Georgia @ Mississippi preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 9, 2019 ) Mississippi 80, Georgia 64

Perhaps it is a good thing Georgia travels to Ole Miss for Saturday’s contest considering the Bulldogs' 11th consecutive SEC loss on Wednesday ended in a one-point defeat after a fan threw a stuffed toy onto the court, resulting in a technical foul with 0.5 seconds remaining. It is just the latest stumble in a miserable league slate for Georgia, which began SEC play at 1-1 but its lone victory since came in the Big 12/SEC Challenge.

“I’ve never seen that, not without a warning and certainly without an explanation,” Georgia first-year coach Tom Crean told reporters after the Bulldogs dropped their seventh game in a row overall, despite rallying from 11 points down at halftime to draw even with Mississippi State with 9.1 seconds to play. The Rebels look to begin a new winning streak after their four-game surge was snapped in a 79-64 road loss Tuesday at South Carolina. “We got the game tied, but we just couldn’t get stops,” Ole Miss coach Kermit Davis told the media postgame. The defeat drops Ole Miss into fifth place in the SEC, one game behind the Gamecocks, and the margin for error is slim with games remaining against fourth-ranked Kentucky and No. 5 Tennessee.

TV: 3:30 p.m. ET, SEC Network

ABOUT GEORGIA (10-16, 1-12 SEC): The Bulldogs battled back from a 17-point second-half deficit against Mississippi State but still have lost their past two games by a total of five points. Junior guard Jordan Harris, who led Georgia with 13 points Wednesday, is shooting 10-of-19 from the field in his past three games, while sophomore forward Nicolas Claxton leads the team in scoring (12.4 points per game) and rebounding (9.0, tops in the SEC). Georgia is second in the SEC in rebounding margin at plus-4.8.

ABOUT OLE MISS (18-8, 8-5): Junior guard Breein Tyree and senior guard Terence Davis combined for 37 of the Rebels' 64 points Tuesday, and both rank among the SEC scoring leaders – Tyree third at 18.4 points per game, Davis seventh at 15.7. Freshman forward K.J. Buffen grabbed eight rebounds in 17 minutes against South Carolina and is shooting 54.2 percent from the field in SEC games. The Rebels are one of the top free-throw shooting teams in the nation, ranking 10th at 76.9 percent.

TIP-INS

1. Ole Miss enters the weekend 34th in the NET rankings, a tool the NCAA tournament selection committee will use to determine next month’s NCAA Tournament field.

2. Georgia’s 11-game SEC losing streak is its longest since 1974-75.

3. The Rebels scored 19 points off 20 Georgia turnovers and outscored the Bulldogs on second-chance points 21-5 in an 80-64 road victory on Feb. 9.

PREDICTION: Ole Miss 76, Georgia 63