Kanon Catchings led five players in double figures with 23 points as Georgia rode a 3-point-shooting barrage to a 102-96 Southeastern Conference victory over Mississippi State on Saturday afternoon in Starkville, Miss.
The Bulldogs drilled 17 of 29 3-point attempts for the game as they recovered from a five-point halftime deficit and overcame a 42-point outburst by Mississippi State’s Josh Hubbard to win for the fifth time in six games.
Marcus Millender scored 18 points while Blue Cain and Jeremiah Wilkinson added 15 points apiece as Georgia (22-9, 10-8) likely avoided a first-round SEC tournament game while padding its NCAA Tournament resume.
Hubbard poured in 26 of his 42 points after halftime as he finished 16 of 27 from the field and 7 of 15 from 3-point range for Mississippi State (13-18, 5-13), which lost its fifth in a row and claimed the No. 13 seed in next week’s SEC tournament. Ja’Borri McGhee contributed 20 points and Jayden Epps added 13.
Mississippi State shot 73.1% (19 of 26) in the first half to build a 47-42 lead. Georgia took the lead for good with 15:06 to go after Catchings hit back-to-back 3-pointers, but the visitors couldn’t pull away.
Mississippi State got within 65-62 on a Hubbard 3-pointer with 9:33 to play, but four 3-pointers in a 3:12 span from four Georgia players – Catchings, Cain, Kareem Stagg and Millender – enabled Georgia to open an 84-71 advantage with 6:10 to play. Catchings scored 18 of his 23 points after halftime.
Hubbard’s layup with 19 seconds left pulled the hosts within four, but Millender answered with a pair of free throws to clinch it for Georgia.
The Bulldogs’ 17 3-pointers tied their second-highest total this season while their 58.6% accuracy rate ranked as their best of the year. It was the second time this year that UGA reached 100 points in SEC play, the other being their 104-100 win over Auburn in overtime.
