Georgia had to overcome more than snow and ice to defeat Mississippi State on Wednesday night. A stomach virus that is still working its way through the team as it prepares for Saturday afternoon’s game against Ole Miss affected virtually everything the Bulldogs did from the time they left Athens on Tuesday afternoon.
With several players already afflicted before they departed, all 19 members of the traveling party donned surgical masks for the entire trip. Nevertheless, starting with Cameron Forte and Kenny Gaines, several other players came down with the virus before Wednesday night’s tipoff.
Juwan Parker, who scored a career-high 16 points, was sick in the restroom during pregame warm-ups. In the game’s opening five minutes, Fox turned to the bench to insert J.J. Frazier in the game at point guard, only to find that Frazier had adjourned to the restroom as well. Fox was told by trainers to play several others only in small increments.
And so it went. Given that context, it’s easy to understand how the Bulldogs fell behind early by 14 points. That they would won by 20, 75-55, borders on unbelievable.
“It made it a little bit more challenging,” Fox said Friday. “But it’s just a bug going through the team, and I’m sure it’s not done.”
Returning to Athens represented the next challenge, and Georgia couldn’t do that until Thursday night because of the winter storm. The Bulldogs remained in Starkville through Thursday. They got in a short workout there before taking a bus to Columbus, Miss., to catch a flight back. The players got to their rooms Thursday night.
Between that and the stomach virus, Georgia’s preparations have been limited for what sets up as the biggest home game of the season. The Bulldogs (13-10, 7-4 SEC) and Ole Miss (16-8, 7-4) are tied for third in the SEC, and they have a score to settle.
The Rebels, led by the prolific-shooting guard Marshall Henderson, stole a victory from Georgia last year in Oxford. Henderson scored 14 points in the final 3:36 to wipe out a double-digit deficit and force overtime en route to a 10-point win. Several questionable calls went the way of Ole Miss in the waning seconds of regulation.
“We won’t talk about last year,” Fox said. “This game’s independent of last year. We’ll just focus on how we have to play to win.”
That will start with controlling Henderson and fellow guard Jarvis Summers, who average 36 points between them and launch 3-pointers without conscience. The Rebels average 76.9 points per game, but rank last in the league in points allowed (72.0) and field-goal percentage (.428). Georgia, as usual, will try to play tough defense, control the boards and get to the free-throw line. That formula has helped the Bulldogs win three consecutive.
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