The Georgia Bulldogs have never been a basketball power, but have been pretty respectable under Mark Fox. Georgia has made the NCAA Tournament twice under his watch and has tallied 20 wins in three straight seasons heading into this year. However, after some rough results in out-of-conference play, the Bulldogs have some work to do to get to 20 this year. That makes their game against the Florida Gators all the more important over the weekend.
Don’t miss the hardwood action from the Stephen C. O’Connell Center at 12 p.m. ET on Saturday, January 14, 2017. Catch every moment of the game live on ESPN2. We will have NCAA basketball odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the college basketball Saturday schedule.
College Basketball Odds at BookMaker.eu
Georgia is 5-6 ATS this season, but 4-2 ATS in games away from Athens. The Bulldogs failed to cover in their last two SEC games though, losing outright to South Carolina as a short favorite and only beating Missouri by 5 as a double-digit home favorite. It’s no surprise that their offensive woes are the reason they failed to cover these games and someone other than Yante Maten needs to score.
Florida has been a lot better under Michael White than it was last season. The Gators have looked good trouncing inferior competition and although they have yet to notch a marquee win, they are clearly one of the top teams in the SEC. Florida has won six in a row, including a 13-point win over Alabama on Tuesday night, and has not covered five of its last six.
Player to Watch
Maten is the most talented person on Georgia’s roster and this team would have no shot of making the Big Dance without him. He leads the team in scoring and rebounding with over 20 PPG and 8.4 RPG and is extremely efficient from the floor, knocking down 54.4 percent of his shots this year.
Last season, he demonstrated he can hit the three and this year, he is making it a bigger part of his game. The 6’8 forward has fantastic range and is hitting 41.4 percent of his three-pointers, a worse percentage than last season but he is also putting up five times as many shots. His ability to shoot from distance has meant that opposing big men have to challenge him on the perimeter and helps Georgia control the glass.
Last Year’s Meeting
These two teams played an ugly game when they squared off in February of last season, with neither team shooting better than 37 percent from the field. However, the Gators emerged victorious because of their superior defense, particularly among their big men. Florida blocked 10 of Georgia’s 62 field goal attempts and held the Bulldogs to hitting just 32.3 percent from the field.
However, Florida almost lost because of how poorly it shot free throws. The Gators hit just 12 of 21 free throw attempts in this game and that negated advantages pretty much everywhere else. They also went just 5 of 25 from beyond the three-point line in this game.
Free College Basketball ATS Picks
The Gators are on a tear and they know what they need to do in order to get past the Bulldogs, stop Maten. Maten is the only player that can score on a consistent basis against their defense and if Florida is able to shut him down, it should have no problem winning. Last year, UF held him to just 4 of 17 shooting and Georgia only tallied 53 points as a result.
Look for Florida’s defense to clamp down on Maten throughout this one and subsequently limit Georgia’s offensive production. Neither of these teams are great shooting squads, so instead of betting a side, grab the under and look for a repeat of last season’s match-up.
College Basketball Odds: Florida 65, Georgia 59
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