Georgia and Ole Miss played 40 minutes. The Bulldogs led for all but 56 seconds of the game, cruising to an 81-63 win over the Rebels.

For Kermit Davis’ Rebels, slowing down Georgia superstar Anthony Edwards was certainly part of the gameplan. Perhaps Ole Miss focused too much on Edwards.

Edwards did not score in the first half, but the No. 13-seed Bulldogs took a 41-30 lead over the No. 12-seed Rebels into the locker room at halftime. A buzzer-beater from Sahvir Wheeler pushed the lead to double digits at the break.

The 11-point lead held for the most part, as the Bulldogs and Rebels played a relatively even second half (40-33). Just under 6 minutes, Ole Miss was able to cut Georgia’s lead to single digits (9), but the Rebels were unable to rally and threaten further. The Dawgs closed strong, going on a late 6-0 run (final 2:03) and hitting 5 of their final 7 field goals.

UGA shot an impressive 55 percent from the floor with Rayshaun Hammonds and Jordan Harris leading the Bulldogs’ scoring effort. Harris scored 21, a season-high for the senior. Hammonds led all scorers with 22 points. As for Edwards, he finished with 6 points, shooting 2-of-13 from the floor.

Tom Crean’s Dawgs shot 39 percent (7-of-18) from behind the three-point line. Ole Miss, meanwhile, was just 2-of-15 shooting the three-ball.

Georgia advances to take on No. 5-seed Florida. The Bulldogs went 0-2 against the Gators in the regular season, falling 81-75 in Gainesville on Feb. 5 and 68-54 in Athens on March 4. It is Game 4 of the tournament and will tip-off 25 minutes after the completion of Game 3 (No. 8-seed Tennessee vs. No. 9-seed Alabama, noon CT tip) on the SEC Network. The winner of Game 4 plays against No. 4-seed Mississippi State on Friday in Game 8.