Mike White says Georgia had 'swagger' at free throw line

Wednesday’s game between Georgia and Mississippi State could be summed up simply by one statistic: free throw percentage.

Mississippi State was bad when at the charity stripe, shooting 7 of 22 from the line for a low 31.8%. The free throw line has been the bane of the team’s existence to start the season, having hit only 44.6% of its free throws in SEC play.

On the other side of the court, Georgia was clinical at the free throw line. The team went 25 of 31 for just over 80%.

The result: a 58-50 victory for Georgia.

“Huge,” head coach Mike White said of the importance of Georgia’s free throw line success. “A little swagger at the foul line is awesome. It gives you chances in close games. Our guys continue to step up there with confidence. This team has gotten to the foul line a lot. They got to foul line a lot of course as well. This team is also amongst the league leaders in free throw percentages.”

The Bulldogs now rank third in the SEC in free throw percentages at 73.8%, behind only Missouri and Florida.

It helps that the squad’s two leading scorers — and only player’s averaging double figures — are great when at the charity stripe.

Terry Roberts, who averages 15.7 points per game, is at 82.8% on the year. Kario Oquendo is a 77.8% free throw shooter and averaging 13 points on the campaign.

Oquendo was injured early in the game but White said it is not something to be nervous about long term.

“He was banged up a little bit there and then we got the clearance to give him another opportunity,” Mike White said. “It just wasn’t his night, but he’s a culture guy. He’s got a great attitude and he’s fired up as anyone in our locker room that Georgia won, that he and his teammates won, and he’s a big piece of what we’re doing and he’ll be ready to go in practice tomorrow.”