Georgia basketball will play Mississippi State on Saturday, February 3, 2018. Find below the game time, TV channel and how to watch online below.
ATHENS — Generally, there are peaks and valleys in a schedule. But it has been all uphill for the Georgia Bulldogs and pretty much every other team in the Southeastern Conference this season.
The conference is tough this season. Long lambasted for not fielding enough quality teams, the SEC is deep with quality. That fact is on display for the Bulldogs again this weekend. Fresh off one of their most impressive wins of the calendar year — a 72-60 win Tuesday over No. 23 Florida at Stegeman Coliseum — the Bulldogs (13-8, 4-5 SEC) are back on the road Saturday to take on a Mississippi State team that has been flexing some muscle lately.
The Maroon Dogs (16-6, 4-5 SEC) are coming off a road win at South Carolina (81-76), which followed a home victory over Missouri (74-62).
“This league is so good,” said coach Mark Fox, whose ninth Georgia team currently has an RPI of 55, to Mississippi State’s 61. “Florida has a terrific team; just look at the people they’ve defeated this year. They have a great team. You’re going to have a lot of games in this league that are back and forth and hard fought, and you just hope to win your share.”
Meanwhile, Georgia’s win over Florida snapped a three-game losing streak. It came just in the nick of time as the Bulldogs were a team lacking confidence.
“You hope it’s just one of those burps and get out of it,” Fox said of the losing streak. “I thought their confidence had been shaken, but I hope they realized that they are a good team. I didn’t give them a chance to feel sorry for themselves. There’s going to be people that jump off the ship after we lose a couple of games, but these kids didn’t.”
Mississippi State is a tough matchup for the Bulldogs. They are a guard-oriented team, led by brothers Quinndary (15.1 ppg) and Nick Weatherspoon (10.7). They average 33 points a night out of their starting back court. Conversely, Georgia averages just 20 points a night from its three starting guards and leans heavily on SEC Player of the Year candidate Yante Maten. The 6-8, 243-pound senior forward leads the SEC in scoring (19.6 ppg) and is second in rebounding (9.0 pg). He’s averaged 18.5 points and 7 rebounds in four previous games against State.
If the Bulldogs can generate any outside scoring, they’re tough to defend. Point guard Turtle Jackson had 16 against the Gators, and Georgia made 8 3-point shots. They’ll need similar production from the perimeter against State.
“It shows that we have heart,” Maten said of the win over Florida. “We don’t ever give up fighting, no matter what the cause is, no matter what the score is. You’ve gotta keep fighting.”
Georgia-Mississippi State basketball: Game info, details
- Time: Tipoff is at 6 p.m. ET, February 3, 2018
- Location: Humphrey Coliseum, Starkville, Miss.
- Records: Georgia 13-8 overall, 4-5 SEC; Mississippi State 16-6 overall, 4-5 SEC
How can I watch the game?
The game can be watched on ESPNU.
How can I live stream the game?
The game can be seen on the WatchESPN app. (Cable or satellite subscription required.)
Projected Bulldogs starting lineup
- Guard: Freshman E’torrion Wilridge
- Guard: Junior Turtle Jackson
- Guard: Senior Juwan Parker
- Forward: Senior Yante Maten
- Forward: Junior Derek Ogbeide
What’s next for Georgia?
Georgia plays at Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tenn., on Wednesday, Feb. 7, at 8:30 p.m. ET.
