Mississippi @ Georgia preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 3, 2018 ) Mississippi 60, Georgia 71

Arguably there is no other team in the SEC that needed a victory more than Mississippi needed Wednesday’s come-from-behind 75-71 triumph against Texas A&M, and the Rebels head to Georgia looking to continue reversing the damage from a four-game losing streak. That skid seemed headed to five games until the Rebels erased a nine-point second-half deficit as junior guard Breein Tyree scored 22 points and senior guard Terence Davis preserved the win from the foul line.

Davis made six consecutive free throws in the final seconds, freshman guard Blake Hinson put the Rebels ahead by one on two free throws with 2:51 left, and the Rebels overcame a 57-48 deficit for their first victory since Jan. 19. “It wasn’t pretty, but we found a way,” Ole Miss coach Kermit Davis told reporters afterward. “We were desperate. We really needed this win.” Georgia is a team that also needs a win, desperately, as its SEC losing streak reached seven with Wednesday’s 89-74 defeat at Alabama, a game in which the Bulldogs trailed by three at halftime before shooting 34.2 percent in the second half and their defense faltered at the other end. “We have to figure out something to help us defensively,” Georgia coach Tom Crean told the media afterward. “They are working. They are trying. There is no doubt about that. They want to win, but we didn’t get enough hands on shooters.”

TV: 1 p.m. ET, SEC Network

ABOUT MISSISSIPPI (15-7, 5-4 SEC): Tyree enters the weekend third in the SEC in scoring at 18 points per game and is averaging 22.3 points in his past four games, and Davis (48.3 percent) and Tyree (48.1 percent) rank fifth and sixth in the league in field-goal percentage. Davis is one of the better all-around players in the SEC, averaging 16.3 points, 6.4 rebound, 3.6 assists and 1.6 steals per contest. Ole Miss is one of the best in the nation at the free-throw line, leading the SEC and ranking eighth in the country at 76.9 percent.

ABOUT GEORGIA (10-12, 1-8): The Bulldogs feature one of the better frontcourts in the league, leading the SEC in defensive rebounds per game (28.6) and ranking third in blocked shots (5.3; ninth in the country), but 16.1 turnovers per game (339th nationally) continue to hamper the offense. Forward Derek Ogbeide scored a team-high 17 points against Alabama, his third consecutive game with 14 or more points, while forward Nicolas Claxton tops the league in rebounds (9.3 per game) and blocked shots (3.7 per game).

TIP-INS

1. Georgia has failed to shoot greater than 40.8 percent from the field in its past three games, while its past two opponents (South Carolina, Alabama) have shot 56.9 percent.

2. The Rebels enter the weekend in a four-way tie for fifth in the SEC and play three of their next four games on the road, with home dates looming afterward against top-ranked Tennessee (Feb. 27) and No. 5 Kentucky (March 5).

3. Ole Miss finished 17-of-18 from the free-throw line in the second half Wednesday.

PREDICTION: Ole Miss 74, Georgia 68