(14-11, 5-7 SEC) Georgia vs. (14-10, 5-7 SEC) Mississippi State

Game time: Tuesday, February 14, 9:00 p.m. ET
Location: Stegeman Coliseum, Athens, GA
TV: ESPNU (Play-by-play: Mike Couzens; Analyst: Brooke Weisbrod)
Video Stream: WatchESPN.com
Radio: Georgia Bulldog Network by IMG (Play-by-play: Scott Howard; Color Commentary: Chuck Dowdle; Producer: Tony Schiavone)
Flagship Station: WSB AM 750
 
 
It’s a Valentine’s Day showdown between Georgia and Mississippi State tonight at 9:00 p.m. ET, in a Bulldogs vs. Bulldogs men’s basketball game at the Stegeman Coliseum.

 
The Georgia men return home off of a come from behind win over the Vols last Saturday up in Knoxville. Senior guard J.J. Frazier was part of the 14-point comeback to help the Bulldogs to victory with his season-high 29 points – and distributed six assists that resulted in 16 more points – to lead Georgia.
 
 
“We got it done because J.J. Frazier loves playing for this school,” Mark Fox said. “J.J. just refused to give in, and he did what seniors do: he led the fight.”
 
 
The Bulldogs improved to 14-11 overall and 5-7 in SEC play. The comeback was even more improbable considering Yante Maten, Georgia’s leading scorer and rebounder, fouled out in a season-low 17 minutes.
 
 
Maten, one of 10 players on the final watch list of the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award as the nation’s top center, leads the Bulldogs in scoring (19.2 ppg). Among SEC leaders, Maten is third in scoring and sixth in rebounding (7.1 rpg), as well as third in field goal percentage (.529) and fourth in double-doubles (five).
 
 
Frazier is adding 16.6 ppg (No. 6 in the SEC) and leads the league in playing time, overall (34.2 mpg) and in SEC play (36.6 mpg).
 
 
Maten, a junior forward, and Frazier, a senior guard, are one of the nation’s most potent inside-outside offensive tandems. Their combined average of 35.8 ppg ranks No. 10 nationally among guard-forward scoring duos with both players ranked among the nation’s top-250 scorers. They are the only teammates in the top-10 from a Power 5 conference.
 
 
In statistics for conference games only, Maten and Frazier currently rank No. 3 and No. 4 in the SEC in scoring at 18.5 ppg and 18.3 ppg, respectively.
 
 
Juwan ParkerClick here to hear it, who has been Georgia’s third-leading scorer for the majority of the season, is on a tear of late. Parker averaged 8.0 ppg in non-conference play but is contributing 10.6 ppg in league action. That has upped his season average to 9.3 ppg.
 
 
Mississippi State is 14-10 overall and also 5-7 in the SEC. Most recently, the Bulldogs dropped a 77-73 decision to No. 19 South Carolina on Saturday night.
 
 
Quinndary Weatherspoon leads State on the offensive end with a 16.8 ppg scoring average. The Bulldogs also receive double-digit contributions from Lamar Peters (12.0 ppg) and Mario Kegler (10.3 ppg).
 
 

The Starting Five

UGA leads the all-time series with MSU, 57-53, including a 28-19 advantage here in Athens.
 
 
Yante MatenClick here to hear it is on the 10-player final watch list for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award as the nation’s top center.
 
 
Derek OgbeideClick here to hear it grabs a team-high 8.0 rpg in SEC play, including 10.2 rpg over UGA’s last six games.
 
 
J.J. Frazier and Yante Maten are Division I’s 10th-best inside-outside scoring combo among teams with two top-250 scorers nationally.
 
 
Mark Fox is the first coach ever to lead UGA to three-straight 20-win finishes. UGA has notched three-conseuctive 20-win efforts two times in 111 seasons.
 
 
For the complete game notes, CLICK HERE