Georgia 12/13 2:00 ESPNU

[hipal88]

I will be heading to ATL hopefully to not witness a second straight L. What looked like a fun trip to see the Cats on my birthday now just looks more like a fun weekend in Atlanta with the family.

Oh and btw, X fans were no worse than any other fans...including our own with the f the mormons.

[GoBearcats31]

Georgia is 8-1 which includes:
- 5 point win over Georgia Tech
- 1 point neutral win over Xavier (blew a big lead, hit a game winning three)
- 3 point OT loss to future UC opponent Clemson, neutral
- Just won by 34 at FSU

Leading scorer is Jeremiah Wilkinson, a sophomore guard who transferred in from Cal

Third-leading scorer is Kanon Catchings, an Indiana kid who originally signed with Purdue but was a freshman at BYU last year

Other rotational pieces include Jake Wilkins (Dom's son) and Somto Cyril, both UC recruits

[sedz]

Georgia is a well coached team that plays modern offense. They are top 3 in pace and converting twos. 43% of their shots come at the rim and just 11% are from midrange (for comparison, we take 32% of our shots at the rim and 19% from midrange). Top 15 in offensive rebounding. Top 35 overall on both sides of the ball. #26 overall on Torvik.

6'5 junior wing Blue Cain leads the Bulldogs in BPM at 12.0. He converts 81% at the rim and 93% from the free throw line. He's only attempted 7 midrange shots and committed 7 turnovers all year. That's a guard who knows how to score efficiently.

[leeraymond372@gmail.com]

The Xavier game represented a nightmare matchup problem for UC's big men. The Georgia game should be a better matchup for UC. The two bigs that Georgia has that shoot the three, Wilkins and Catchings, shoot for bad percentages (Wilkins shoots 19% and Catchings shoot 24.5%). Nevertheless, Wilkins hits for about 9 points a game and Catchings hits for about 10 points a game.

This game is going to be about guard play. Georgia's starting guard group scores about 39.6 points a game. UC's starting guard group scores about 33 points a game. Based on the season stats, UC's big men should have a scoring advantage 24.1 to 18.4.

Georgia steals the ball about 11 times a game. That is not good for UC, which happens to be the second worst team in the BIG XII when it comes to turnovers. Only Kansas State is worst.

Georgia scores 99.9 points a game. It also has played a tougher schedule than UC. It also has beaten Xavier. The matchups are better for UC against Georgia than they were for Xavier.

This is a game that UC could probably win, if it had the coaching, because the matchups for UC are not bad.

[GoBearcats31]

Georgia is 15 in NET, 24 on KenPom -- massive opportunity / almost a "must win" given the last couple weeks.

[bearcatlifer]

I'm a season ticket holder and you can't pay me to watch this game on TV.It will be excruciating! Wes will sit there dumbfounded while his players run around like a Chinese fire drill.

[swilsonsp4]

Being an optimist and not a fatalist, I'll grab a soft drink, turn on ESPN and take in Dan Hoard's call. I'll be looking for offensive improvement and a chance for a Q1 victory.

[John P]

Being an optimist and not a fatalist, I'll grab a soft drink, turn on ESPN and take in Dan Hoard's call. I'll be looking for offensive improvement and a chance for a Q1 victory.

I'm an optimist too but it sure is getting harder to stay that way.