Three SEC games.  Three heartbreaking losses.

So goes the tale of the start of conference play for Georgia (8-8, 0-3) this season, losing another nail-biter in league play, 72-69, to Mississippi State (15-3, 3-0 SEC) at Humphrey Coliseum Saturday afternoon in Starkville, Miss.

“It is an extremely disappointing loss, and I thought they played pretty well late. We played pretty well for a lot of the game,” Georgia head coach Mark Fox said. “We did not handle the press well late and coughed it up, and they capitalized on it.  We just had some crucial errors late in the game.  But I was proud of our kids for competing as hard as they did.

Georgia had played perhaps their best basketball of the season for the first 35 minutes. But during the last five minutes, a complete collapse ensued.

The Dogs were up 65-52 with 4:16 to play, and Fox’s first SEC win appeared all but a foregone conclusion. However, that lead was swiftly dissipated, as Mississippi State’s full-court pressing defense wreaked havoc on the Dogs, and the 13-point Georgia lead was lost in a mere two and a half minutes, as Mississippi State went on a 14-0 run over the next 90 seconds to take the lead with 2:39 to play.

Georgia responded just 10 seconds later with a dunk by Jeremy Price at the 2:29 mark, but that would be the last points they would score. Barry Stewart nailed two free throws and Dee Bost scored a layup to put Mississippi State up three with a minute remaining.

Still, Georgia had three 3-point attempts to tie it up – two of which were blocked by Jarvis Vernado – and Dustin Ware’s attempt at the buzzer from the corner rimmed in and out, giving Georgia their third consecutive loss to start league play.

The loss is a potentially devastating one for Georgia – one they dominated for much of the game – as they held a 11-point halftime lead. Mississippi State hit back to start the second half with a quick 11-0 run of their own, but Georgia responded with a 17-4 run of their own to take the 13-point lead, setting up the epic collapse.

Travis Leslie keyed Georgia’s hot start with 12 first-half points.  Leslie finished with a double-double, filling the stat sheet with 14 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists, and 4 steals.  Trey Thompkins pitched in with a game-high 18 points and 5 rebounds.

“Well I thought Travis’ play in the first half was really critical for us getting a lead.  I thought his shot selection was a little immature to start the second half,” Fox said. “It took trey a while to get going in the second half. He got really going to start the second half because he had been sitting for so long in the first half. But we finally got him jumpstarted. Travis is making more and more little plays, but we just have to continue to get him to be more consistent.”

Georgia was able to hold the lead for much of the game thanks to their work on the backboards, outrebounding Miss. St. – No. 2 in the SEC in rebounding – on the glass by eight.

“We played hard.  We rebounded, that’s part of the game, but we came here to win and we didn’t get that done,” Fox said. “We thought we could rebound the ball well against them, even though they had good rebounding numbers, but it wasn’t enough.”

Georgia’s rebounding advantage led to 12 more field goal attempts, but Mississippi State offset that with a crucial free-throw disparity, shooting 16 more on the game. That disparity is kind of hard to explain for Georgia when you consider that Mississippi State shot 31 threes on the game, and 54 of Georgia’s 67 points came in the paint.

“We played with the lead much of the game, but we just couldn’t get to the free throw line again. When you get yourself in the position where you have to win the game on just field goals, its hard for this team,” Fox said. “We have to figure out how to get to the line more than we are, and I’m not sure how were going to do that. We will work hard to figure out a solution.”

Vernado – the SEC leader in blocked shots – had 14 points, 14 rebounds and six blocks on the game. Dee Bost and Phil Turner each contributed 15 points for Mississippi  State.

Georgia will have a week off before a home date with Tennessee next Saturday.

“Our kids have competed hard, and they’re a little frustrated right now. But this is a week where we can continue to improve,” Fox said. “We can’t lose sight of the big picture that were trying to get better each week. We’re close we’re just not quite good enough, and we just have to continue to work to take that next step.”