Georgia @ Vanderbilt preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 9, 2019 ) Vanderbilt 63, Georgia 82

Georgia travels to Vanderbilt on Saturday for a matchup of the bottom two teams in the SEC who have combined for four league victories this season, but the Bulldogs hope they can build off Wednesday’s upset of No. 12 Auburn. Freshman guard Anthony Edwards scored 18 points to spark a 65-55 victory, just Georgia’s third win in conference play, and after seeing second-half leads evaporate in several games recently the Bulldogs limited Auburn to 31.3 percent shooting.

“The bottom line is that we’re building a program,” Georgia coach Tom Crean told reporters postgame. “We are going through growing pains and hard days.” The Commodores are suffering through a miserable stretch in which they’ve lost 32 of their past 33 SEC games, including four straight losses after a victory over LSU snapped a 26-game losing streak in regular-season league contests. Vanderbilt rallied from 13 points down with 1:09 left to get within two with six seconds to play Tuesday before falling 65-61 at in-state rival Tennessee. “With the game still in the balance, we had opportunities to make some shots, and they just didn’t fall for us,” Vanderbilt coach Jerry Stackhouse told the media afterward.

TIME: 6 p.m. ET. TV: SEC Network

ABOUT GEORGIA (13-13, 3-10 SEC): Edwards leads the nation in scoring for freshmen at 18.9 points, and appears to have recovered from a virus that limited him to 22 points total in his previous two games. Junior forward Rayshaun Hammonds has averaged 14 points and 7.5 rebounds across his past two games, after averaging 7.7 points and four rebounds in his previous six contests. The Bulldogs never trailed after halftime against Auburn, after blowing leads of nine points or more in four of its previous six games (losing all four).

ABOUT VANDERBILT (9-17, 1-12): Freshman swingman Jordan Wright, who had scored in double figures four times in his first 25 games, recorded 23 points against Tennessee on 8-for-14 shooting from the field. Junior guard Saben Lee scores 17.3 per game - tops among active Vanderbilt players with Aaron Nesmith (23.0) sidelined indefinitely by a right foot injury - and across his past five games he is averaging 22.8 points. The Commodores shot 36.2 percent from the field Tuesday, falling to 0-13 on the season when they fail to shoot 40 percent.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Vanderbilt has led in the second half in four of its past five games.

2. Georgia limited Auburn to 4-of-26 from 3-point range Wednesday.

3. The Bulldogs have won five of the past seven matchups with Vanderbilt, beating the Commodores 82-63 last season at home.

PREDICTION: Georgia 71, Vanderbilt 68