ATHENS – Georgia missed an opportunity for a massive SEC win, falling just short in a 76-75 loss to No. 22 Mississippi State.

The Bulldogs (16-8, 4-7 SEC) tied State five times in the second half but never took the lead. UGA suffered its second home loss this season after a questionable decision from coach Mike White in the game’s final seconds.

The sequence began with Silas Demary Jr. cutting Mississippi State’s lead to 76-75 with eight seconds left on a pair of free throws. UGA fouled State forward Cameron Matthews, sending the career 56% free throw shooter to the foul line.

Matthews missed his first shot. Demary rebounded and quickly drove across the half court, where White decided against using his final timeout to draw up a half-court play with about four seconds left.

White opted to let Demary run to the paint, and the sophomore lost control of the ball for a turnover with 0.9 seconds left.

“I saw the open lane, and coach said, ‘Attack,’” Demary said. “That’s just the way the ball rolls, you can’t win them all and I can’t dwell on the turnovers.”

The Bulldogs had struggled to inbound passes cleanly all day, while Demary was rolling with a career-high 23 points and no turnovers before the final play. The point guard also finished with seven assists and six rebounds.

“He’s one of the better downhill guards, and he’s made a lot of plays,” White said. “I’ve always leaned that way and certainly have since I’ve been here when you’ve got a guard like that with the ball in his hands in space with his ability to draw fouls.”

State was quickly fouled and missed its first free throw, and White took a timeout with 0.7 seconds left. Demary’s last-ditch full-court pass was batted away by former Georgia forward RJ Melendez as the buzzer sounded.

White also mentioned disappointment in his team’s transition defense. The Bulldogs gave up multiple easy scores after big offensive plays, not getting back on defense quickly enough.

“When you shoot it and it goes in and your student body is going crazy, we needed to get five guys to turn and sprint and set our defense, and we just did a poor job of that,” White said. “If we did an average job of that, we would have won the game.

“We did enough offensively. Our defense let us down tonight.”

It was UGA’s seventh loss to a top-25 team this season. All eight of the team’s losses have been in the Quad 1 category, indicating losses against quality opponents.

Perhaps Georgia’s best chance to overtake the maroon Bulldogs (17-6, 5-5) came with just under four minutes remaining. Freshman star Asa Newell made two free throws after a flagrant foul to cut Georgia’s deficit to 71-68.

The 6-foot-11 forward then nailed a game-tying 3-pointer off the inbounds pass, sending Stegeman Coliseum into a frenzy.

But Mississippi State fought back like it had all night, regaining the lead for good on a quick layup.

Georgia might have lost veteran guard Tyrin Lawrence for the foreseeable future, too. The Vanderbilt transfer appeared to suffer a noncontact injury to his right leg while trying to steal a pass around mid court.

Lawrence was helped off the court at the 9:53 mark of the first half and was ruled out at halftime. He had two points and two rebounds in six minutes off the bench.

Lawrence did return to the bench, where he walked on his own power in warm-up clothes with a slight limp.

Mississippi State’s aggressive defense gave Georgia enough problems in the first half to take a 40-32 halftime lead. UGA shot just 42% from the field, taking several forced looks after struggling to get separation on the perimeter.

State limited the involvement from UGA’s big men in the half. The bigs combined to take just six shots in the first 20 minutes, half of which were from 3-point range.

It was Mississippi State that dominated inside early. The maroon Bulldogs outscored Georgia 24-10 in the paint before halftime. Dakota Leffew led Georgia at the half with 10 points, shooting 2 of 4 from 3-point range with several impressive midrange jumpers.

UGA is back in action on Tuesday, visiting No. 10 Texas A&M at 9 p.m.

Mississippi State guard Claudell Harris Jr. reacts during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Georgia, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, in Athens, Ga. (AP Photo/Kathryn Skeean)

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