Georgia hopes to build on its midweek win at Kentucky when it hosts streaking Texas on Saturday in Southeastern Conference action in Athens, Ga.
The Bulldogs (18-8, 6-7 SEC) stunned the Wildcats 86-78 on Tuesday for their first win in Lexington since 2009. The victory also ended Georgia’s two-game losing streak.
Texas (17-9, 8-5) is coming off an 88-85 win over LSU on Tuesday. The Longhorns have won five straight conference games, their longest league winning streak since the 2019-20 season when they were in the Big 12 Conference.
Georgia’s success built on the momentum from last weekend’s road victory at Oklahoma.
“We wanted to have some carryover and just compete at a different level, rebound at a different level, defend shooters at a higher level,” Bulldogs coach Mike White said. “We played with a ton of intensity and I thought our guys from the jump really sat down and defended.”
The Bulldogs have also benefited from the return of leading scorer Jeremiah Wilkinson, who missed time with a sore shoulder.
“It doesn’t hurt when you add Jeremiah to the lineup,” White said. “Another talented scorer and playmaker for others as well, and a guy that’s hard to keep out of the paint.”
Wilkinson, who averages 17.2 points, scored 19 against Kentucky to supplement the game-high 20 points from Blue Cain, who is the second-leading scorer on the team at 13.9 points.
Texas continued to ride the hot hand of Dailyn Swain, who had 21 points and 10 rebounds against LSU despite being limited to 21 minutes because of foul trouble. He has scored 20-plus points in seven SEC games and leads the team with an average of 17.7 points.
A win could help Texas move off the bubble and get closer to securing a spot in the NCAA tournament.
“I think we’ve improved,” Texas coach Sean Miller said. “We’re just better overall. We’re just more sure of ourselves, more steady.”
This is the second game of the season between the two teams. Texas beat visiting Georgia 87-67 on Jan. 24 behind 26 points from Swain and 23 from Tramon Mark.
–Field Level Media
