Georgia Basketball: UGA beats Mississippi State 79-72

Feb 14, 2017; Athens, GA, USA; Georgia Bulldogs forward Derek Ogbeide (34) grabs a rebound against Mississippi State Bulldogs center Schnider Herard (34) during the second half at Stegeman Coliseum. Georgia defeated Mississippi 79-72. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hagy-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 14, 2017; Athens, GA, USA; Georgia Bulldogs forward Derek Ogbeide (34) grabs a rebound against Mississippi State Bulldogs center Schnider Herard (34) during the second half at Stegeman Coliseum. Georgia defeated Mississippi 79-72. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hagy-USA TODAY Sports

The Georgia Basketball team got a good home win against the Mississippi State Bulldogs 79-72. Although Georgia won, it wasn’t pretty at all.

Related Story: UGA vs Miss St. Preview

1st Half

Coach Mark Fox went with a bigger lineup for the Georgia Basetball team tonight to contend with the bigger Mississippi State lineup. Juwan Parker was inserted back into the lineup, along with E’torrion Wilridge, who made his first career start.

This was a very ugly half for both teams. Mississippi State missed 10 straight field goals early in the 1st half. UGA went scoreless for about 4 and a half minutes. At the second media timeout, the score was tied at 9-9. It picked up a little for Mississippi State offensively as they would go on to lead at the half 32-28.

NCAA Basketball: Mississippi State at Georgia
NCAA Basketball: Mississippi State at Georgia

Georgia shot only 25% and had more turnovers (9) than field goals (7). The only bright spot of the half for UGA was that they went 12-12 from the free throw line. This more than likely kept them in the game.

2nd Half

Georgia looked a lot different in the second half. It looked like they locked in on both sides of the court. The good Dawgs went on a 12-3 run and forced a quick MSU timeout. That run gave UGA a 40-35 lead. J.J. Frazier woke up. He scored 17 points in the second half, after not scoring at all in the first. The game went back and forth and ended up tied at 54 with just over 7 minutes left in the game. Then Georgia took off. They went on another 12-3 run and went up 66-57. The good Dawgs hit their free throws and iced the game away, winning 79-72.

Georgia shot 66.7% in the second half and ended up shooting 44.2% for the game. The major key in the victory was free throws. Georgia was 28-32 (87.5%).

Player of the Game 

Yante Maten was the player of the game. Luckily for Georgia, he was able to stay out of foul trouble. He was very effective in every situation of the game. He had 24 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Not to mention, he hit 12-13 free throws.

Up Next 

Mississippi State will host the Florida Gators on Saturday.

Georgia will host the Kentucky Wildcats on Saturday.