ATHENS — Four years as a player at Ole Miss, seven years as a head coach at Florida and now two more leading the Georgia program.

Yeah, with 13 years worth of SEC basketball experience, Mike White knows what this league is about as much as anybody.

“Lot of adversity, which is life in the SEC,” White said after his Bulldogs battled back from 21 points in the final 13 minutes to force overtime before falling 102-98 at Florida.

“And we come in here and give ourselves a chance … a lot to be proud about.”

Indeed, but it was another missed opportunity for Georgia, a program White is trying to get over the hump and back into the NCAA tournament for what would be the first time in nine years.

“We have to get back to work on Monday and prepare for the next one,” White said, whose team plays host to projected NCAA participant Alabama at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday — a challenging game-time for many of the Atlanta-area UGA fans to make.

“In this league these days, you have to celebrate (wins), or if you’re gonna be down about (losses) you’ve got to get over it quickly and flush it, because there’s another one around the corner.”

White, to his credit, is as even-keeled as any collegiate coach, his postgame press conference expression the same whether his team wins or loses.

As tough as the Florida loss was — White coached the Gators seven years, and their fans turned on him and his family after the team struggled to overcome the loss of the preseason SEC Player of the Year — the Georgia coach trusts his players to respond.

Read more at DawgNation.