Georgia basketball’s trip to Nashville, Tennessee, for the SEC tournament will be short-lived.
The seventh-seeded Bulldogs fell to No. 15 Ole Miss, 76-72, Thursday night in the second round. Georgia, who earned its first opening-round bye in five years, will now await its draw for the NCAA tournament. The bracket will be revealed 6 p.m. Sunday on ESPN.
The loss, Georgia’s second against Ole Miss this year, dropped the Bulldogs to 22-10 on the season.
“I didn’t see that coming,” coach Mike White told reporters after the game. “I didn’t see us being down 23 (points). I thought we’d have good offensive flow and rhythm. We have in practice.”
Georgia was the higher-seeded team, but Ole Miss dominated the game from the opening tipoff. The Rebels did not trail and led by as many as 23 points with 13 minutes left in the matchup.
The Bulldogs closed the gap late with a 13-point run, but it was too little, too late, as they suffered a loss in their first game of the SEC tournament for the fifth time in the past six seasons.
“Our offensive attention to detail early in the game was really poor,” White said. “I’ll have to do a better job, going into the NCAA Tournament, making sure we’re all on the same page.”
It did not help Georgia that starting center Somto Cyril was ejected in the second half for elbowing Ole Miss’ Travis Perry under the basket. It was Cyril’s sixth time leaving a game this season because of either an ejection or foul out.
Cyril’s absence hurt the Bulldogs on the glass, but they still outrebounded Ole Miss. Their struggles came from a lack of offensive production, as the SEC’s second-highest-scoring team tallied just 20 points in the first half, its lowest total of the season.
“I just know what my staff told me,” White said of Cyril’s flagrant foul. “I just hate it for him.”
Sophomore forward Kanon Catchings led the team with 19 points — his third consecutive game scoring at least that many. Catchings and junior guard Smurf Millender (11) were the only Bulldogs to finish with double-digit points — the first time only two players did so in a game this season. Jeremiah Wilkinson, Kareem Stagg and Dylan James each tallied eight.
Georgia’s 72 points marked its lowest total since Feb. 11, when it scored 66 in a defeat to Florida.
“I really think that we were just off today,” Millender said. “(Those are) normally the shots we take every game. I just feel like we (were not) hitting today.”
The Bulldogs’ loss eliminated them from the SEC tournament one victory shy of making the quarterfinals, a feat they have not accomplished in eight years.
It’s a familiar spot for Georgia, who played one game in the 2025 SEC tournament before falling to Gonzaga in the first round of the NCAA bracket. The Bulldogs say they believe the experience will help them as they aim for a better result.
“I think this team’s more dangerous,” White said. “Coming off a game where we just really struggled for a half, it’s pretty simple for us in terms of where we are. We’ve got to get back to the way we played (when we won) five of the last six.”
Luckily for Georgia, it is expected to receive a chance to redeem itself in the NCAA tournament.
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