Mississippi State: post mortem

Don't feel too bad, Mississippi State.  Sometimes Yante Maten happens:

• That's two years in a row the Bulldogs from Mississippi have been victimized by a career day from a Georgia Bulldog.  Last year it was J.J. Frazier, and this year it was Maten, who had his way all night long.  He did get a tad sloppy with the ball, but that nit-picking, especially since he was hardly alone in that.
• If Maten extends that range out past the 3-point line next season he is going to be an absolute terror.
• Once Gavin Ware went to the bench with his second foul, Mark Fox was content to let Mississippi State shoot themselves to death, and they obliged.  Almost every shot was contested, too, unlike in the debacle against Kentucky.
• Ware's last 4 games: 28 pts, 14 pts, 21 pts, 6 pts.  Georgia took him away.  Yes, the foul trouble played into that, but it wasn't the whole story.
• Georgia won a game in which Kenny Gaines scored 0 points.  Amazing.
•  Let's not ignore what Charles Mann is doing.  The last few minutes of the game were bad, sure, but he went for 21/7 and has been playing quite well of late.  Maybe it's a sense of urgency as his last season winds down.  I don't know.  Whatever it is, I hope he harnesses it and carries it forward.
• Derek Ogbeide had 13 rebounds.  Are you excited about he and Maten in the post next season?  Of course you are.
• Mike Edwards splashed a free throw.  Unfortunately, this is noteworthy.
• Did you get worried when Mississippi State cut it to 10 after a 12-0 run?  I did.
• Four bad shooting nights in a row for J.J. Frazier.  We'll all be happy if he manages to break out of that mini-slump on Tuesday night.
• Georgia pressed and immediately forced a turnover.  It just about brought a tear to my eye.
• The reaction to State's press was less exciting.  In fact, the last 8 minutes of the game were downright disturbing, not because the game was ever in jeopardy (it wasn't), but because Florida is going to press for 40 minutes Tuesday night.  Mississippi State scored 13 points in the last 67 seconds of the game!  Georgia relaxed, and that can't happen against better teams.
• Unfortunately for Kenny Paul Geno, that was probably his last trip to Starkville.  He sure seems to have fun there!
• Quinndary Weatherspoon is worth getting excited about if you're a Mississippi State fan.  If Malik Newman sticks around and grows into the player he was supposed to be, that'll be a nice one-two punch.

Georgia needed a win and they got it.  Mark Fox needs to have the team just as prepared on Tuesday night.  Literally every game matters for this team right now.

I'll be in my seat cheering them on.  I hope you will too.