When: 6:00 PM ET, Saturday, February 17, 2018
Where: Stegeman Coliseum, Athens, Georgia
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TENN Edge in: UGA
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Preview: Tennessee at Georgia
Gracenote
Feb 16, 2018

No. 17 Tennessee heads to Georgia on Saturday looking to reach another milestone in its breakout season, as the Volunteers aim to reach 20 wins for the first time since 2013-14. The Volunteers rebounded from an ugly loss at Alabama last weekend, continuing their push toward the top of the SEC with a 70-67 home victory over South Carolina that kept Tennessee two games behind Auburn in the league standings.

“Defensively we were a much better team (Wednesday) than we were at Alabama,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes told reporters after the Volunteers won for the seventh time in eight games. The Bulldogs have struggled of late but capped a surprising season sweep of Florida on Wednesday with a 72-69 overtime victory. Yante Maten, the SEC’s leading scorer, finished with 23 points - including the game-tying 3-pointer late in regulation and eight consecutive points early in overtime. “Nothing we said was different,” Georgia coach Mark Fox told the media after the Bulldogs won for just the second time in eight games. “We just wanted to keep competing.”

TV: 6 p.m. ET, SEC Network

ABOUT TENNESSEE (19-6, 9-4 SEC): Forward Grant Williams leads the Volunteers in scoring at 16.2 points per game, finishing with 22 points and making a key basket with 11 seconds left against South Carolina. The Volunteers have excelled on defense all season, ranking third in the SEC in scoring defense (67.2 points per game). Junior forward Admiral Schofield (12.3) and sophomore guard Lamonte Turner (10.6) also score in double figures for Tennessee.

ABOUT GEORGIA (14-11, 5-8): Maten has led the way for the Bulldogs all season, averaging 19.5 points per game while ranking third in the SEC in rebounding (8.7 per contest). Georgia ranks second in the league and 16th nationally in field-goal percentage defense (40.1 percent) after limiting Florida to 37.9 percent after its three previous opponents shot 50.9 percent or better. Tyree Crump scored 13 points against the Gators as the Bulldogs had five players finish in double figures.

TIP-INS

1. The Volunteers have scored 32 percent of their points this season from 3-point range.

2. Tennessee has won nine games against teams ranked in the top 100 in RPI, five of those victories coming away from home.

3. The Bulldogs have won the past four meetings in the series and six of the past seven.

PREDICTION: Tennessee 76, Georgia 68