Silas Demary’s vocal maturation leading Georgia basketball into SEC Tournament

“He’s grown as a player, of course, made a big jump statistically with usage, with confidence, all those things,” White said. “We all see that, but he’s also made a big jump with putting his stamp on this team and on this program with regard to being an extension of us.”

Demary has seen that growth in himself, specifically in the heat of the SEC season.

“Over the past two months, I’ve just kind of really learned what to say and how to say it and to get guys going,” Demary said. “I think the more and more I’ve used my voice, the better as a team we’ve gotten because the guys are listening. I don’t want to say I’m telling them what to do, but kind of giving them an idea of how and what we should do.

“And I think it’s definitely helped us grow a lot because guys are willing to listen.”

Demary’s intensity will be key as he leads Georgia into uncharted waters in the Mike White era. The Bulldogs will tip off their late-night SEC Tournament game with the Oklahoma Sooners (19-12, 6-12) with different stakes on the line than the last three seasons.

UGA has all but guaranteed itself an NCAA Tournament bid, so it won’t be fighting for its postseason life at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee.

It can still improve its NCAA seed, though, so Georgia has plenty of reasons to bring the same focus it has in the last four wins.

White said Demary has helped the team stay focused on the desperate Sooners, who might need an SEC Tournament win after fellow NCAA bubble team Texas beat Vanderbilt on Wednesday afternoon.

Georgia will look for Demary to dominate Oklahoma the way he has against every SEC defense over the last four wins. The Raleigh, N.C., native has averaged 19.5 points during UGA’s winning streak.

Demary scored 10 points with eight rebounds, four assists and three steals in a 72-62 win over Oklahoma earlier this season. He also stole the show with arguably the greatest dunk from a Bulldog this season.

The scoring spark has helped Georgia overcome its bad habit of blowing first-half leads. The Bulldogs have still been outscored in three of their last four second halves, but they have done enough down the stretch to close wins out.

Demary and the Bulldogs have no plans to take the night off and earn some extra rest before March Madness. Demary wanted to take Georgia back to SEC respectability, and a run on the conference’s biggest stage would certainly help the cause.

“I think that was kind of one of my biggest goals, like individual goals I just kept to myself, was just to be able to help lead this team back to the SEC Tournament and then be confident that we can make a run in this tournament,” Demary said. “We started hitting our stride at the right time. I think everybody just has a high confidence and we’re just having a lot of swagger about ourselves.”