ATHENS — These Georgia basketball players carry themselves differently — self-assured, confident but not cocky.

“We’re still figuring some things out,” Illinois transfer RJ Melendez said, “but I think we’re definitely going to be an NCAA (tournament) team.”

That hasn’t happened in nine years, and most other UGA men’s basketball teams since then haven’t even broached the subject.

Again, this team is different, and while they don’t bring it up, they certainly aren’t afraid to share their confidence in one another and their coaching staff.

Mike White has been coaching long enough to know that talk doesn’t win games, but he also respects this gritty mix of veterans and talented young players.

So while the Bulldogs are off to 13-5 start with a 3-2 mark in SEC play, just like last year, things are also different.

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At least, they are expected to be different when LSU (11-7, 3-2) comes to Stegeman Coliseum for a 6:30 p.m. tip on Wednesday.

UGA marketing has already moved the students to the side court, floor level to generate more noise and excitement. For this game, they’ll be giving away 750 Georgia baseball hats.

It’s the kind of game Georgia has to win if they want to move up from being a fringe bubble team to an NCAA tournament participant for what would be the first time since 2015 -- before Kirby Smart was overseeing football!

The Bulldogs aren’t even among the first eight out of the most recent ESPN Bracketology projection, even though their RealTime RPI is at 57.

White doesn’t want this kind of “must-win” pressure — he just wants a good practice and improvement each day.

“If you win enough, good things will happen, but it’s a waste of time for us to talk about it, that’s why we try to have those conversations on the front end, get them out of the way,” White said.

“Let’s focus on how the heck we keep (LSU’s) Jordan Wright off the foul line.”

White’s hyper-focus on game prep is similar to how Kirby Smart has built Georgia football.

But while those football Bulldogs are established postseason contenders, White is trying to break new ground at Georgia, and there is a story to be told here as UGA looks to break away from its pitiful history and low expectations in men’s basketball.

People want to know, how has White has built such a savvy, talented roster in two years?

Senior Jabri Abdur-Rahim, the only leftover from the Tom Crean era, is one of the big reasons. When your best player is your hardest worker, it’s a good situation.

White calls Abdur-Rahim a “gym rat,” and when he hears a basketball bouncing in the practice gym after team hours, the Georgia coach knows the team captain is one of the participants.

As much as White is focused on the game with LSU, he clearly likes this team so much he can’t help but brag on them a bit when prodded.

“When we were on the 10-game (win) streak, it started hitting home a bit that these guys are super consistent,” White said. “Our guys responded to early losses, and it showed the resiliency and competitiveness of this group.

“I don’t know where this group ends up here, in the final stretches of the season, we have a ways to go,” he said. “But I do know this group, they compete consistently, they like to work, (and) we have a healthy locker room.”

And the players, like Melendez, believe in Mike White.

That was evident when Melendez was pressed for reasons why this Georgia team would be different than the so many before that had tried but failed to turn this into a winning basketball culture.

“Just practicing every single day and seeing what the team can do, and what we have done against top teams, I really think we’re an NCAA team,” said Melendez, who aided that cause by draining a pair of pressure-packed free throws in the final seconds to seal a win at South Carolina earlier this season.

“And just trusting all the coaches, and what they have for us, is really makes me believe we’re an NCAA team.”

There is indeed a lot of trust building in the basketball program and fanbase, and a lot riding on the Wednesday night game against LSU.

Melendez, who played in some of the most raucous venues in the nation during his stint in the Big Ten, said the players are counting on the fans, too.

“It’s amazing what DawgNation can do and the amount of noise they can cause in the gym,” Melendez said. “It messes with the opponents. Whenever we are on a run it gets really loud in here. It’s a really big advantage having Stegeman loud.”

This next game is a premium opportunity for Georgia basketball to show it has taken another step, in terms of its ability to prove it can handle the sort of expectations that come with being a winning program.

Last year’s group, after it’s 13-5 start, finished 16-16.

This team looks and sounds different, but the results will soon speak for themselves.

White, who once helped guide Ole Miss basketball from doormat to NCAA team as a player, knows what he has seen in practice on the heels of the 105-96 loss to Kentucky.

“We had a good practice yesterday coming off a game we were down 28, there’s no sulking, guys are getting after it,” White said. “They believe in the process of getting better. We’re trying to rebuild it, there’s no reason we can’t be successful here.”