Mississippi State Bulldogs vs. Georgia Bulldogs Pick & Prediction JANUARY 11th 2023

Georgia will look to double its win total from all of last season when it hosts Mississippi State in Southeastern Conference play on Wednesday in Athens, Ga.

Coming off the worst season in SEC history, Georgia (11-4, 1-1 SEC) is much-improved under first-year coach Mike White, who arrived after leading Florida for seven seasons. He replaced Tom Crean, who was let go after the Bulldogs went 6-26 last season.

Georgia, which has dropped five straight to Mississippi State, is coming off an 82-75 loss to host Florida on Saturday that ended its four-game winning streak.

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Mississippi State (12-3, 1-2) ended a three-game skid with a 64-54 win over visiting Ole Miss on Saturday.

Georgia led the Gators by 13 points in the first half before trailing by that many in the second half en route to its seventh straight loss to Florida.

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Terry Roberts, who averages a team-high 15.7 points and 4.2 assists per game, finished with a game-high 25 points to go along with eight rebounds and four assists. Kario Oquendo, who averages 14.1 points per game, added nine points. Braelen Bridges, who averages 7.5 points per game, chipped in 10 points and five rebounds against the Gators.

"I thought we were terrific defensively throughout the entire game," White said. "We were really scrappy on the offensive glass and in transition offense to make it interesting down the stretch. I thought we responded to being down. ... I'm really proud of this group. We continue to fight."

Mississippi State rallied from a seven-point deficit with 12:43 left by going on a 16-3 run to take a 47-41 lead it wouldn't relinquish with 7:42 to go.

"Our backs were against the wall," Mississippi State first-year coach Chris Jans said. "We had to win, plain and simple."

Will McNair Jr., who averages 4.1 points per game, had 13 points and seven rebounds, while Tolu Smith, who averages team-highs in points (14.2) and rebounds (7.8), finished with 12 points and five rebounds.

Eric Reed Jr. added nine points and eight rebounds, while D.J. Jeffries, who averages 9.1 points and 6.1 rebounds per game, finished with six points and eight rebounds against the Rebels.

--Field Level Media

PREDICTION

Mississippi State Bulldogs

66

63

Georgia Bulldogs

Senior Quinndary Weatherspoon scored a career-high 31 points, including one of three free throws with a fraction of second left, as Mississippi State survived a fevered Georgia comeback bid for a 68-67 win Wednesday night in Athens, Ga.

Georgia trailed by 17 points on two occasions early in the second half but fought back to tie the game on a Tyree Crump 3-pointer with 10 seconds left.

Weatherspoon was fouled while trying to get off a shot in the closing seconds, and as he was missing the first free throw, someone in the crowd threw a stuffed animal on the court, apparently in protest of the foul call. It landed several feet from Weatherspoon.

A technical foul was called, and Weatherspoon made that free throw before intentionally missing the second foul shot from the original foul call, so the clock expired before Georgia (10-16, 1-12 Southeastern Conference) could get off a shot.

Weatherspoon took over late in the first half, scoring 12 points in the final 3:19, when his first 3-pointer of the game ignited a 16-1 run that turned a four-point Mississippi State deficit into a 36-25 lead at halftime.

Reggie Perry finished with 12 points and five rebounds for Mississippi State (19-7, 7-6). Tyson Carter, starting in place of the suspended Nick Weatherspoon, added 11 points and four assists.

When Mississippi State scored the first six points of the second half, four of those by Weatherspoon, the lead was up to 42-25, and it was 44-27 with 17:50 to play.

Georgia then found its shooting touch and ate into the deficit, with Rayshaun Hammonds, Jordan Harris and Derek Ogbeide all playing big roles.

Harris scored 13 points to lead Georgia, which lost its seventh straight game and 11th of last 12. Hammonds added 12 points and a team-high 10 rebounds. He also chipped in four assists.

Mississippi State shot 49 percent from the floor, including 7 of 17 on 3-point attempts. Georgia overcame shooting only 29 percent in the first half to finish at 41.7 percent for the game, including 9 of 25 from 3-point range.

--Field Level Media