AUBURN, Ala. – Georgia’s road nightmares continued Wednesday night at Auburn with the Tigers portraying a real-life bogeyman.
This one was worthy of closing your eyes.
After beating the Tigers back in Athens in the SEC opener, Auburn pummeled the Bulldogs at Neville Arena, 94-73.
Unlike the conference opener in Athens – a game the Bulldogs (14-8, 4-5) captured 76-64 - this one was over quickly as Georgia fell to 1-6 on the road.
The Tigers (17-5, 7-2) jumped out to a 42-24 lead and simply poured it on from there as Auburn had too much offensive firepower while outrebounding Georgia, 37-20
"Forty-eight paint points. You've got no chance to have success on the road in this league with that," head coach Mike White said. "A lack of physicality and physical toughness, defensive rebounding, loose balls in the paint, two-handed rebounds, wallops, all of those areas we really struggled with tonight."
The difference in Wednesday’s game from the one on Jan. 4 was easy to see.
In the opener, Auburn shot a mere 34.8 percent. Wednesday, the Tigers shot 53.3 percent (23 of 52), including 41 percent on their threes (14 of 34).
Tigers Wendell Green Jr. and Allen Flannigan, and Georgia’s Terry Roberts also had vastly different games. After going just 2 of 12 from the field in the first game, Green Jr. sank 6 of his 11 shots for 18 points with Flannigan going for 22 after scoring just five in Athens.
Roberts, meanwhile, went the other direction, scoring just seven points after leading both teams with 26 points in the inaugural meeting.
One aspect that did not change was the play of Auburn center Johni Broome.
The 6-10, 235-pound native of Plant City, Florida, posted his second double-double in as many games against the Bulldogs, scoring 19 points to go with 18 rebounds.
"Johni Broome was terrific on the interior: 8-of-11 and gets 7 offensive rebounds in 21 minutes. (Dylan) Cardwell was equally as effective on the interior. We've got to find some answers on the interior. We've got to figure out what we're doing here moving forward because it gets no easier, you know, as we head to College Station," White said. "They're equally as tough and physical and aggressive on the interior. That's a team that obviously a week ago came in here and won."
Mardrez McBride was the lone bright spot for the Bulldogs, scoring a season-high 20 points, including 6 of 8 on three-pointers. His previous high was 17 last Saturday against South Carolina.
"I thought him and Jailyn Ingram because of some ball movement and some extras stepped up and converted with some confidence down the stretch to make it a little bit more respectable than it could've otherwise been," White said. "I thought Mardrez did a pretty good job defensively, too. He's had two really good games in a row. Probably the biggest bright spot of the game for us."
Kario Oquendo was the only other Bulldog in double-figures with 10.
A 17-0 run midway through the first half was ultimately the difference in the game.
After converting just one of their first nine three-pointers to start, Auburn’s run saw the Tigers make all three of their attempts during the surge.
"When they're doing good, they're a top-25 team in the country for a reason. Home or away, we've got to execute," McBride said. "We've got to play even harder, and I feel like we didn't do that today as a team. Those guys were good. I've got to give them their credit."
Back-to-back threes by Green Jr. keyed the surge, sending Auburn ahead 33-14 at the 6:13 mark.
Consecutive threes by Georgia’s Holt and Oquendo would bring the Bulldogs back within 15, only to have the Tigers extend the halftime to 42-24.
The Bulldogs had absolutely no answer for Broome, who managed a double-double in the first half alone, with 13 points and 12 rebounds.
Holt agreed that the Tigers made it look easy.
"I felt like we were more locked in last game than this game," Holt said. "So definitely defensively. I felt like they were scoring a little bit easier."
Georgia returns to action Saturday with another road trip, this one to Texas A&M.
