga.

With nine newcomers suiting up for the Bulldogs (8-3), White has spent the first 11 contests figuring out the best lineup to put on the court in advance of the team’s SEC opener Jan. 6 at Missouri.

The second-year Georgia coach, who previously was the bench boss at rival Florida for seven seasons, said there should be lots of variety in his search for chemistry with his combinations.

“We’ve got quality depth,” White said. “On different nights, it’s been different guys. We have a lot of parity on this roster, we’ve talked about that in the past. It’s no different now, and it’s going to be different guys on different nights.”

Following North Florida, Georgia will play host to Alabama A&M on Dec. 30. The Bulldogs’ SEC home opener is Jan. 10 against Arkansas.

Jabri Abdur-Rahim (13.3 points per game), Noah Thomasson (13.0) and RJ Melendez (10.0) lead Georgia in scoring. Abdur-Rahim scored 21 of his career-high 23 points during a 94-82 home victory over Mount St. Mary’s on Wednesday.

North Florida (7-6) had a single strategy against Florida State on Tuesday: Shoot the ball from long range — a lot.

The Ospreys launched 46 3-pointers, making 18 of them (39.1 percent) while falling 91-75. They could not overcome the Seminoles’ size advantage while getting outrebounded 44-27.

“Florida State was coming at us — that’s what they do,” Ospreys coach Matthew Driscoll said. “That’s what’s great about playing these guys and the ability to learn. … They have just great length and the ability to make us play differently.”

“To our guys’ credit, we took advantage of what they were trying to do. We were able to score 76 points, which isn’t easy to do against them. But we’re not into moral victories. … (Our guys) didn’t allow the scoreboard to dictate how they were going to play.”

On his 22nd birthday, Chaz Lanier led the Ospreys with 22 points on 5-of-15 long-range shooting and had two of the team’s seven steals. Lanier was 7 of 18 from the floor overall.

Lanier, a 6-foot-4 guard from Nashville, Tenn., has reached double figures in points in 12 of 13 games.

–Field Level Media