Ole Miss a surprising foe for Georgia in SEC tournament
Georgia will bring a historic regular season into its Southeastern Conference tournament opener Thursday night against upset winner Ole Miss in a second-round game in Nashville.
Georgia (22-9) set school regular-season records for wins and points scored, and ranked third in Division I with a 90.4 scoring average entering the SEC tournament.
Coach Mike White understands that was then for the Bulldogs, who are seeded seventh in the SEC tournament.
"We've got to turn the page quickly," White said, "because here comes the postseason, and we have a chance to play for a championship. We will certainly play in ‘The Dance' (NCAA Tournament), and we certainly want to dance as long as possible."
Most projections have Georgia on the seven-eight seed line for the NCAA Tournament.
The only shock on the SEC tournament's first day was 15th-seeded Ole Miss's 76-66 wire-to-wire win over 10th-seeded Texas on Wednesday. The Rebels (13-19) had lost 12 of their past 13 games.
The Rebels opened a 12-point lead midway through the first half. Texas got within three points on Jordan Pope's 3-pointer with four minutes left but never was closer.
"You've got to throw the first punch," said Rebels forward James Scott, who had 10 points and nine rebounds.
Malik Dia scored 23 points and AJ Storr had 18 for the Rebels, who limited Texas to 35.2% shooting from the field and committed only three turnovers.
Ole Miss beat host Georgia 97-95 in overtime on Patton Pinkins' put-back with one second remaining in their lone regular-season meeting on Jan. 14, when Storr had 27 points.
"We didn't come here to Nashville to win one game," Ole Miss coach Chris Beard said. "We came here to win one game at a time."
The Bulldogs' NCAA Tournament standing went from precarious to a lock after a strong finish that included a 98-88 victory over then-No. 16 Alabama on March 3 that broke the Crimson Tide's eight-game winning streak.
Georgia has won five of its past six games, coinciding with White's decision to bring leading scorer Jeremiah Wilkinson (17.3 points per game) off the bench and place 5-foot-11 point guard Marcus "Smurf" Millender and 6-8 forward Kareem Stagg in the starting lineup.
Wilkinson had 32 points and six 3-pointers against Ole Miss.
Georgia's Kanon Catchings, a 6-9 sophomore forward, enters as the SEC co-player of the week after getting a combined 55 points and 12 rebounds in victories over Alabama and Mississippi State. He scored a career-high 32 points against Alabama.
The Bulldogs are averaging 6.2 blocked shots per game, tied with Virginia for the best in Division I. Georgia's Somto Cyril, a 6-11 center, is tied for 10th in the nation at 2.4 per game.