Athens awaits Mizzou as Tigers take on upset-minded Georgia

Missouri 85 | Georgia 63

FINAL

1st Half Notes

• Starters for Mizzou: Nick Honor, DeAndre Gholston, D’Moi Hodge, Mohamed Diarra and Kobe Brown
• Starters for Georgia: Terry Roberts, Jaxon Etter, Mardrez McBride, Jailyn Ingram and Braelen Bridges
• Bridges scores the game’s first points following a Tigers’ turnover. Kobe Brown responds with a two-handed dunk.
• Over 1,500 points for Ingram with an early 3-pointer.
• Mizzou has quickly forced three turnovers, capitalizing on them with three points.
• The Tigers have shot 60% from the field, but have yet to make a 3-pointer.
• Nick Honor with a beautiful bounce pass to Diarra for the dunk.
• Georgia jumps out to a quick 7-0 run. Kario Oquendo knocked down a pair of 3-pointers to lead the late surge.
• Nick Honor drills the first 3-pointer for Mizzou, while Oquendo counters with his third 3-pointer. He shoots 28% from distance on the season.
• Oquendo is up to 13 points. Brown leads the Tigers with six.
• Hodge ties the game up with back-to-back 3-pointers.
• Georgia is 8-16 from 3-point range and is on an 8-0 run again. The Bulldogs entered having shot 32.4% from beyond the arc...
• Hodge is up to 12 points on 50% shooting.
• Noah Carter knocks down a step-back 3-pointer to close the half.

2nd Half Notes

• Hodge drills another 3-pointer to knot the game at 43 apiece.
• Gomillion and Diarra give Mizzou a four-point advantage, its largest lead of the game.
• Mizzou has opened the second half on a 13-3 run. The Tigers are on a 19-3 run overall.
• Georgia stops its scoreless streak with a 3-pointer from Hill.
• Gomillion, after bobbling away a fastbreak opportunity, cashes in a layup.
• The Tigers jump out to an 8-0 run, pulling away from the Bulldogs.
• Sean East II snaps a little scoreless drought for both teams with a 3-pointer.
• Nick Honor has exploded for 17 points despite Hodge and Brown sitting on the bench.
• Mizzou is shooting 62% from the field, quieting some of the concerns regarding its road woes. The Tigers have also knocked down 53.8% of their 3-point attempts after missing their first six.
• The Tigers pieced together one of their most compete quarters of the season and ended the game on an impressive 51-22 stretch.

Pregame Updates

5 Fan Questions:

1. Who will lead the team in scoring?
2. How many steals will D’Moi Hodge have?
3. Will Mizzou have over or under 15 assists?
4. How many points will Kobe Brown have?
5. What will the halftime score be?

Lastly, drop your game predictions and MVPs down below.

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The Mizzou basketball team will look to avenge the football team’s heartbreaking 26-22 loss to the Bulldogs in October. This time around, however, Missouri will be the favored team.

Mike White’s Georgia team has shown marked improvement over the course of this season, picking up wins over Kentucky, Notre Dame, Auburn, and Mississippi State en route to a 16-12 (6-9) record. While they are still well outside the tournament picture, the Bulldogs have a lot to play for in terms of SEC Tournament seeding.

The Tigers’ road woes have been well-documented this season. Mizzou is 2-5 on the road in conference play, and the offense has struggled mightily in every one of those losses. Missouri begins a two-game road trip in Athens before they take on LSU in Baton Rouge.

Georgia is coming off two straight 30+ point losses to Alabama and Arkansas. Those results did come after they took down both Kentucky and LSU in Athens.

Missouri suffered back-to-back disappointing losses after taking down Tennessee. The Tigers were drubbed in Auburn before being outlasted by Texas A&M last Saturday. However, they did rebound to pick up an overtime victory over Mississippi State on Tuesday, stopping the bleeding.

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Game Info

When: Saturday, February 25

Where: Stegeman Colisuem, Athens, GA

Time: 12:00 p.m. CST

TV: SEC Network

KenPom Win Probability: 61%

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The Starters

Missouri

PG: Nick Honor (Grad, 8.0 PPG)

SG: D’Moi Hodge (Grad, 13.8 PPG)

SF: DeAndre Gholston (Grad, 10.0 PPG)

PF: Kobe Brown (SR, 16.4 PPG)

C: Mohamed Diarra (JR, 3.6 PPG)

Key Depth: Tre Gomillion (G, Grad, 5.1 PPG), Sean East II (G, SR, 8.0 PPG), Noah Carter (F, SR, 9.0 PPG)

Georgia

PG: Justin Hill (JR, 8.2 PPG)

SG: Terry Roberts (SR, 13.8 PPG)

SF: Kario Oquendo (JR, 12.9 PPG)

PF: Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe (JR, 6.0 PPG)

C: Braelen Bridges (SR, 8.3 PPG)

Key Depth: Jabri Abdur-Rahim (G, JR, 7.6 PPG), Jailyn Ingram (PF, SR, 3.5 PPG), Frank Anselem (C, JR, 3.1 PPG)

*These starters are projected based on past lineups and pregame updates.

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Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Get To Know Georgia

After a strenuous and dramatic tenure at Florida, Mike White ventured just slightly North to take over a Georgia basketball program that was in desperate need of a spark. The Bulldogs have not been to the NCAA Tournament since 2015, but this season is as close as they have been in a long time.

This team has shown marked improvement in nearly every facet under White. Wins over Notre Dame, Auburn, Mississippi State and Kentucky were unexpected, and three of their losses came by three points or less.

However, after a promising start to SEC play where the Dawgs won three of their first four games, they have taken a step back. A disappointing loss to Ole Miss was followed by wins over Kentucky and LSU. However, in their last two contests, the Bulldogs have lost by a combined 81 points to Alabama and Arkansas.

The Bulldogs are 4-9 against Quads 1 and 2 and 12-3 against Quads 3 and 4.

Georgia does two things exceptionally well. They get to the free throw line for 40.4% of their field goal attempts and force opposing teams to shoot 31.7% from behind the arc (via KenPom).

Outside of that, UGA rebounds 30.6% of their misses, but they have an effective field goal percentage of just 47.6%.

A backcourt duo of upperclassmen lead the way for Georgia. Senior Terry Roberts and junior Kario Oquendo combine for 26.7 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. Roberts, a transfer from Bradley, leads the team with 4.0 assists and 1.6 steals per game as well. Oquendo led both teams with 21 points in the upset win over Kentucky on Feb. 11, and he is coming off a 20-point performance against Arkansas.

6-foot-8 junior forward Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe leads the Dawgs with 5.4 rebounds per game, as the Toronto product has rebounded from a sophomore slump in 2021-22.

Junior guard Justin Hill provides another quality option in the backcourt, but 10 players average 10 or more minutes for a fairly deep Georgia team.

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3 Keys To The Game

1. Don’t get overwhelmed on the road

We all know about the offensive struggles on the road. Although Gates and co. appeared to fix that against Tennessee, the Auburn game proved that this team still has some things to figure out away from the friendly confines of Mizzou Arena.

Georgia is not notorious for their raucous home crowds, so don’t expect the atmosphere to be anything near what Tennessee and Auburn greeted Missouri with. Regardless, maintaining their pace of play away from home is key for Missouri to come away with a win. That leads me into my next point…

2. Get hot early

The key to the Tennessee game was hitting the Vols in the mouth early on. Missouri was able to hold on to a lead after putting 44 points on UT in the first half. That largely came because of hot shooting, something that has evaded the Tigers in most other road contents.

Then, against Auburn, Mizzou fell behind 19-2 and could never regain momentum.

The Bulldogs do defend the three-point line well, which is concerning for a Mizzou team that lives from that range. In a strength vs. strength matchup, whoever wins it usually determines who wins the game.

Mizzou can set the tone early in this game and get their shooters going with a couple of three-pointers. Hodge and Brown specifically need to rekindle their confidence on the road after combining for only 14 points in the loss to Auburn.

3. Contain Roberts and Oquendo

When Georgia was having its most success early in SEC play, it was because of this duo. Roberts and Oquendo combined for 43 points in the win over Auburn. Roberts had a team-high 16 in the win over Mississippi State. Oquendo had 21 in the upset win over Kentucky.

As previously mentioned, Roberts and Oquendo also do a lot more than just scoring. Roberts runs the offense well and has made the jump from the MVC to the SEC look rather easy. Oquendo gets to the free throw line frequently thanks to his aggressive play style.

While these two are not the only members of the Georgia roster to pay attention to, they are certainly the most noteworthy.

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Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Game Prediction

My Prediction: Missouri 76 | Georgia 72

KenPom Prediction: Missouri 80 | Georgia 77

Betting Lines are typically announced 24 hours before tip, Check DraftKings Sportsbook for the odds once they’re updated.

The Bulldogs are a tough team that has played the SEC’s top-tier fairly well for much of this season. With how Missouri has fared on the road in recent outings, Georgia knows that they have a great shot to win this game.

The stars need to show up on the road for Mizzou. Brown and Hodge disappeared for Missouri against Auburn, and it stalled the offense. They both starred on Tuesday night against Mississippi State and need to carry that momentum on the road to Athens.

Missouri showed that they can win a sloppy game against Mississippi State, which was a great development for a team that had largely been stamped by defensive-minded teams. Georgia, while still stingy on that end, does not compare to the likes of TAMU and MSU.

If the Tigers play like they did against Auburn, then this will be another road loss for Mizzou. If they can even play half as well as they did against Tennessee, they should be able to walk away with a win.

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