The fact that Georgia is 0-9 under Mark Fox on the road in SEC play will be fresh in the players mind when they wrap up their long two game road trip today in Oxford Mississippi against the Rebels. The challenge for Fox's club is to capture that much needed win before it becomes a mental thing under the weight of preseason expectations.
Ole Miss comes into today's game with a 12-5 overall record but have started conference play 0-2. The Rebels lost their first game at Florida and then dropped a home game to in state rival Mississippi State on Thursday. With road games in Nashville and Baton Rouge next week there is no doubt that Ole Miss will be focused in today's game.
The Rebels strength lies in its backcourt with seniors Chris Warren (18.9 ppg) and Zach Graham (13.9 ppg) leading the way.
Georgia is 12-3 overall and 1-1 in the SEC. If they want to break their nine game road SEC losing streak today they will need to do two things. First they are going to need to play a strong defensive game that looks more like their Kentucky victory rather than their performance in Nashville. Second, they are going to have to dominate the paint by feeding the ball to Trey Thompkins and Jeremy Price and not get forced into taking a lot of shots from beyond the arc which is clearly not a strength.
If Georgia wants to fulfill its goal of reaching the NCAA Tournament then one way to impress the selection committee is by winning road games in the conference. With a three game home stand on the horizon, a win today could propel the Bulldogs to a great start in the SEC.