There is plenty on the line for both Georgia and Oklahoma when the pair square off in the first round of the SEC tournament on Wednesday in Nashville, Tenn.
For the Bulldogs (20-11), the No. 11 seed in the tournament going against the No. 14 Sooners (19-12), an NCAA Tournament berth appears secure.
Georgia is mainly battling to improve its tournament position, as it is expected to make the program’s first appearance since 2015 and just its fourth in the last 23 years.
Bulldogs coach Mike White said feeling comfortable with their place in the NCAA field has not changed his approach to the SEC Tournament.
“Nothing has changed for us,” White said. “Every practice, every game, mid-majors, nonconference, conference games, it’s about being our best and striving for growth… We’ve had good momentum because we’ve continued to improve in a lot of areas, playing our best basketball having won four in a row. We want that to continue. We take nothing for granted.”
Georgia has worked its way into tournament position by winning its last four games of the regular season, most notably an 88-83 win over then-No. 3 Florida on Feb. 25.
After a strong nonconference performance, Oklahoma has struggled through much of its first season in SEC play.
The Sooners’ tournament chances were on life support after back-to-back last-possession losses — 83-82 to Kentucky on Feb. 26 and 87-84 at Ole Miss on March 1. But Oklahoma stayed in contention for an at-large berth by winning its last two games.
The Sooners beat then-No. 15 Missouri at home before winning at Texas on Saturday to stay in contention for what would be their first NCAA Tournament appearance of Porter Moser’s four seasons.
The reason for both teams’ recent success starts at the point guard spots.
When the teams met Jan. 11 at Georgia, a game the Bulldogs won 72-62, both Georgia’s Silas Demary Jr. and Oklahoma’s Jeremiah Fears were scuffling. Demary went 1-for-7 from the field in that game, missing all four of his 3-point tries.
During the Bulldogs’ current winning streak, the sophomore is shooting 53.1 percent from the floor and 47.8 percent from behind the arc while averaging 19.5 points.
“He’s really playing at a high, high level,” Moser said of Demary. “They rebound so well. They’re so big and physical.”
Though Fears struggled from the floor in the previous meeting against Georgia, shooting 1-for-11 with four turnovers, he’s still averaging 18.8 points and 5.5 assists per game over the last four.
“Fears is in an unbelievable rhythm, and so is Silas,” White said. “They space you. They’ve got versatile guys. They can touch paint at multiple positions… They’re one of the fastest teams in our league downhill in space.”
In the first meeting between the teams, the Bulldogs had a 20-point advantage at the free-throw line, going 27-of-37 on free throws while the Sooners were just 7-of-9.
The winner of Wednesday’s game will take on sixth-seeded Kentucky on Thursday.
