STARKVILLE — When Mississippi State basketball coach Chris Jans looks at the upcoming opponent, it doesn’t take long to see what makes Georgia a threat to win at Humphrey Coliseum on Wednesday (8 p.m., SEC Network).

Georgia shoots 35.1% from 3-point range, which ranks fifth in the SEC. That shooting fuels a top-100 offense in the country, according to KenPom’s adjusted efficiency rankings.

“They have great spacing,” Jans said Monday. “One of the reasons they have great spacing is they usually — not usually, almost always — have four guys on the court that are proficient 3-point shooters.”

Jabri Abdur-Rahim is the top threat for UGA (14-8, 4-5 SEC), averaging 13.4 points per game on 39% shooting from deep. However, coach Mike White’s squad does a good job of spreading its scoring. UGA has two others in double figures (Noah Thomasson and RJ Melendez). All of Georgia’s top six scorers are guards.

“Just really been impressed with their ability on offense to put the defense in tough spots and really make you think of how you’re going to game-plan against them,” Jans said.

Mississippi State’s offense can’t keep hurting its defense

Despite allowing 92.5 points per game in back-to-back losses, Mississippi State (14-8, 3-6) continues to be a metrics darling on the defensive side. It remains a top-20 unit, according to KenPom’s efficiency rankings.

For Jans, the offense is plenty to blame for some of the head-scratching numbers posted by the defense.

MSU ranks 279^th in the country with a turnover rate of 18.9%. Last week at Ole Miss, the Bulldogs saw 15 turnovers lead to 18 points for the Rebels. Against Alabama on Saturday, 18 turnovers led to 27 points for the Crimson Tide.

“I felt like going into this season that we had, through recruiting and retention, raised our margin of error a little bit,” Jans said. “Like we had built up some margin for error with the pieces that we had in place. It usually doesn’t, but it hasn’t unfolded quite like we anticipated.

“Therefore, because of that, we’re back to a point where we just don’t have a big margin for error in terms of mistakes, in terms of how we have to play to be successful against the better teams in the SEC. It’s something that I think all of us have to get our head around. We have to stay in character, if you will, to how we need to play in order to be successful.”

INJURY NEWS: Chris Jans updates D.J. Jeffries' injury status with Mississippi State basketball

Score prediction

Mississippi State beats Georgia, 72-62: Defending the perimeter won’t be easy for Mississippi State with forward D.J. Jeffries sidelined. However, MSU has proven to be a much better team at home than on the road this season. If the guards can do enough on defense, Mississippi State should get back in the win column.

Stefan Krajisnik is the Mississippi State beat writer for the Clarion Ledger. Contact him at skrajisnik@gannett.com or follow him on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter, @skrajisnik3.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Mississippi State basketball vs. Georgia: Score prediction, scouting