A surging Georgia basketball team closes its regular season with a road game against an opponent freefalling down the stretch.

It’s a matchup of Bulldogs in Starkville on Saturday, March 7, when Georgia and Mississippi State tip in Humphrey Coliseum.

Georgia (21-9, 9-8 SEC) is coming off a 98-88 upset of Alabama Tuesday night in Athens, its fourth win in the last five games. Forward Kanon Catchings poured in a career-high 32 points.

“Everybody wants to be playing their best basketball come March,” guard Blue Cain said.

Mississippi State (13-17, 5-12) has the SEC’s longest active losing streak of four games. It was pounded 108-74 at No. 5 Florida Tuesday, its third loss in a row of 24 or more points.

Georgia is playing to improve its SEC and NCAA Tournament seeding.

The Bulldogs can finish anywhere from the No. 6 to the No. 10 seed in next week’s SEC Tournament in Nashville.

The top eight seeds get byes to Thursday’s second round with the top four playing its first game Friday in the quarterfinal round.

“I told our guys that and a few other things as well.” Coach Mike White said. “We’re playing for a lot of different reasons right now. You can talk about that or other bullet points you can give your guys about number of wins, seeding and all that type of stuff, but the one we finished with (Thursday) in our pre-practice talk, just reaching your ceiling. Let’s just continue to improve.”

Georgia is 4-2 since freshman forward Kareem Stagg entered the starting lineup. He’s scored in double figures in three of those game including 10 against Alabama and is 8 of 20 on 3s in that stretch.

Catchings is second in the SEC in 3-point shooting in SEC games at 43.6%.

Mississippi State guard Josh Hubbard is third in the SEC at 21.4 points per game and 86 3s, but the team ranks 340^th nationally in points allowed (81.2) and 326^th in turnover margin (-2.3).

“He’s going to make shots, he’s a really good player, but we’re just going to have to try to make it as difficult for him as possible,” Cain said.

Georgia basketball vs. Mississippi State live updates

Jeremiah Wilkinson has 9 points off the bench and has hit 2 of 4 from 3. Georgia and Mississippi State are tied at 33 with 3:49 to go. Georgia is 7 of 12 on 3s.

Mississippi State leads 25-21 with 7:12 to go in the first half.

Georgia has six turnovers and is 7 of 17 shooting. It is 1 of 7 on 2-point attempts.

Georgia is being outscored in the paint 12-2.

Georgia led 11-6 before Mississippi State went on a 10-1 run. The home team hit 5 of 6 shots in one stretch. Georgia trails 16-15 with 11:28 to go.

Ja’Borri McGhee and Josh Hubbard have 5 points each.

Georgia is just 2 of 7 shooting at the first media timeout. The game is tied at 6 because Blue Cain and Jeremiah Wilkinson have hit 3s. Jordan Ross missed a layup and had 2 turnovers early before being replaced by Smurf Millender.

Who is starting for Georgia basketball vs. Mississippi State?

Georgia’s starting lineup has one change. Point guard Jordan Ross is starting for Smurf Millender. The other four starters are guard Blue Cain, forwards Kanon Catchings and Kareem Stagg and center Somto Cyril.

Georgia basketball injury updates

Georgia did not have any players listed on the SEC Availability Report. Guard Jordan Ross returned from one game out with an ankle injury and and had 4 points and 4 assists in 19 minutes against Alabama.

What time does Georgia basketball vs Mississippi State start?

Tipoff at Humphrey Coliseum is at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, March 7.

What channel is Georgia basketball vs Mississippi State on today? 

The game is available to stream on SEC Network (FUBO free with trial)

Georgia basketball 2025-2026 schedule

Oct. 15 Georgia 61, Georgia State 61, 7 p.m. (exhibition)

Oct. 26 Georgia 81, Troy 65 (exhibition)

Nov. 3 Georgia 104, Bellarmine 59

Nov. 5 Georgia 94, Maryland Eastern-Shore 29

Nov. 9 Georgia 120, Morehead State 81

Nov. 14 Georgia 92, Georgia Tech 87

Nov. 17 Georgia 87, Florida A&M 57

Nov. 21 Georgia 78, Xavier 77 in Charleston

Nov. 23 Clemson 97, Georgia 94 (OT) in Charleston

Nov. 29 Georgia 123, Tennessee Tech 81

Dec. 2 Georgia 107, Florida State 73 in ACC/SEC Challenge

Dec. 2 Georgia 84, Cincinnati 65 in Atlanta

Dec. 18 Georgia 102, Western Carolina 82

Dec. 22 Georgia 103. West Georgia 74

Dec. 29 Georgia 89, Long Island 74

Jan. 3. Georgia 104, Auburn 100

Jan. 6 Florida 92, Georgia 77

Jan. 10 Georgia 75, South Carolina 70

Jan. 14 vs. Ole Miss 97, Georgia 95 OT

Jan. 17 Georgia 90, Arkansas 76

Jan. 20 Georgia 74, Missouri 72

Jan. 24 Texas 87, Georgia 67

Jan. 27 Tennessee 86, Georgia 85 (OT)

Jan. 31 Texas A&M 92, Georgia 77

Feb. 7 Georgia 83, LSU 71

Feb. 11 Florida 86, Georgia 66

Feb. 14 Oklahoma 94, Georgia 78

Feb. 17 Georgia 86, Kentucky 78

Feb. 21 Georgia 91, Texas 80

Feb. 25 Vanderbilt 88, Georgia 80

Feb. 28 Georgia 87, South Carolina 68

March 3 Georgia 98, Alabama 88

March 7 at Mississippi State, 3:30 p.m. SEC Network

March 11-15 SEC Tournament in Nashville