ATHENS – Georgia basketball can start righting a terrible wrong from last season when it visits Missouri on Saturday.

The Bulldogs (10-3) will shoot for a road win to open SEC action, something they achieved just once in 2023. The Tigers (8-5) are 4-point favorites entering the 1 p.m. tipoff at Mizzou Arena in Columbia, Missouri.

Georgia has proven itself a formidable conference opponent when playing in Athens. The program went 5-4 in Stegeman Coliseum last season, including statement upsets of Auburn and Kentucky.

Problems came for the Bulldogs when they entered the SEC’s hostile environments, where they went 1-8 in 2023.

“Any road game in this league is going to be incredibly difficult these days,” Georgia coach Mike White said. “But, again, they’re great opportunities as well. We’ve got to do our best to try and protect home as much as possible and try to break through on the road at some point.”

The conference opener will also be a first for the nine newcomers Georgia imported this offseason.

“I’m not sure that we’ve played in an environment that we’ll play in tomorrow,” White said. “The energy level in the building will be something, I imagine, that our guys haven’t seen yet. But you’ve got to face that at some point and be tested at some point, so we’ll see how we respond.”

No, maybe none of Georgia’s “preseason” road experiences match what the SEC has in store. But the Bulldogs have faced some difficult circumstances away from Athens already this season.

All three of UGA’s losses -- all against projected NCAA Tournament teams, according to ESPN’s Bracketology -- have been away from Athens.

The Bulldogs also earned one of their most inspirational wins of the season in their only road win so far. That was when Justin Hill nailed a last-second fadeaway to complete a 17-point comeback win and silence Florida State’s home crowd back in November.

“The biggest thing, I would say, is our ability to respond to adversity,” Georgia’s learning scorer, Jabri Adbur-Rahim, said. “I think I learned about that when we were at Florida State, how we didn’t give up and came all the way back.

“I think for us to get a road win – a good road win – like that early definitely did a lot for us, and I think that’s something that we’re going to lean on going into Missouri.”

Abdur-Rahim, who leads the Bulldogs with 13.2 points per game, will also be charged with leading Georgia on the floor Saturday. UGA’s elder statesman is the only player in his third year with the program.

“It’s going to be an exciting environment, and it will be really physical,” Abdur-Rahim said. “It’s going to be a little different from what we’ve been playing, but our schedule has really prepared us.”

Georgia, 8-11 against Missouri all-time, has dropped six of its last seven games against the Tigers.