Mississippi State @ Georgia preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 3, 2018 ) Georgia 57, Mississippi State 72

Mississippi State looks like it has steadied itself after a bumpy stretch of its schedule, even without one of its key contributors entering Wednesday’s visit to slumping Georgia. Mississippi State won its second game in a row Saturday, getting 22 points from senior guard Quinndary Weatherspoon in a 77-67 victory at Arkansas, the same day Weatherspoon’s brother – Nick Weatherspoon – was suspended indefinitely for an undisclosed violation of team rules.

The Bulldogs had dropped three of four before beating Alabama and Arkansas last week, and they saw junior guard Tyson Carter score 14 of his season-high 18 points in the second half Saturday. “I thought Tyson Carter really stepped up tonight without Nick out there,” Mississippi State coach Ben Howland told the media afterward. “His minutes really helped.” Georgia saw its SEC losing streak extended to 10 games with an 83-79 home loss Saturday to No. 15 LSU, the Bulldogs’ closest loss during their skid. “They’ve been good, but we haven’t always brought that effort to games,” Georgia coach Tom Crean told reporters postgame. “Today they did, but we fell a little short. If we can build on that, we’re going to win games."

TV: 6:30 p.m. ET, SEC Network

ABOUT MISSISSIPPI STATE (18-7, 6-6 SEC): Quinndary Weatherspoon began the week third in the SEC in scoring at 18.1 points per game, and his field-goal percentage (50.5) ranks fourth in the conference. Freshman forward Robert Perry recorded his fourth double-double in the past five games with 12 points and 10 rebounds and is averaging 14 points and 9.4 rebounds in that span. The Bulldogs are third in the SEC and 20th nationally in steals per game (8.5).

ABOUT GEORGIA (10-15, 1-11): The Bulldogs committed only 11 turnovers Saturday, but remain last in the SEC and rank 335th nationally at 16.2 per game. Sophomore forward Nicolas Claxton led Georgia with 17 points against LSU and leads the team in scoring at 12.5 points per game, while pulling down an SEC-best nine rebounds per contest. Junior guard Jordan Harris scored 10 points on 3-of-6 shooting Saturday, and is averaging 9.8 points per game with six double-figure outputs in his past seven contests.

TIP-INS

1. Weatherspoon scored 20-plus points for the fourth time in his past five outings, and the Bulldogs improved to 16-1 across the past two seasons when he scores at least 20 points.

2. Georgia has been outscored in 19 of 24 halves in SEC play this season.

3. Mississippi State plays three of its final five SEC games at home after Wednesday, traveling only for road trips to Auburn and No. 5 Tennessee.

PREDICTION: Mississippi State 78, Georgia 70