Where have you heard this before? Georgia basketball needs this one. It should sound very familiar because that seems to have become a running theme for Georgia of late.
For Mike White, that is not the ideal position you want to see your team in because when you have a team that is as young and as banged-up as Georgia’s, the more pressure there is the worse it can be for your team. As a coach, you always want to have your team in situations where it can come in, relax, and just play the game. Not feel the weight of the world on their shoulders.
That is precisely what Georgia has setup for itself, largely due to inconsistent, and at times, just plain old bad basketball this season. Now, the defensive-minded Missouri Tigers come to town. Georgia will play host to No. 21 Missouri in another highly anticipated SEC showdown in Athens, GA, on Saturday.
What to Expect
On paper, this does not look like a good matchup for the Dawgs, especially given how they have been playing of late. Georgia (16-9, 4-8 SEC) return to the court after a devastating 69-53 road pounding at the hands of Texas A&M on Tuesday. After an impressive 12-1 start to the season, the now fast-fading Bulldogs have lost two games in a row and five of their last seven.
Equally importantly, with the SEC tournament right around the corner, the Dawgs appear to have lost their footing within the conference, as they are currently ranked 12th in the SEC’s overall standings.
No. 21 Missouri (18-6, 7-4 SEC) on the other hand is coming off an 82-58 drumming of the Oklahoma Sooners Wednesday night in Columbia, MO and is looking to get themselves back into the top five in the SEC standings with a victory over Georgia.
But before the game begins, here is all the information you need for this important SEC matchup.
The When, the Where and the How
When: Saturday, February 15th, 3:30 PM, EST
Where: Stegeman Coliseum, Athens, GA
How to Watch: SEC Network with Mike Morgan and Mark Wise doing the play-by-play
Series History
Missouri holds a slight 11-10 all-time series lead over Georgia. However, the Hardcourt Dawgs have won two consecutive meetings, both in 2024. Georgia and Missouri met in the regular season and in the 2024 SEC Tournament, with the Bulldogs prevailing 75-68 and 64-59, respectively.
Top Performers
Georgia is led in scoring by Freshman forward Asa Newell who is averaging 15.0 points per game with 6.7 rebounds and 1.0 block per game.
Senior guard Tamar Bates leads the Missouri Tigers, averaging 13.5 points and 2.8 assists per game.
Injury Report
UGA: Dakota Leffew | G | Questionable - Undisclosed Injury
UGA: Tyrin Lawrence | G | Questionable - Leg
Missouri: Trent Burns | C | Questionable - Foot
Odds via FanDuel Sportsbook
Favorite: Georgia -0.5
Moneyline: Georgia -104
Over/Under: 144.5
Current Predictions
ESPN’s Matchup Predictor gives the Tigers a 55.9% chance of winning.
The Skinny
In 25 games, Georgia comes into this contest averaging 75 points per game while Missouri has averaged 82.4 points in 24 games.
Georgia is 46 percent from the field this season, which is 4.2 percentage points higher than Missouri has allowed to its opponents (41.8 percent). Missouri on the other hand has a field goal percentage of 48.1 percent thus far this season, 7.7 percentage points greater than the 40.4 percent shooting average Georgia have held its opponents.
Missouri comes into this game as one of best bench scoring teams in the nation. They currently rank No. 3 in the nation in bench points with 36.29 per game while Georgia ranks No. 108 in the country at 23.32 points per game.
The Close
For Georgia, the keys to success have been the same all season long; do not turn the ball over, rebound the ball and play stingy defense. Missouri comes into this contest with a much deeper bench than Georgia’s, so either Georgia gets some good news with the return of one, if not both guards Dakota Leffew and Tyron Lawrence who missed Georgia’s last game against Texas A&M with injuries, or they get a big game from one of its own bench players. Somto Cyril, De’Shayne Montgomery and Dylan James have all shown flashes this season, but not consistently. Georgia will need one of them to step up if they hope to pull off the upset.