Georgia hopes for improved performance in second meeting with rival Florida

Before Georgia knew what happened, Florida had jumped out to a double-digit lead while hitting jump shot after jump shot.

A raucous crowd in Gainesville, Fla., cheered on the Gators while the Bulldogs were left in catch-up mode. Georgia was unable to mount a comeback, with Florida easing to a 77-63 win Jan. 2 to open the SEC season.

Georgia sophomore forward Yante Maten still remembers the fast and frenetic pace Florida played with, which gave his team a ton of problems. With the Bulldogs getting a second crack at the Gators today, Maten said they'll need to seize control early if they're going to have any success.

"We were playing on their terms the last game," Maten said. "This game, we're trying to impose our will. We were sped up, and we need to make sure we get back on defense and be aggressive and authoritative on offense."

Maten said Georgia (14-9, 7-5 SEC) allowed Florida (16-9, 7-5) to get too comfortable in the first meeting. The Gators, who weren't shooting the ball well early in the year, ended up hitting 40.9 percent of their 3-point attempts. Florida has since become a much better shooting team, putting more emphasis on Georgia's defense to pressure the perimeter.

And as Maten said, if Florida hits some early shots, it will be tough to beat. That was the story last time, which is something Georgia will try to prevent during the rematch.

"When they kept making all those shots, we needed to make sure we were getting a hand in their face," Maten said. "We need to make sure we do a better job on the defensive side this game. If we run our offense well, we can come out with a victory. But we have to make sure we play to our strengths."

Following a blowout loss to Kentucky, Georgia put in an impressive performance in a 66-57 win over Mississippi State on Saturday. Georgia controlled the game throughout, despite the fact guards Kenny Gaines and J.J. Frazier combined for only eight points.

When the Bulldogs have been at their best they've been the aggressors, such as in wins over Georgia Tech, Clemson, Missouri, South Carolina, Auburn and Mississippi State. In Georgia's first game against Florida, and against Texas A&M and Kentucky, it fell behind early and couldn't make up much ground.

A fast start will be important against Florida, as noted by head coach Mark Fox.

"I think you need to try to play with authority any time you play," Fox said. "It doesn't matter what happened a couple months ago. You have to play with authority on both ends and be more assertive instead of being reactive."

More than a month has passed since the first meeting, with Georgia shaking up its lineup a bit. Center Derek Ogbeide should play a more prominent role this time around, and forward Kenny Paul Geno will be asked to fill in at a variety of spots.

The Bulldogs will need both Ogbeide and Geno to contribute, whether it's through rebounding or added point production, if they're going to beat the Gators. Fox said it's tough to count on the big four of Maten, Gaines, J.J. Frazier and Charles Mann to all come through with strong performances each night.

"We don't need all four of those guys to play well every night to win," Fox said. "We need a couple of them. We got a couple of them who played well, and we got (others) who played well -- Derek played well and Kenny Paul Geno played well. We just got a little more balance to us, which takes some heat off of those guys. That's going to be important going forward, to have multiple guys play well."

Georgia let the first game against Florida fall through fairly early, even though it managed to only trail by seven at halftime. Learning from their mistakes, the Bulldogs will need a more inspired performance in front of their home crowd to ensure they jump into control early on.

"We just weren't ready for the game and it showed," Mann said. "The second time playing them, I feel we know them a little bit better."

This story was originally published February 15, 2016 at 5:08 PM with the headline "Georgia hopes for improved performance in second meeting with rival Florida ."