Mississippi State vs. Georgia in SEC Tournament

By Josh Barnhill | Mar 10, 2016

Feb 13, 2016; Starkville, MS, USA; Georgia Bulldogs guard William Jackson II (0) dribbles against Mississippi State Bulldogs guard Travis Daniels (23) during the second half of the game at Humphrey Coliseum. Georgia won 66 - 57. Mandatory Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports /

The Mississippi State Bulldogs will play the Georgia Bizarro Bulldogs in the ~~1st~~ 2nd round of the SEC Tournament in Nashville, Tennessee late Thursday night.

Both MSU and UGA come into the 2016 SEC Tournament looking for a run that will propel them into further postseason opportunities. Despite the bizarro Bulldogs having a 3.5 game better record than State, both teams need to win the league tournament for a chance at the NCAA Tournament. Georgia will, however, be playing in the NIT while MSU would probably be off the bubble of the NIT even if they were to make it to the SEC Title game on Sunday.

So both teams are looking for a four day run – and both teams are actually capable of doing it. But first they’ll have to get past the first game.

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This will be the third time in the last decade these two have met in the SEC Tournament. In 2009, UGA was State’s first victim in their four-day romp through Tampa, Florida on their way to a tournament title. In 2012, a half-hearted MSU team lost to Georgia. In 2008, MSU inexplicably lost to Georgia while the bizarro Dawgs were playing their second game of the day – and they would go on to win the conference tournament.

Earlier this year, State lost at the Hump to Georgia 66-57. It was probably the Bulldogs worst performance of the year.

Looking at the match-up tonight, MSU will go against two of the better players in the SEC in J.J. Frazier (G) and Yante Maden (F). Maden and Derek Ogbeide are both 6′-8″ and will present a challenge for Gavin Ware on the inside. The key to this game may be lighting it up from three – so we’ll need a lot of Malik Newman’s help – unless Gavin can make things happen despite the opposing challenge.

The winner will play South Carolina late Friday night.

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