Georgia looks to keep climbing in the Southeastern Conference standings on Saturday afternoon when it visits Florida in Gainesville, Fla.
Coming off a 68-66 victory over LSU on Wednesday, the Bulldogs (14-5, 4-2 SEC) enter the weekend tied with South Carolina and Kentucky for fourth place in the standings.
Russel Tchewa grabbed the rebound off Jabri Abdul-Rahim’s missed 3-pointer and banked in a shot with 2.8 seconds remaining to give the Bulldogs the points they needed to beat the Tigers. He added a free throw for the final margin.
With Wednesday night’s win, the Bulldogs avoided their first two-game losing streak in conference play. They were coming off a 105-96 setback at Kentucky over the weekend.
“We’ve responded after every loss the right way,” Georgia coach Mike White said.
The Gators (13-6, 3-3) are tied for seventh with Ole Miss, Texas A&M and LSU after their 79-70 win over Mississippi State on Wednesday.
“This was a huge win for us and one that will travel,” Florida coach Todd Golden said. “They’re a very physical, very good team. They’re very old with a lot of guys that have SEC experience. We felt that the first four minutes of the game.”
The Gators have won their last two outings and three of their last four with the only loss at then-No. 6 Tennessee on Jan. 16. Surprisingly, free throw shooting was a key factor in the Gators’ favor against Mississippi State.
In last place in the conference with their 67.0 percent mark, the Gators were 17-for-20 from the line for the game and 10-for-11 over the last 1:32 to sew up the win.
“It shows that we’ve been working on them,” forward Tyrese Samuel said.
Florida has won the last eight meetings and is 8-1 at home this season. Georgia is 3-1 in road games. The rematch comes up Feb. 17 in Athens, Ga.
–Field Level Media