Georgia at No. 23 Florida is key SEC matchup this weekend
Here are some things to watch in Southeastern Conference basketball this week:
GAME OF THE WEEKEND: Georgia at No. 23 Florida. Georgia's 3-1 in the SEC and has won two straight, including an impressive 69-47 road victory over Mississippi on Wednesday. Florida is 4-0 in the SEC and the only league team besides No. 6 Kentucky that is nationally ranked. Georgia could use a signature win to boost its NCAA Tournament hopes. The Bulldogs will have plenty of chances - they have a difficult SEC schedule with two games each against the Gators and Wildcats.
LOOKING AHEAD: Will the SEC's ''road warrior'' mentality continue? Road teams have posted a stunning 17-9 record thus far in league play. That's even more impressive considering that SEC teams had won only 34.2 percent of their conference road games over the previous 10 years. Road teams could have a tough time keeping up this pace over the weekend, as the three remaining teams unbeaten in league play (Kentucky, Florida and South Carolina) are all at home Saturday.
NUMBERS GAME: South Carolina is 3-0 in league play for just the second time since joining the SEC in 1991-92. The last time the Gamecocks started out 3-0 in conference games was in 1996-97, when they finished 15-1 in league play to win the SEC's regular-season title. ... Kentucky guard Malik Monk is averaging 21.7 points per game to lead the SEC. He's on pace to become the fourth freshman to lead the SEC in scoring and the first since LSU's Chris Jackson averaged 30.2 points per game in 1989. ... Georgia's 69-47 victory over Mississippi on Wednesday represented Ole Miss' lowest scoring total in a home game since 2008. ... Missouri is shooting just 39 percent this season. The Tigers haven't finished a season with a field-goal percentage below .400 since 1966-67.
PLAYER TO WATCH: Mississippi State guard Quinndary Weatherspoon: The 6-foot-4 sophomore has scored at least 25 points in three of his last five games, including a 25-point effort Tuesday in an 84-78 victory over Arkansas that gave Mississippi State back-to-back SEC road wins for the first time since 2011. Weatherspoon was 6 of 7 on 3-pointers at Arkansas and has gone 13 of 24 from beyond the arc over his last four games.
ON THE WOMEN'S SIDE: No. 4 Mississippi State (18-0) beat Tennessee in Knoxville for the first time ever on Sunday and matched its best start in school history by defeating Florida on Thursday. The Bulldogs also started 18-0 in 2014-15. Mississippi State and No. 1 Connecticut are the only two remaining unbeaten Division I teams. ... Mississippi's 67-62 victory over Tennessee on Thursday marked the first time the Rebels had beaten the Lady Vols since 1996. Tennessee had beaten Ole Miss 28 straight times.
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AP Sports Writers Steve Megargee in Knoxville, Tennessee, and David Brandt in Jackson, Mississippi, contributed to this story.
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