Georgia looking to string together winning streak to avoid repeat of last season

Georgia is in a familiar spot.

Through 14 games last season, Georgia stood at 9-5. That’s exactly where the Bulldogs are now. None of Georgia’s five losses have been deemed bad: Kansas is the third-ranked team in the nation. South Carolina (31), Clemson (40), Marquette (73) and Oakland (99), the other four teams that beat Georgia, are all in the RPI top 100.

Even with the early losses, Georgia is in good position at this early point of the season given its top-10 strength of schedule combined with the fact a bad loss isn’t apparent yet.

But given the similarities to how this season and last season have started, there does seem to be an even bigger sense of urgency.

“Over the past couple of years we’ve kind of put ourselves in a predicament,” junior forward Yante Maten said. “Where are we going to be? That was always the question. We are trying to establish where we were going to be earlier in the season, make sure we get the wins. Right now, we’re focusing on the next win, to make sure we get that so we’re not having our backs against the wall so we’re not trying to fight to get in (the NCAA Tournament).”

After its 14th game last year, Georgia went 5-6 during its next 11 games. The Bulldogs then suffered a devastating defeat to Auburn, which, in hindsight, might have been the final blow to their NCAA Tournament chances. After the Auburn game, Georgia put together a late-season five-game winning streak before earning an NIT berth.

With that in mind, Georgia understands the importance of hitting a wining streak now rather than later, especially coming off of Wednesday’s close 67-61 loss to South Carolina. It makes a win over Missouri that much more important.

“That’s why the other night, letting one slip away was so big,” senior forward Kenny Paul Geno said. “Instead of being 2-0 in the SEC you’re 1-1. (Saturday’s) game is even bigger. You never want to be under .500. That thought of climbing the mountain — you never want to be at the bottom of the mountain. You want to be at the middle or above.”

After Saturday’s game against Missouri, Georgia will begin a tough stretch of conference games. The Bulldogs will hit the road twice next week to take on Mississippi and No. 24 Florida. The week after, Georgia hosts Vanderbilt before traveling to Texas A&M.

With three of those four games following Saturday’s against Missouri on the road, there is an opportunity for Georgia to pick up some quality wins that will further bump up its RPI standing. The Bulldogs couldn’t get those road wins last year, going 2-9 away from home including the NIT second-round game at Saint Mary’s.

When Georgia last made the NCAA Tournament in 2015, the Bulldogs benefited by going 8-4 on the road.

Avoiding what occurred during the middle of last season is something the Bulldogs have expressed to one another so that they can get earn entry back to the NCAA Tournament.

“We address that all the time. We see now that we have to do it this year early. A lot of teams have a lot of wins. Some of the other conferences aren’t as good as others, and that’s going to be key for us. It’s why being 2-1 in the SEC is important and then stringing together some wins. We learned from our mistakes, watched film and we’ve got to see what we can do better.”

This story was originally published January 6, 2017 at 4:01 PM with the headline "Georgia looking to string together winning streak to avoid repeat of last season."