UGA Basketball Has Stiff Test vs. Ranked State Squad Saturday in Athens
ATHENS - UGA Basketball continues a stretch of three home dates over four games on Saturday evening when they host No. 22 Mississippi State at historic Stegeman Coliseum.
The Starting Five
• Georgia host No. 22 Mississippi on Saturday, continuing a stretch of three out of four games in the friendly and increasingly raucous confines of Stegeman Coliseum.
• Georgia is 13-1 at home this season with a scoring margin of +20.4 that includes double-digit decisions in 11 of 13 wins – including all four SEC victories at Stegeman.
• After playing six of eight games against top-25 teams in January, the Bulldogs flipped the calendar to February to find...six of seven outings versus teams ranked this week.
• With UGA at No. 23 on Jan. 13, Mike White has now led three programs with losing records the year before he arrived to the AP top-25 in less than three seasons...also doing so at La. Tech and Florida.
• Georgia’s ascension 308 spots in kenpom.com’s defense efficiency – from No. 328 in 2021-22 to No. 20 as of Friday – is the second-largest three-season jump since the metric’s inception in 1997.
The Opening Tip
The Georgia Bulldogs continue a stretch of three home dates over four games on Saturday evening when they host No. 22 Mississippi State at historic Stegeman Coliseum.
That span is part of a grueling SEC slate for Georgia. After playing six of eight games against top-25 opponents in January, six of the Bulldogs’ seven contests in February are against teams ranked this week.
The Bulldogs improved to 16-7 overall and 4-6 in SEC play with an 81-62 victory over LSU on Wednesday. With that, Georgia matched its regular-season win total (16 Ws) in each of Mike White’s first two seasons in Athens. White now has 52 victories with the Bulldogs, already the most ever by a UGA coach in his first three seasons at Georgia.
The Bulldogs are projected as an NCAA Tournament team by virtually everyone predicting a bracket, including a No. 10 seed by ESPN.com on Friday. In fact, bracketmatrix.com, which tracks every bracket prediction published, confirms that Georgia is currently part of 91 of 93 prognostications for “March Madness.”
Georgia’s balanced offense features seven players who have led the Bulldogs in one or more games. Two more players have posted double-figure scoring outputs. All told, those nine Bulldogs have produced 83 double-digit performances.
Asa Newell, who has been named SEC Freshman of the Week three times, leads a trio of Bulldogs averaging double figures at 15.3 ppg and also paces UGA on the boards at 7.0 rpg. Among league leaders, Newell is ranked No. 14 in scoring and No. 11 rebounding. He also is No. 3 in the SEC and No. 44 nationally in field goal percentage (.552).
Silas Demary Jr. and Dakota Leffew are scoring at double-digit paces of 11.0 ppg and 10.7 ppg, respectively, for the Bulldogs. Demary Jr. also sports team-high averages of 3.0 apg and 1.8 spg.
Scouting State
Mississippi State arrives in Athens with an overall record of 16-6 and a 4-5 mark in SEC play. The Bulldogs, who enjoyed an open date midweek, are ranked No. 22 by the Associated Press and are the first team out of the top 25 in the coaches poll.
Josh Hubbard lead the Bulldogs offensively, averaging 17.6 ppg. He also sports a eye-catching 3.10 assist-to-turnover ratio. Between his made field goals (124) and assists (65), Hubbard has had a hand in 189 of State’s 635 makes from the field this season – 29.8 percent.
KeShawn Murphy and Claude Harris Jr. also are scoring at a double-figure clip, contributing 11.0ppg and 10.4 ppg, respectively, while Riley Kugel is just shy of double digits at 9.7 ppg.
Series History With State
The all-time series between the SEC’s Bulldogs is currently tied, with both UGA and MSU owning 59 victories.
State won last season’s matchup, a 75-62 decision in Starkville on Feb. 7.
State build a 10-point lead with just over eight minutes remaining in the first half and expanded that margin to 56-43 with 9:29 left in the contest. Georgia used a 10-0 surge to pull within 56-53 at the 6:21 mark before State answered with back-to-back 3-pointers to regain a nine-point advantage just 54 seconds later.
In State’s last trip to Athens on Jan. 11, 2023, Braelen Bridges scored his 1,000th point and grabbed his 500th rebound in his 100th career outing to lead Georgia in a 59-58 victory.
Bridges finished the night with 11 points and 10 rebounds, his second double-double of the season. His last two points to reach 1,000 were critical, a pair of free throws with 25 seconds remaining that gave the Bulldogs a two-possession lead.
In second stanza that featured four ties and 10 lead changes, Georgia secured the win with clutch free throw shooting. After leading 46-45 at the 3:09 mark, UGA converted on 12 straight trips to the line down the stretch.
Last Time Out
Blue Cain posted his second career double-double – and flirted with a triple-double – to lead Georgia in an 81-62 win over LSU on Wednesday night at Stegeman Coliseum.
Cain finished the night with 10 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists – twice his previous career high – with no turnovers. Asa Newell added a game-high 17 points, his 21st double-figure output and the 15th contest when he led the Bulldogs offensively this season.
Georgia outscored the Tigers 10-4 over the final 7:19 of the first half to grab a 37-31 advantage at the intermission and pushed that margin to double figures on a three-point play from Cain at the 13:16 mark.
“As a freshman, (Blue) was a talented player that could make shots and was developing in other areas,” head coach Mike White said. “As a good SEC player, who had a whale of a game, only made one three. That’s arguably his biggest strength, definitely last year and maybe early this year. He’s just rounding out his game, eight assists and zero turnovers. He rebounded well. He played really hard. I’m proud of him.”