Mike White defends Marcus Millender after awful mistake in Georgia loss to Tennessee

In a game that the Georgia Bulldogs lost early on in the rebounding department, they nearly had a shot at redemption in overtime at home vs. the rival Tennessee Volunteers on Wednesday night. After forcing the additional frame, Georgia sixth man Marcus Millender had a mental lapse for the ages. He forgot how much time was on the clock before scoring two points down three with 0.6 seconds left...

Georgia head coach Mike White took to the podium after the game to defend his guy for this mistake.

"I didn't even talk to him about it. I know Smurf was as down as anybody in the locker room after the game. And I told him, I told all these guys, I thought Smurf played as well as anybody on our team tonight. We all, everyone in our locker room, made mistakes during that game, including myself."

White continued in discussing how this team will grow after its tough Quad 1 loss at home, 86-85...

"We preach growth every day. If we had a quick two with Blue Cain getting downhill, we would have taken it in some time. You know, it's big moments. It's young people, right? I know late in games, with the clock running down, he's made probably a dozen huge positive plays for our program, so I thought he was really good tonight. We've got to execute down the stretch a little bit better, of course. But I believe in Smurf."

For those who did not see it or need a refresher of the play itself, here is what transpired Wednesday.

Georgia enters Saturday's home game vs. Texas A&M with a 16-5 overall record and 4-4 in SEC play.

Mike White going to bat for Marcus Millender will serve Georgia later on

As guys like Millender, Blue Cain, Jeremiah Wilkinson, Somto Cyril, and Kanon Catchings begin to assert themselves as star players on this team, how far Georgia goes this season will fall on White. Because he knew he had a young team, but could implement a deep 11-man rotation, he opted to go with an up-tempo attack that has been good, bad, and downright ugly at times on the hardwood here.

Millender has at times stepped up as a leader in hero ball situations. It just did not work out for him on Wednesday vs. Tennessee... Of Georgia's five defeats on the season three have been by one bucket or less. This team regularly plays its opponents close. One would think they are comfortable in those spots. Then again, this is a team that is still a bit too green and a tad too reckless to ever be trusted.

In the end, we need to give White all the credit in the world for not burying his sixth man here. Yes, he should know better, but try to put yourself into his shoes in this situation. You are at home going up against a rival who had been kicking your tail on the glass all night. Tennessee is one of the better programs in SEC basketball history. Georgia's pales in comparison. White lost to his brother's team..

Ultimately, Georgia is still likely a tournament team. As long as the Bulldogs win something around 20 games this season, they should make the field of 68. It would be a huge accomplishment for this team to make the tournament in back-to-back seasons. Unfortunately, it has been a painfully long time since Georgia last won a tournament game. White knows he will need guys like Millender to do it.

Georgia cannot wallow in defeat after dropping back-to-back Quad 1 games to Tennessee and Texas.