Baylor offers Georgia another chance to improve resume

ATHENS -- There is just more than a month left in Georgia basketball's regular season, time for the Bulldogs to build their resume before the SEC tournament and then the NCAA tournament selection.

Georgia heads to Waco, Texas, to play No. 17 Baylor as part of the Big 12/SEC Challenge on Saturday. Georgia is one of four SEC teams slated to play a Big 12 team currently ranked within the AP top 25, and Baylor is one of Georgia's five remaining games against teams currently ranked among the top 50 NCAA teams in RPI (South Carolina on Tuesday and March 3, Kentucky on Feb. 9 and Florida on Feb. 16).

There are still plenty of chances for resume-building wins, but the list grows thinner with each passing game.

"We feel like there are opportunities in front of us," Georgia head coach Mark Fox said. "We talked about -- before conference play started -- there were going to be some knock-down, drag-outs. Whether it's a close game against Arkansas, which we won, or a close loss, we have to be mature enough to go again because there are many more battles in front."

Coming off a loss to LSU in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Tuesday, the offensive play in Georgia's backcourt remained the most positive trend for Fox's squad. Guard J.J. Frazier continues to play the role of Georgia's leading scorer with consistency. The junior guard, averaging 16.3 points per game, has posted 26 points in each of his past two games. Senior guard Kenny Gaines scored 20 points against LSU and 16 at home against Arkansas.

But Georgia missed its most physical players in the frontcourt. Forwards Yante Maten and Mike Edwards both fouled out against LSU, leaving freshman forward Derek Ogbeide to take up more responsibility on the defensive glass for the majority of the game's final six minutes.

Baylor boasts the Big 12's leading rebounder, Rico Gathers (212), which will call for a strong rebounding effort from the Bulldogs' frontcourt.

"They have a unique playing style, as do we," Ogbeide said. "We just have to know, win or lose, we have to get on to the next game and give all our attention and focus to the next game."

Georgia's matchup with Baylor comes nearly at the midway point in the Bulldogs' SEC schedule. After going 7-3 in its non-conference schedule, Georgia is 4-4 in SEC play. Baylor has dropped just four games all season, most recently to the nation's No. 1 team, Oklahoma.

"It's another really good team we can play," Frazier said. "When you're a competitor, you like to play really good teams. It's another game for our team to learn about ourselves and hopefully get a resume win."

In any season, it's tough to judge the actual strength of SEC basketball, give or take one or two teams at the top of the conference. This season is hardly different. The most recent episode of SEC teams on upset alert came Wednesday night when No. 5 Texas A&M, which crushed Georgia by 34 points in Athens, lost to Arkansas, a team Georgia beat at home in overtime.

The conference's volatility could bode well for Georgia, as one of the SEC's dark horses for tournament selection.

"There's a lot of parody in our conference," Fox said. "A play here or there will make a huge difference."

This story was originally published January 29, 2016 at 6:06 PM with the headline "Baylor offers Georgia another chance to improve resume ."