Down by just three with just over 11 minutes left, for one tiny moment, it appeared Georgia just might give 14th-ranked Auburn a fight Saturday at Stegeman Coliseum.
But just like that, those hopes were soon dashed as an 11-0 run over a two-minute stretch carried the Tigers to an easy 97-76 win.
“It was really frustrating. Credit those guys. They finished offensively and defensively,” head coach Mike White said. “They made timely shots, really throughout the game, especially in that run. Transition offense and offensive rebounding were the keys there. We were just slower with the ball down the stretch and before you know it, it goes from three to a pretty sizable lead pretty quickly.”
The loss dropped Georgia to 15-12 overall, 5-9 in the SEC. Auburn moves to 21-6 and 10-4.
Down by as many as 13 points in the second half, a 3-pointer by Justin Hill brought the Bulldogs within 60-55, forcing an Auburn timeout with 12:08 left. The Tigers entered play as the top defensive field goal percentage team in the SEC at .382
Moments later, Georgia cut the lead to three, and with 8:55 remaining, was only down by four.
But that’s when Auburn’s perimeter game exploded.
Three straight 3-pointers for the Tigers highlighted a 14-2 run, pushing Auburn’s lead to 15 with only 6:12 left in the game.
The rout was on as the Tigers hit seven of their season-tying high 14 three-point attempts over the final nine minutes.
“We’ve just got to guard, man. Sometimes, shots are just going to fall,” freshman Silas Demary Jr. said. “Credit to them, they made a lot, but there were times when they had screens and they got open shots. We’ve got to fix that. Mistakes happen, but you’ve got to keep playing.”
A sellout crowd of 10,523 witnessed the game, with many of them Auburn fans who made plenty of noise of their own throughout the game.
Noah Thomasson led the Bulldogs with 18 points, followed by 16 by both Demery Jr. and center Russel Tchewa.
Georgia only converted three of its 14 three-point attempts.
Chad Baker-Mazara scored 25 points for the Tigers, who placed four players in double-figures.
“We don’t have as many wins as we’d like, but we are a more competitive, better basketball team than we were last year,” White said. “We’re building, we’re better, we want results, though, right? We’ve got to get better.”
Unfortunately for Georgia, its schedule does not get easier with the four games left in the regular season.
Following Tuesday’s game at LSU, the Bulldogs host potential NCAA teams Texas A&M and Ole Miss, before closing out the regular season at Auburn before the start of the SEC Tournament.
“It’s been an incredible five weeks. It seems like every team we play is an NCAA Tournament team. I want to say South Carolina at home, maybe we were favored by one, maybe we weren’t, and there are a lot of games where you’re a significant dog against really, really good competition right now,” White said. “We obviously are more competitive, but we want to be more competitive and get in the upper half of this league. We plan on being there, but there are so many teams in this league that are going to make the tournament, and there are a few, more than a couple like Auburn who have a realistic shot at making a deep run.”
The Tigers controlled the first half.
Although the shot differential was only one, the problem for Georgia was that the Bulldogs only converted 11 of their 27 attempts from the field.
Auburn, meanwhile, went 17 of 28, including 6 of 14 on three-pointers. Georgia? The Bulldogs only attempted eight, making just one.
Another problem for Georgia was with the exception of 13 points by Demary Jr., no other Bulldog (Thomasson) scored more than five.
Defensively, Georgia had no answers for Chad Baker-Mazara, who went 6 of 7 from the field and finished with 18 first-half points for Auburn which led 45-34 heading into the locker room.
