The Gators were able to escape disaster on Saturday against Ole Miss in an overtime thriller and they’ll hope for a less stressful outcome on Wednesday when they take on the Georgia Bulldogs who are 6-17 on the season and 1-9 in SEC play.
While Georgia’s record is far from impressive they have been able to put some scare into quality teams and even get some big wins. They were able to beat Alabama at home late in January and their most recent game against Auburn the Bulldogs almost pulled out a gigantic upset, ultimately losing only 74-72.
In terms of losses, the Bulldogs have suffered some bad ones. They’ve gotten hammered by Vanderbilt, South Carolina, and Texas A&M in conference play, and those are still better losses than the games they dropped to East Tennessee State, George Mason, Wofford, and Gardner-Webb in non-conference play.
Head coach Tom Crean’s tenure at Georgia which began in 2018 hasn’t gone particularly well and they have lived near the bottom of the SEC. The Bulldogs have been decimated by outgoing transfers, including multiple players who transferred within the league. Crean is starting to feel the heat in Athens and they’d love to pluck off the Gators in Gainesville.
Currently the Bulldogs are 205th in the NCAA NET rankings, right behind Nicholls, Bellarmine, and Brown. With Wednesday’s game taking place in Gainesville it will be a quadrant-4 game for the Gators, otherwise known as the worst quality game you can have from an NCAA Tournament resume standpoint. If the Gators win it wouldn’t help their bubbly NCAA Tournament outlook, but a loss would absolutely tank it. Florida already has a quad-4 loss to Texas Southern on their resume and a second quad-4 loss would put them behind the 8-ball in an attempt for an at-large bid.
Add in that the Bulldogs are 0-6 on the road this season, and you can see pretty quickly why this isn’t a “must-win” for the Gators, but a “can’t-lose.”
Standing in the way of Florida getting one more win closer to their NCAA Tournament goal is a talented sophomore in Kario Oquendo, a Titusville native who has been a bright spot for Georgia this season. The 6’4”, 210 guard is a physical driver who has led Georgia in scoring with 13 points a game. Oquendo isn’t much of a threat from deep (22%) but even though defenses aren’t concerned with his outside shot he’s still able to get into the paint and finish. He has been one of the best at the rim finishers in the SEC season and the Gators will need to be prepared for a steady dose of downhill drives from him. Small, speedy guards have caused havoc to Florida’s perimeter defense so far this season but Oquendo is a matchup they’re far better equipped to handle. Brandon McKissic is far more comfortable with physical wing players than quicker, more slippery guards. Niels Lane starting to get some burn also gives the Gators a physical perimeter defender and it wouldn’t at all be surprising to see Lane get the first chance at slowing down Oquendo.
Overall the Bulldogs haven’t had much success recently but one position they have had some excellent players at is point guard and they have another good one this season in Gonzaga transfer Aaron Cook. Cook was the sixth man on the Gonzaga team that played in the National Championship game last season and is now one of the best passers in the SEC averaging 6 assists per game while also chipping in 11 points. Cook is a pure point guard who is excellent in ball screens and is able to put teammates in excellent positions to score. Part of the reason he’s such a sound point guard is the fact he’s one of the most experienced players in college basketball. Cook played four seasons at Southern Illinois before transferring to Gonzaga, and he is now using the extra year from COVID to run the offense at Georgia. In his sixth year he’s seen all kinds of defenses and has done all kinds of reps in the pick and roll and he’ll enter Wednesday’s game with a clear plan of attack against Florida’s defensive schemes.
With Colin Castleton out for a few weeks before returning against Ole Miss, how the Gators were going to stop elite centers was a huge question and even with their starter back they’ll still have some concerns with senior Braelen Bridges. Bridges was a fantastic find in the transfer portal from Crean, a post player who came to Georgia from UIC where he averaged 10 points and 5 rebounds per game. Those aren’t the outstanding numbers you normally see from someone transferring from the mid-major to high-major ranks, but Crean saw something he liked and gave him the chance and it has worked incredibly. Bridges has actually increased his production going from the Horizon League to the SEC, going from 10 points and 5 rebounds per game at UIC to now 13 points and 6 rebounds per game at Georgia. At 6’11” and 240 pounds he’s got great size for the position and is a very good finisher around the rim. His one weak spot is that he isn’t a great defender or rim protector but he’s a threat offensively that could cause the Gators issues, particularly if he’s able to draw fouls on Castleton.
Georgia has deficiencies shooting the basketball which throttles their ability to score at a high level but their offense is still quite nice with their ability to get driving perimeter players going downhill. Cook is as good a passer as there is in the SEC, and Bridges is a great option to dump the ball into around the rim.
The Bulldog’s big problem is on the defensive end. Currently the Bulldogs are 280th in KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency metric, a shockingly bad number for an SEC team. Their inability to get multiple stops in a row has been the biggest factor in them losing so many games this season, and had they been just slightly better defensively they very well could have a few huge upset victories, such as when they just barely lost to Auburn. The Bulldogs have shown they can put up points against quality defenses, but their defense has been what has let them down.
For Florida, the key to this game will definitely be making sure Georgia doesn’t get going on one of their hot offensive games. The Gators defense has been inconsistent this season and Georgia, while inconsistent offensively, has shown they can score in bunches when they’re in rhythm.
Florida’s offense could certainly use some work after one of their least potent performances of the season against Ole Miss, and with Georgia being so poor defensively it could be a great opportunity for a get right game for the Gators.
This is a game the Gators can’t really afford to lose, as doing so would mean they’d have to steal multiple games they shouldn’t in order to be in a position to get their name called on Selection Sunday. Every game moving forward is a big one and the Gators will need to be focused and energized Wednesday to get the win.
This game takes place February 9th at 6:30 ET and will be televised on SEC Network.