ATHENS -- Florida's double-overtime victory over Georgia last month was typical of the Gators' season. It was a game Florida could have lost -- but didn't.
The Gators have built a comfortable lead atop the SEC East on their uncanny ability to win close games. Their 10-2 SEC record includes a 3-0 mark in overtime games and 6-1 in games decided by six points or fewer, and their current five-game winning streak includes victories by one point over Tennessee, two points over Kentucky and four points over Vanderbilt.
"Their experience has been the difference for their team, I think," Georgia coach Mark Fox said Wednesday, shortly before his team departed for Gainesville and Thursday night's rematch with the Gators. "The fact they are just so experienced at every position gives them a real advantage in close games."
Florida returned five starters, three of them seniors, from a team that reached the NCAA tournament last year.
The Gators' success in close games accounts for their breaking away from the pack in the SEC East. The next four teams are closely bunched, all at least three games behind Florida in the loss column -- Vanderbilt at 8-5, Georgia at 7-5 and Kentucky and Tennessee at 7-6.
Florida takes a No. 13 national ranking and a 21-5 overall record into Thursday's game (7 p.m. on ESPN2). Georgia is unranked and 18-8 overall, including 3-2 in SEC games decided by six points or fewer.
Of all the Gators' hard-fought victories, the Jan. 25 game in Athens stands out as the most protracted.
Georgia, which trailed by eight points with three minutes left in regulation, forced the first overtime on Trey Thompkins' put-back of a Dustin Ware miss at the buzzer. Then Florida forced the second overtime on a 3-pointer from about 30 feet by Erving Walker with one second left in the first overtime.
Georgia had little left after that, and Florida dominated the second overtime 19-6 to win 104-91.
"It was very painful," Georgia forward Travis Leslie recalled Wednesday. "We really thought we should have had it before [Walker] knocked down that lucky three."
Leslie added: "We are past that game. ... I feel like we got a lot of talent. We got enough talent to compete and beat them. So hopefully we can get that done."
Injured Gator
Florida senior forward Chandler Parsons didn't play in the Gators' most recent game -- Saturday at LSU -- because of a deep thigh bruise suffered Feb. 12 against Tennessee.
Gators coach Billy Donovan told reporters in Florida on Wednesday that Parsons is unlikely to start, but could play against Georgia on Thursday.
Parsons is averaging 10.8 points, 7.7 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game this season. He had 18 points and 12 rebounds in last month's game at UGA.
Etc.
"I think we're doing better on the road than at home," Leslie said. Check the numbers: Georgia is 7-2 (.778 winning percentage) on the road, 10-4 (.714) at home and 1-2 on neutral courts. ... The Bulldogs, who have won three consecutive SEC road games, will try for their first win at Florida in nine years. ... Fox's latest take on his team's postseason prospects: "If the NCAA tournament started today, yeah, I think we would be in. I'd be disappointed if it started today and we weren't." ... Florida closes the regular season with a tough stretch of schedule. Following Thursday's game, the Gators play at No. 22 Kentucky on Saturday, host SEC West leader Alabama on Tuesday and play at No. 18 Vanderbilt on March 5.