Notre Dame in Georgia

WHERE: Stegeman Coliseum

WHEN: Tuesday, 7 p.m

RECORDS: Georgia 7-1, Notre Dame 4-4

TV/RADIO: ESPNU (Kevin Fitzgerald, play-by-play; Richard Hendrix, analyst); Georgia Bulldog Network – Sirius 374 (Scott Howard, play-by-play; Chuck Dowdle, analyst; Adam Gillespie, producer)

Eight games into the season and Mike White continues to learn different things about his Bulldog basketball team.

With Notre Dame in town for Tuesday night’s game (7 p.m., ESPNU) as part of the SEC/ACC Challenge, White and the Bulldogs will learn more.

“They want opportunities to find out more about themselves, to learn strengths and weaknesses and to develop, to grow together through wins or losses,” White said after Georgia’s 102-56 win over Jacksonville. “We had a few of them here recently. We had one at Georgia Tech. We have another one here on Tuesday.”

The Bulldogs (7-1) have certainly impressed so far.

With non-conference wins already against Georgia Tech and St. John’s, Tuesday’s contest is the first of five December games for Georgia before SEC play on Jan. 4 at Ole Miss.

Tuesday night’s game against Notre Dame will be the fifth meeting between the two programs, although the first at a non-neutral site. The Bulldogs and Fighting Irish last met two seasons ago at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, with Georgia claiming a 77-62 win.

“It’s definitely exciting to compete against another power conference,” Bulldog Guard said Tyrin Lawrence said. “We are looking forward to the challenge. For me personally I would say it’s just another game, but as a team I would say it’s definitely exciting to play against such a great team.”

Second semester Dylan James agreed.

“It will be a test for us,” James said. “But this is a chance for the fans to rejoice because the fans will be watching Notre Dame. There’s a big team coming.”

The Bulldogs also know they have to win.

“It’s definitely important,” Lawrence said. “We want to continue to build on the momentum we have had so far. Hopefully the fans will come out and we can have a good atmosphere.”

White bets on the same thing.

“We’re hoping we have a really good turnout. “We have guys that stand on the line, work every day and play hard between the lines,” White said. “We have talented guys that are on the floor and diving for loose balls and sharing them with each other, and I think they do a really good job representing all of us here at Georgia. So we would love a big turnout and give ourselves a chance to play well against a quality program. I mean, they are very, very good and extremely well trained.”