Alabama @ Georgia preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 23, 2017 ) Georgia 60, Alabama 55

There is an important Alabama vs. Georgia matchup coming up, and while the Crimson Tide visiting the Bulldogs on Saturday pales in comparison to the college football national championship game, the basketball contest is important for both programs. Alabama started its SEC schedule with a bang in upsetting No. 13 Texas A&M but stumbled in falling at Vanderbilt on Wednesday, while Georgia narrowly fell at No. 14 Kentucky in its league opener before downing Ole Miss.

Saturday’s loser will have two conference losses in its first three games, an unenviable position in a SEC that features four teams ranked in the top 25 and four more teams receiving votes. “You’ve got to play more than 10 or 12 minutes,” Alabama coach Avery Johnson told reporters after the Crimson Tide rallied from a 15-point second-half deficit in the final minutes before falling 76-75 to the Commodores. Georgia used a career night from graduate student Juwan Parker (18 points, 11 rebounds -- both career highs) to rebound from letting a lead slip away at Kentucky to beat the Rebels. “With SEC play, we have a game every three or four days,” Parker told reporters afterward. “Just flush it and move on to the next one.”

TV: noon ET, SEC Network

ABOUT ALABAMA (9-5, 1-1 SEC): Freshman Collin Sexton scored 24 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field against Vanderbilt and leads the SEC in scoring at 20.4 points per game. Donta Hall hit all six of his shots in the Vanderbilt loss and is tops in the conference in shooting from the field at 75.8 percent, while Dazon Ingram added three blocked shots to go with nine points and six rebounds. The Crimson Tide rank third in the SEC and 10th nationally in blocks, averaging 6.3 per game.

ABOUT GEORGIA (10-3, 1-1): Senior Yante Maten, who leads the Bulldogs with 19.5 points (second in the SEC) and 9.3 rebounds per game, scored 15 points but shot just 5-for-13 from the field. Georgia responded with several big performances while Maten struggled, including Parker (4-for-4 from 3-point range), Derek Ogbeide (14 points, eight rebounds) and Jordan Harris (12 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field). Georgia is 24th in the nation in field-goal percentage defense (38.8).

TIP-INS

1. Sexton has been outstanding in his debut season, leading the SEC in free-throw percentage (80.2 percent) while shooting 39.1 percent from 3-point range.

2. The Bulldogs limited Ole Miss to 35.7 percent shooting from the field and 23.1 percent from 3-point range.

3. Alabama gave up 10 3-pointers against Vanderbilt, eight in the first half.

PREDICTION: Alabama 67, Georgia 63