The Red and Black

Issue date: 2/23/07 Section: Sports

Media Credit: KELLY WEGEL Forward Takais Brown dunks the ball during the Bulldogs' win over Auburn earlier this season. The team will play Mississippi State at home on Saturday.

As the old saying goes, "Two's company and three's a crowd."

If that's the case, it would be hard to imagine how the Georgia men's basketball team feels, as it now is one of four SEC teams stuck with a 7-6 conference record with three games to play before the SEC Tournament.

A logjam like this shows how even teams in the league are, and the survivor of the three remaining games most likely will make the NCAA tournament.

"I've been coaching for 38 years and this is the toughest league that I've coached in," said Georgia associate head coach Pete Hermann.

The Georgia Bulldogs will host the Mississippi State Bulldogs, one of the other 7-6 teams, Saturday at Stegeman Coliseum.

Not only will the game feature teams with the same mascot, but Georgia and Mississippi State also share identical 16-10 overall records.

The Bulldogs will play two of their final three games at home, but that does not necessarily give them an advantage.

"I wouldn't say we have an edge because we still have three tough games against Mississippi State, Kentucky and Tennessee," Georgia forward Takais Brown said.

Mississippi State is tied for first in the SEC West and is coming off an 83-70 win over No. 17 Vanderbilt Wednesday.

In that game, MSU guard Jamont Gordon posted the second triple-double in school history with 15 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists.

To beat a team like Mississippi State, Georgia guard Sundiata Gaines said the team needs to start fast.

"We need to come out and set the tempo of the game," Gaines said.

"We've been letting teams come out and dictate how the game is going to be controlled. We need to share the ball on offense and guys just have to make shots."

Saturday's game will go a long way in showing whether Georgia has enough left in the tank to pull away from the pack and make a push toward the postseason.

"We're hungry, we still want to play and we're trying to get to the tournament," Brown said.

"We've just got to do what we have to do to get there."

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