Ladies and gentlemen, we are officially in postseason basketball. And for Mike White and his Georgia Bulldogs it has arrived at a time where they have truly been at their best.
Georgia (20-11, 8-10 SEC) come into this matchup against Oklahoma arguably hotter than any other team in the SEC. Georgia basketball has won four straight games, including an 88-83 stunner against No. 3 Florida.
For Oklahoma (19-12, 6-12 SEC), after some mid-season SEC struggles, they too have rebounded and are playing some of their best basketball of the season. They are 3-2 in their last five contests, however both of those loses were close games against Kentucky and Ole Miss in very tight matchups.
Although, Georgia and Oklahoma are not traditional foes, they are not complete strangers, either as this will be their second matchup this season. In their previous contest, Georgia was able to use a balanced attack on offense and team defense to hold freshman sensation Jeremiah Fears to only two points on their way to a 72-62 victory in Athens.
The When, the Where and the How
When: Wednesday, March 12th, 9:30 PM, EST
Where: Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, TN
How to Watch: SEC Network (Karl Ravech, Jimmy Dykes, Molly McGrath)
How to Listen: Georgia Bulldog Radio Network (Scott Howard, Chuck Dowdle, Adam Gillespie).
Series History
This will be only the third matchup between these two programs in their respective schools’ history. The series is tied at 1-1, with Georgia winning the latest contest 72-62, back on January 11th, 2025.
Top Performers
Georgia: Freshman forward Asa Newell | 15.1 points per game, 6.5 rebounds and 1.0 block per game | 54.0 FG%
Oklahoma: Freshman guard Jeremiah Fears | 16.3 points per game, 4.2 assists and 4.1 rebounds | 43.3 FG%
Injury Report
Georgia: No injuries to report
Oklahoma: Glenn Taylor | F | Probable - Undisclosed
Oklahoma: Sam Godwin | F | Out - Knee
Georgia versus Oklahoma Final Odds via FanDuel Sportsbook
Favorite: Georgia @ -3.5
Moneyline: Georgia -162
Over/Under: 147.5
Current Predictions
ESPN’s Matchup Predictor gives Georgia a 57 percent chance of winning this contest.
The Skinny
The winner of this game advances to take on No. 6 seed Kentucky.
In SEC play, Georgia and Oklahoma were both 2-7 on the road this season.
Georgia is No. 12 in the SEC in team scoring at 75.6 points per contest, while Oklahoma is No. 8 in the conference with 78.6 points per game.
Georgia is 46.4 percent from the field this season, which is 1.9 percentage points higher than Oklahoma has allowed to its opponents (44.5 percent). In comparison, Oklahoma has a field goal percentage of 47.1 percent thus far, which is 6.4 percentage points more than the 40.7 percent shooting average Georgia has held its opponents.
Watch out for…
Oklahoma’s two-headed monster of freshman guard Jeremiah Fears and senior forward Jalon Moore. They average 16.3 and 16.2 points per game, respectively. Fears is averaging 20.4 points over the last five games.
The Close
Georgia returns to the court after a victorious regular season finale over Vanderbilt. It will be very interesting to see how Georgia will respond after such an emotional game on Senior Day, that saw both seniors Dakota Leffew and Tyrin Lawrence contribute with double-digit points.
This will not be the same Oklahoma team that came into Athens two months ago. This will be a more experienced and confident Sooners squad that is playing arguably its best basketball of the season.
Prediction: Georgia wins 77-70.