ATHENS – Georgia basketball will play its first game in 11 days against George Mason at 7 p.m. on Saturday night at Stegeman Coliseum.

The Bulldogs will also see their first game action since losing key contributor Jailyn Ingram to a torn ACL last Tuesday. The Florida Atlantic transfer was averaging 10.5 points and 6.4 rebounds per game going into Georgia’s most recent victory.

UGA coach Tom Crean spent the past 10 days preparing his team hoping to find ways to compensate for the loss of Ingram while keeping the confidence high.

“It took me a day to get (my confidence) back up to be honest with you,” Crean said. “I don’t know how we are going to play yet. We are going to have to morph into that a little bit because with the three-point shooting, with the spacing.

We’re taking out a 23, 24-year-old man that is incredibly tough and physical and can do so many different things.”

Gonzaga transfer Aaron Cook touched on the importance of the stretch of off-days between Ingram’s injury and Georgia’s game Saturday night.

“They were definitely needed,” Cook said. “Without him [Ingram] being in the game, it’s going to be tough to figure out how we are going to score, rebound, and all other types of things without him.

“As far as the chemistry goes, just finding how to make up for those things, I think we are doing a really great job of figuring it out on the fly with the eight to 10 days we had off.”

Crean says a number of Bulldog players will be called upon to fill Ingram’s shoes. The coach mentioned seven different names that could step up for Georgia in Ingram’s place.

“Jailyn (Ingram) did a lot of things, but when you take him and Aaron (Cook), those were two guys who, whatever you needed to be done offensively or defensively, they could find a way to do it,” Crean said. “They could bail you out of a lot of jams.”

“Now we have to find ways to make up for that.”

Sophomore Guard Kario Oquendo gave more specific insight for the players most likely to fill in for Ingram.

“We’ve been running Noah (Baumann) a lot at the four this week, and I think Dalen (Ridgnal) will step up a lot too,” he said.

Baumann, a USC transfer, has averaged 3.6 points and 1.6 rebounds per game this season. Ridgnal, a transfer from Cowley College, is averaging 0.6 points and 1.4 rebounds per game in limited action in 2021.

Crean also said Ingram is still making an impact for the team on practice days advising Baumann and Ridgnal.

George Mason won its first four games of the season, including an upset of No. 20-ranked Maryland, before hitting a five-game losing skid.

The Patriots’ last game, on December 7, was a bounce-back win against Navy.

Georgia, facing George Mason for the first time in program history, is a 2-point favorite.