GAME NOTES: Georgia and Mississippi State are set for the battle of the Bulldogs as they square off in Southeastern Conference play at Humphrey Coliseum on Saturday.

Georgia has won three straight after starting SEC play 0-2. Most recently, the Bulldogs claimed a 69-64 victory over Ole Miss Tuesday night in Athens. They will now play three of their next four on the road.

Similar to Georgia's recent stretch, Mississippi State has reeled off two straight wins after beginning league play 0-3. The Bulldogs pulled out a rare 78-71 road win over Auburn on Wednesday night. The outcome snapped the team's 22-game road losing streak that dated back two years.

Georgia has won three of the last four head-to-head meetings and leads the all-time series with Mississippi State, 54-53. This is the only scheduled matchup between these two teams this season.

UGA trailed Ole Miss by six at halftime on Tuesday after shooting just 33 percent from the floor in the opening frame. But the Bulldogs turned it around in the second half thanks largely to guards Charles Mann (12 pts) and J.J. Frazier (11 pts), as the duo scored all of their points after halftime. Fifth- year senior forward Marcus Thornton finished with a team-high 16 points to go along with three blocks, while fellow big man Nemanja Djurisic also reached double figures with 11 points.

Thornton paces the squad in scoring (14.1) and rebounding (7.4) this season. And during the Bulldogs' three-game win streak, he has scored 16 points in each game while shooting 58 percent from the floor. Kenny Gaines (11.9 ppg), Mann (11.7 ppg, 5.6 rpg) and Djurisic (11.1 ppg, 4.9 rpg) are all averaging double figures along with Thornton.

Mississippi State is led in scoring by Fred Thomas (10.4 ppg, 4.5 rpg), with Roquez Johnson (10.2 ppg, 5.3 rpg) and Gavin Ware (9.9 ppg, 7.1 rpg) close behind. Ware really took control in the win over Auburn, scoring 16 points and pulling down a career-high 17 rebounds. The 17 boards are tops among all SEC players in a game this season, and Ware is the first Mississippi State player to have 17 rebounds in a game since 2009 (Jarvis Varnado). He has pulled down 30 boards over his last two games, both victories.

The Bulldogs started hot against Auburn and led by as many as 18 five minutes into the second half. They kept the Tigers at bay by making 16-of-19 free- throw attempts after halftime and are now 28-of-32 at the charity stripe during the second half of their last two games. MSU averages only 27.8 points in the first half of games, but the 47 second-half points were easily a season-high. Sophomore guard I.J. Ready matched his career-high with 18 points in Wednesday's win and is averaging a team-best 14.3 points over the last four contests.

Both of these teams have seemingly rebounded from tough starts in conference play. Georgia has had the upper hand against Mississippi State of late, but this matchup figures to be a close one given the recent play of each squad.