Georgia @ Florida preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 19, 2019 ) Florida 62, Georgia 52

Florida continues to make a late push for the postseason, defeating Vanderbilt 71-55 Wednesday to end a four-year skid in Nashville as the Gators earned their fifth straight SEC victory. Now Florida has to guard against overconfidence as it aims to finish off the sweep of Georgia on Saturday when it hosts the Bulldogs, who are coming off a hard-fought 78-75 loss to Auburn and are looking for their first conference win since early January.

"I think we're very confident right now," Florida senior center Kevarrius Hayes told reporters. "I think we have a sense of what we're capable of. Even though there's still more to do, we're getting there. We made a lot of mistakes in this game, but because of how hard we play we can make up for it collectively." As a team, the Gators were on target against Vanderbilt, hitting 53.6 percent of their shots from the floor in the first half and 48 percent for the game, drilling eight of their 19 shots from long distance. That kind of performance helped the Gators move into a tie for fourth place in the conference, giving them a surprising shot at a top-four seed in the SEC Tournament. Georgia pushed Florida hard in the first meeting before falling 62-52 and the Bulldogs continue to battle despite their record, as their last four losses, all to teams in the top half of the conference, were by a total of nine points.

TV: 8:30 p.m., SEC Network

ABOUT GEORGIA (10-18, 1-14 SEC): Sophomore forward Nicolas Claxton is proving to be an all-around player for the Bulldogs, topping the team in scoring (12.8 ppg), rebounding (8.8 rpg), blocks (67) and steals (31) and he came one point short of a double-double in the earlier loss to Florida. The team may be without its second-leading scorer and rebounder Rayshaun Hammonds, who is day to day after sitting out the Auburn game with an injured right foot, ending his streak of 31 straight starts. Junior guard Jordan Harris continues to improve and has registered career-high point totals in each of the last four games against LSU (12 points), Mississippi State (13), Ole Miss (15) and Auburn (18).

ABOUT FLORIDA (17-11, 9-6): In the first meeting with Georgia, forward Keyontae Johnson, guard Noah Locke and guard Andrew Nembhard became the first freshman trio to start for Florida since January 1999 and all three remain vital to the team's success. Against Vanderbilt, Nembhard hit his first six shots on the way to 19 points (7-of-8) as he continues to mature as the offensive leader. The club's resurgence also coincides with the re-emergence of senior guard Jalen Hudson, who came off the bench to score a season-high 17 points against Vanderbilt and now has hit for double digits in the last three games and four of the last five.

TIP-INS

1. Florida leads the all-time series 114-104 and the Gators are in position to sweep after Georgia swept a year ago.

2. The Gators' current run is the team's sixth winning streak of at least five games the past three years.

3. Harris was the only Bulldog in double figures in the first meeting with the Gators.

PREDICTION: Florida 70, Georgia 62