Mississippi State: post mortem

I have to apologize if my observations lack some punch.  I was a bit distracted watching the game on Saturday, as I was with the in-laws and unable to fully engage.

What strikes me about this team right now is their resiliency.  Mississippi State came out and punched Georgia in the mouth, yet the good guys clawed back and led at halftime.  Then Mississippi State drew within 1 point after it looked like Georgia was going to run away with it, but the Dawgs stayed calm and closed things out.

Georgia took the best shot Mississippi State can give, and they won anyway.  That's something:

• Keep shooting, J.J.  That was fun to watch.
• You may be tempted to say, "Oh, but Georgia shot lights out or they wouldn't have won."  Guess what?  So did Mississippi State.  They hit twice as many 3's as they normally hit and scored five points above their average.
• And yes, Georgia was hot.  Specifically J.J. Frazier.  You have to go back at least as far as the 2013 SEC tournament where Kentavious Caldwell-Pope almost brought Georgia back from the dead to find a Bulldog that unconscious.  Then you look at the box score and see that he added 7 rebounds and 3 assists.  That was a special game.
• Off night for Marcus Thornton.  Really off night for Nemi Djurisic.
• Cameron Forte continues to bring the energy and hit his free throws.  He's pulled his free throw percentage up by almost 30 points in the last two games.
• Georgia, on the other hand, shot below their season average from the charity stripe, which is hard to do.  They made enough down the stretch to win the game, but I sure am getting tired of talking about it.  And as rough a night as he had, Djurisic has to be commended for knocking down two huge free throws late in the game.
• The Dawgs now have 5 players averaging over 10 points/game.  Go figure.
• I believe I read that it was Mississippi State's biggest crowd of the season.  Is Georgia good enough to draw on the road now?  Either way, kudos to their fans.  They were loud.
• Rebounding, a team strength last year, is becoming a concern.  I think Georgia is still out-rebounding opponents, but giving up 18 offensive rebounds is a great way to get beat.
• Mississippi State, normally sloppy, only turned the ball over 9 times.  I don't know if they deserve credit, or Georgia's defense deserves blame.
• I have no idea if Rick Ray will be around next season, but he finally has his team playing some decent basketball.  He inherited a steaming pile of poo and, for his sake, I hope he shows enough promise to earn another year or two.  His kids are sure playing hard for him.

Any road win counts as a good win at this point.  If you feel the need to make excuses for the win, go ahead.  I'm ready to move on to Vanderbilt, who has still won 9/10 against the Dawgs.  Every game is big from this point on.  See you Tuesday night in the Steg.