ATHENS — Georgia basketball tips off the back half of its SEC schedule on Wednesday fighting for its position in the NCAA Tournament.

The Bulldogs (15-7, 3-6 SEC), projected Tuesday to be one of the last four byes in ESPN’s Bracketology, will face a rare unranked SEC opponent when LSU visits Stegeman Coliseum at 9 p.m. (TV: SEC Network).

The Tigers (12-9, 1-7) are currently the only team on UGA’s February schedule not ranked in the top 25. LSU has lost four straight, coming off an 89-58 loss to Texas on Saturday.

Wednesday’s unranked conference game — only Georgia’s third this season — seems crucial to the Bulldogs’ hopes of surviving the SEC into March.

A tournament selection committee likely won’t require a .500 conference record from Georgia, considering the SEC’s caliber of competition. This is the same conference that some analysts expect to have an NCAA-record 13 teams in March Madness this season.

But unranked losses create holes in postseason resumes, and can have the effect of snowballing teams in the wrong direction. February losing streaks are nothing new to Georgia basketball in recent seasons.

That’s what makes Wednesday night so vital for the Bulldogs. It’s a rare expected SEC win, and the kind of momentum-booster that can help UGA end the week with another home win over a top 25 team.

“I think a win tomorrow would just uplift everybody’s spirit going into Saturday, we’ve got a good Mississippi State team coming in,” point guard Silas Demary Jr. said. “A win tomorrow would just get our confidence and juices back flowing.”

Georgia coach Mike White has emphasized the importance of defending the home court, something his team will be asked to do again when No. 22 Mississippi State comes to Athens on Saturday.

“We play connected when we’re at home in the Steg,” White said. “We’ve been elite at home, 12-1 with our only loss to the No. 1 team in the country by a couple points. Does that mean that we have success tomorrow? It’s a factor.”

The Bulldogs have gone 2-0 in a week just once since starting SEC play. Georgia beat two teams ranked in the top 25 at the time — No. 6 Kentucky and No. 17 Oklahoma — in the only other week where the Bulldogs played both SEC games at home.

Superstar freshman Asa Newell will look for a dominant night on both sides of the ball. LSU allows the SEC’s third-most points (71.9) and rebounds (36.4) per game.

Newell, a projected No. 7 NBA Draft pick by Sports Illustrated on Monday, should have the chance for some impressive blocks, too. The Tigers’ front court is aggressive, using downhill speed to create shots in the paint.

Guards Cam Carter and Jordan Sears lead the Tigers with 17.3 and 14.0 points per game, respectively. Demary, a physical guard himself, hopes to bring the fight to LSU’s front court defensively.

“I think just following the game plan, you know, jamming them, not letting them see early opportunities,” Demary said. “Limiting their three-ball attempts and making them finish over our length and size.”

It’s the same physicality that has helped the Bulldogs in their SEC wins. Georgia has often found success by out-muscling teams in the paint, winning the rebound battle and consistently finding the free throw line.

White’s team entered the conference schedule with less experience than many SEC teams. Underclassmen like Newell and Demary have noted the difficulty of the conference’s quick turnarounds against consistent elite competition, but White believes his team has handled the conference’s gauntlet well so far.

“They continue to experience the process and move on to the next play,” White said. “Although we’re a young team, we’ve had a very mature approach. We got better today.”

Georgia is 48-71 against LSU all-time. The Bulldogs have won the last three matchups in Stegeman Coliseum.