For all that’s gone wrong for Georgia’s basketball team, for 40 minutes Saturday the Bulldogs gave their fans reasons to scream at the top of their respective lungs.
In the end, unfortunately, what was a Herculean effort against No. 1 Auburn fell just short as the Tigers scored with 3.3 seconds left to escape with a 74-72 win.
“This team can play. We’ve got haters all over, but we’ve also got believers in ourselves, and this team has every lick of talent, every lick of effort, every lick belief that we can come out (against) every team no matter if it is the No. 1 team in the country,” Jaxon Etter said. “We will come out and compete every single night. Tonight hurt. This really hurt.”
Georgia’s issues this year have been well documented. But you would not have known it by its showing against Auburn, which led by as many as 15 points before the Bulldogs rallied back to make a game nobody was expecting.
Down by 12 at the half, the Bulldogs would make it all the way back, first tying the game on a three-pointer by Noah Baumann, followed shortly thereafter by a pair of free throws by Jabri Abdur-Rahim to take a 58-56 lead with 8:20 to play.
The game went back and forth from there, with the lead changing hands five times. Georgia, which came in as a 16-point underdog, jumped in front 72-70 with just 55 seconds left.
Auburn would tie the score at 72 on a layup by former Bulldog K.D. Johnson with 38 seconds, followed by a missed three-pointer by Baumann with the Tigers grabbing the rebound.
In transition, Auburn’s Wendell Green Jr. was able to get his shot to fall with 3.3 seconds left in the game.
The play was not without some controversy.
It appeared that Etter was back in position and had his feet set when Green Jr. appeared to initiate contact before putting up his shot. However, no foul was called.
“I’m definitely disappointed for our fans and our players. The disappointment level of the game is one thing, and after watching the last play, where every referee describes that if a man is retreating like Jaxon was doing and is outside of his cylinder, then it’s an offensive foul,” said head coach Tom Crean, before backing away from his monitor to gather his thoughts.
“I thought our kids competed at a high level. I just saw that clip again—I’m just trying to prepare myself mentally,” Crean said. “It’s a tough way to lose, but at the end of the day, our guys played extremely hard.”
Etter took the high road when asked to give his take.
“I thought it was a charge, but I was told not to touch on stuff like that,” said Etter, who finished with 13 points.
“I have zero interest in spending one dollar to the SEC. Zero interest,” Crean said. “But I would just say that everything that’s been described to me in drawing charges and what he was doing, I didn’t see that not being textbook.”
Georgia had one more crack after a quick timeout.
Unfortunately, it would not be enough time. Georgia was only able to get the ball to Cook at halfcourt, forcing the graduate transfer to launch a half-court shot that bounced high off the backboard as the final buzzer sounded. The win enabled Auburn (22-1, 10-0) to extend its winning streak to 19 games. Georgia falls to 6-17, 1-9 in SEC play.
“Even though we didn’t get the win, it was probably the best we’ve played all season,” Kario Oquendo said. “It was probably the best execution that we've had. I can’t be disappointed. We left everything on the court and lost on the final play.”
Oquendo led Georgia with 25 points, followed by Braelen Bridges with 14, Etter’s 13, and Cook with 10. Former Bulldog K.D. Johnson led Auburn with 20 points, followed by Green Jr. with 19 and Walker Kessler with 10.
"Give Georgia all the credit. Give Georgia credit. They played hard. They played great. If they could beat potentially the No.1 team in the country, then obviously they can beat anybody," Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. "They could beat anybody especially in here. It’s great that they were excited about playing us. Key for us is to be excited about playing everybody."
Auburn jumped out to a 42-30 halftime lead.
The closest Georgia came to doing that was very early only, when the Bulldogs pulled even at 6-6 and 8-8 before the Tigers stormed ahead.
An 11-1 run helped do the trick, including a three-pointer by Johnson, pushed Auburn ahead 19-9 at the 11:49 mark.
The fact Georgia started the contest a mere 3 of 18 from the field did not help matters, but on this day, it did not matter.
Auburn showed just why they are the nation’s top-ranked team as the Tigers dominated the Bulldogs in every facet.
Johnson and fellow guard Green Jr. accounted for much of the damage.
Green finished with 15 first-half points, followed by Johnson with 12.
The Tigers held a 25-17 edge in rebounds over the Bulldogs, who shot just 6 of 28 from the field (21.4 percent).
"I told them if you never hear another word I say in your life, don't ever let disappointment turn into discouragement, because disappointment is inevitable in life," Crean said. "Discouragement is a choice we make that many times you can't get out of, and there's no need to be discouraged. There's a need to be disappointed and have an urgency to move forward. That's all it's really about.”
