GAME NOTES: The surging Georgia Bulldogs look to stay hot on New Year's Eve when they take on the Kansas State Wildcats in a non-league tilt at Bramlage Coliseum.

Georgia outlasted Mercer in three overtimes on Saturday, 86-77. The win was the fourth in a row for the Bulldogs, who are now back on the road for the first time in nearly a month. Their current win streak began with a win at Chattanooga on Dec. 2.

Kansas State brought a three-game win streak into Sunday's matchup with Texas Southern. However, the Wildcats never really got going in that one, as they lost at home by a 58-56 final. Texas Southern scored the last six points of the contest, including the game-winner with 0.9 seconds on the clock.

This marks only the second-ever meeting between these two teams. K-State defeated the Bulldogs in overtime during the first round of the 1987 NCAA Tournament, 82-79.

Georgia shot just 33.3 percent from the floor in regulation against Mercer before coming alive with a 56.5-percent effort, including four 3-pointers, across three overtime periods. The Bears forced overtime with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer at the buzzer, but UGA never came unraveled. Kenny Gaines (11.8 ppg) scored 10 of his 13 points during overtime, and that included a huge bucket to send the game to a third OT.

The Bulldogs pulled away from there, thanks to a trio of 3-pointers in the final period. Gaines finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds, while teammate Marcus Thornton (14.9 ppg, 7.5 rpg) also notched a double-double with 17 points and 11 boards. Charles Mann (12.5 ppg, 5.4 rpg) led all scorers with 22 points, Nemanja Djurisic (11.5 ppg, 6.0 rpg) tallied 17 points and nine boards, and J.J. Frazier had 10 points and four steals off the bench.

Marcus Foster leads Kansas State in scoring with 15.0 ppg and is shooting at a 47-percent clip from the perimeter (38-of-81). Nino Williams (13.0 ppg, 4.8 rpg) and Thomas Gipson (11.3 ppg, 4.2 rpg) do most of their damage from the paint, as both players are shooting better than 55 percent from the floor on the season. The Wildcats lack a single dominant post player, although they are +4.0 in rebounding margin.

On Sunday, K-State managed to cough up a 56-52 lead with 15 seconds remaining against Mercer. The Wildcats fouled a 3-point shooter with 2 seconds on the clock. Tonnie Collier made the first two free throws and then missed the third intentionally, and teammate Chris Thomas put back the miss to tie the score at 56-56 with 0.9 seconds remaining. The Wildcats' inbounds pass then went out of bounds at mid-court without touching anybody, and Carter provided the final dagger by making a jumper at the buzzer. Foster led the way with 17 points for the Wildcats.

UGA head coach Mark Fox spent seven years (1994-2000) at K-State as an assistant coach under Tom Asbury. Now back in Manhattan, Fox brings with him a team that is not only red-hot, but also battle-tested.