No. 21 Georgia (14-2, 2-1 SEC) bounced back from its loss to Florida with a 75-70 road victory over South Carolina on Saturday. Ole Miss (9-7, 1-2) erased an early deficit to defeat Missouri 76-69 on Saturday for its first conference victory.
Georgia averages 96.4 points, best in the nation, while Ole Miss allows only 69.6 points, tied for third-best in the SEC. But the Bulldogs needed a big second half to beat the Gamecocks and know a similar scenario could occur against the Rebels.
“Every year, (Ole Miss is) stingy, handsy, physical, switchable, versatile,” Georgia coach Mike White said. “They’re stronger, they’re older. They’ve got guys who have played a lot of college games and they get after you.”
The Bulldogs showed their own defensive teeth in the second half against South Carolina, limiting the Gamecocks to 30 points and enabling Georgia to overcome a 12-point deficit. South Carolina shot just 35.5% from the field and only 27.3% on 3-pointers in the second half.
“We need to be better on the defensive glass, defend without fouling, our decisions in our different pressures, full-court presses, half-court traps,” White said. “There’s still a way to go to reach our ceiling with our defensive decisions.”
Georgia’s versatile offense is led by Jeremiah Wilkinson (16.9 points) and Blue Cain (14.8), with Marcus “Smurf” Millender coming off the bench to average 11.7 points and a team-leading 3.8 assists. Kanon Catchings (9.3 points) had a season-high 20 points against South Carolina and Somto Cyril (10.0 points) scored a career-high 18 against the Gamecocks.
Ole Miss coach Chris Beard knows exactly what to expect from the Bulldogs.
“They’re totally committed to pace of play,” Beard said. “They’re one of the fastest teams in college basketball. It means early shot-clock shots and they put a lot of pressure on you on the break. It’s real. It’s been the same identity from game one to the last game they played. I think they’re worthy of their ranking, so for us it’s an opportunity for sure.”
Ole Miss got a stellar effort in its much-needed win from AJ Storr, who came off the bench to score a season-high 26 in the victory. Storr, who has started 14 of 16 games, is No. 2 on the team with a 12.3 scoring average.
“I was trying to come in and be as aggressive as I could,” Storr aid. “Really just have a (strong) mentality and be aggressive.”
Storr also avoided committing a turnover, as the Rebels gave it away only seven times, the fourth time this season they’ve had seven or fewer turnovers.
“Trying to be a team that takes care of the ball,” Beard said. “They had about twice as many turnovers as we did. We kept it under eight, which is the goal.”
The Rebels’ top scorer is Malik Dia, who averages 15.1 points and 7.2 rebounds. Dia has scored in double figures for eight straight games, including 21 against Missouri.
Ole Miss won last year’s game 63-51 in Oxford. The teams have split the last 10 meetings.
