There are no guarantees in March.
But if Georgia can grab a win over Mississippi State during Saturday afternoon’s regular-season finale in Starkville, Miss., the Bulldogs are likely to earn a first-round bye in the SEC tournament.
Georgia (21-9, 9-8 SEC) enters the day in ninth place, but it needs to finish among the top eight to collect the bye. Considering that three of the four teams are one game ahead of the Bulldogs in the SEC standings — Vanderbilt, Kentucky and Missouri — must face teams with better records, a Georgia win seems likely to pay off in a bye.
Better yet, the Bulldogs would get on even better footing for their first back-to-back NCAA Tournament bids since 2001-02. They entered Friday’s games No. 30 in the NET rankings and No. 29 in Wins Above Bubble (WAB).
They have won four of their last five games, which includes Tuesday’s 98-88 win over No. 16 Alabama.
Against the Crimson Tide, Georgia shot 13-for-29 (44.8%) from 3-point range. Forward Kanon Catchings scored a career-best 32 points, shooting 7-for-13 from long distance. Blue Cain added 16 points while Marcus Millender tallied 12 and freshman Kareem Stagg chipped in 10.
“We’re growing up a little bit,” said Georgia coach Mike White. “This was as good of a win as we’ve had.”
Mississippi State (13-17, 5-12) has been trending the other way with the SEC Tournament approaching. The Bulldogs have lost four in a row with their last three coming by 25, 24, and 34 points, respectively.
The most recent was Tuesday’s 108-74 loss to Florida in which the Gators shot 61.7% while being forced into just five turnovers. Josh Hubbard scored 21 points for the Bulldogs with Jayden Epps (14) and Ja’Borri McGhee (12) also reached double figures.
Mississippi State trailed 47-35 at the half, then was outscored 61-39 after intermission.
“We knew it was going to be a challenge, but … we got whipped,” said Mississippi State coach Chris Jans. “I’m not happy how it got away from us.”
