ATHENS ― Georgia will host Temple this year in men’s basketball as part of a nonconference schedule that includes six home games and several challenging games away from home.

UGA released its nonconference schedule Thursday. The Owls will visit Stegeman Coliseum on Dec. 22.

Georgia’s nonconference schedule has six home games, three on the road and three in a tournament.

“The goal every year is to create a nonconference schedule that 1) prepares you for SEC play and 2) gives you the strength of schedule at the end of the year to have a chance to go to postseason play,” coach Mark Fox said. “I think again we’ve put one together that again should allow us to do both of those things.”

The SEC schedule was released June 1. Georgia returns nine out of its top 10 scorers from last season, when it finished 19-15 and missed the NCAA Tournament.

Georgia will participate in the Wooden Legacy event in California over Thanksgiving break. The matchups haven’t been announced, but other teams in the field are Cal State Fullerton, DePaul, Harvard, St. Joseph’s, Saint Mary’s, San Diego State and Washington State.

There are three road games at the opponents’ home: Marquette (Dec. 2), UMass (Dec. 16) and Kansas State (Jan. 27). All had been previously announced, with the Kansas State game part of the Big 12-SEC challenge.

Georgia Tech visits Stegman Coliseum on Dec. 19, a Tuesday, with Temple coming in three days later.

The season begins on Nov. 10 as Georgia hosts Bryant. The other nonconference home games include USC-Upstate (Nov. 14), Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (Nov. 19) and Winthrop (Dec. 5).

“We have a significant number of returning players – nine of our top 10 are back, and we’re adding probably one of the better recruiting classes that we’ve had,” Fox said. “But obviously, experience, there’s no substitute for. Everyone is going to be [in] a little bit different role this year because we lost a great leader [J.J. Frazier.] We have a lot of guys who we understand what their abilities are and what they’re capable of, and I think our chemistry remains very strong. The new guys have the advantage of learning from that experience. We’re working like a team that is very hungry and driven. Right now, we’re excited about their approach.”