The Georgia men’s basketball team takes on the Mississippi Bulldogs in a Southeastern Conference Saturday showdown in Starkville at 8:30 p.m. ET tonight in Humphrey Coliseum.
The game will be televised on the SEC Network with Mike Morgan doing play-by-play and Pat Bradley with analysis. The game can also be listened to on the Bulldogs Radio Network with Scott Howard on play-by-play, Chuck Dowdle with the analysis, and Tony Schiavone producing. Tune in to the flagship station on WSB AM 750 or on satellite radio on XM 381 as well Internet Radio on 971.
The Hoop Dawgs are coming off their first conference win of the 2019-20 season, an 80-63 drubbing of Tennessee on Wednesday night in Athens at the Stegeman Coliseum. With that victory over the Volunteers, Georgia moved to 11-5 on the year and 1-2 in SEC play.
In the win over Tennessee, true freshman Anthony Edwards dropped 26 points and teammate, junior Rayshaun Hammonds, Jr., followed with 21. UGA will need both Edwards and Hammonds to be on their “A” game as freshman Sahvir Wheeler suffered an apparent ankle injury. During Friday’s presser, head Coach Tom Crean was hopeful that Wheeler will be able to play tonight.
Last time the battle of the Bulldogs took place, State was able to just nip Georgia 68-67 in Athens in February. Now, Crean’s Hoop Dawgs look to return the favor. And if they do, UGA will take a four-game lead in the series, which stands at 58 wins to 55 losses for the Dawgs currently.
So what can we expect in this 114th meeting between the Bulldogs on the hardwood?
Don’t look for either team to break the 80-point barrier as the 10-6 (1-3) Mississippi State squad are holding teams to 65 PPG while Georgia is allowing just over 73. Both Bulldog offenses are putting points on the board as UGA is scoring nearly 80 a game at 78.8 PPG and State has been scoring an average of 72.
One of the keys for Georgia will be to find a way to keep Mississippi State’s league-leading rebounder, forward Reggie Perry, from giving his team second chances. Perry leads the SEC with 10 RPG and is the only player in the SEC averaging a double-double, scoring 16 PPG. With UGA’s Hammonds’ averaging 8.5 RPG, this will be a matchup to keep your eye on. Another is can State slow down Edwards who is averaging nearly 20 PPG with 19.1?
And if it comes down to another one-basket game this go around, Georgia will need to improve on their average of 65.7% from the line as Mississippi State is hitting nearly 72% of their free-throws.
You can view the full game notes via PDF by CLICKING HERE.
Tonight’s game versus Mississippi State is Georgia’s fourth SEC game of the season and also marks their fourth game in a row out of six teams that received 2018-2019 NCAA Tournament bids last spring. The Hoop Dawgs will face Kentucky for a rematch on Tuesday, January 21st in Lexington and then come back home to host Ole Miss in one week on Saturday, January 25th. Georgia will end the month of January on the road up in Columbia, Missouri taking on the Tigers on Tuesday the 28th.