Bruce Pearl’s Tigers are quite familiar with the state of Georgia. Five of the six current NBA players from Pearl’s program are from Georgia, which doesn’t even include stars like Jared Harper and Bryce Brown. Five current Tigers are from the state and Auburn was 8-2 in their last 10 matchups against the Bulldogs entering tonight’s ballgame.
All that success in the neighboring state came to a pause tonight, with No. 22 Auburn falling to Georgia 76-64 inside of Stegeman Coliseum. The Tigers fall to 1-1 in conference play and 11-3 overall, losing just their second time in their last six trips to Athens.
“We've got to fix a lot of things but everything is fixable," said forward Johni Broome. "So, let’s get back to it and get ready for the next one."
Despite coming out of the game early in the first half with an injury, Broome had his third double-double of the season for the Tigers with a team-highs of 22 points and 12 rebounds. Auburn’s other two big men, Jaylin Williams and Dylan Cardwell, shot a combined 1-11 from the field and Georgia led 34-26 in points in the paint.
“Dylan did a good job defensively but we needed to win more one on one battles,” said head coach Bruce Pearl. “Jaylin Williams needed to win his matchup. We can’t win if Jaylin Williams goes 1-for-9. We just can’t.”
Auburn’s struggle to contain talented guards continued with Bulldog Terry Roberts leading the way with a season- and career-high 26 points in 30 minutes of play for Georgia. Kario Oquendo was the only other Bulldog in double figures with 17 points and four rebounds.
“The guards are really good. I think that Roberts makes a huge difference for them,” Pearl said. “Our challenge has been when we have gone up against really good guards, elite guards; Memphis, USC, and I do think that Oquendo and Roberts are. I put them in the category.”
Outside of Williams’ big night in Athens, the rest of the Tigers shot a combined 15-52 from the field. Auburn’s three guards, Wendell Green Jr., K.D. Johnson and Zep Jasper combined for 15 points and went 2-for-10 from the 3-point shot.
“We do the best we can in ball screen coverage to try to help the guards get through. Our guards are having a hard time staying in front of people,” Pearl said.
Allen Flanigan bounced back after a disappointing performance against Florida to start conference play by being the only other Tiger to score in double figures in Athens, with 11 points and three rebounds. This was Flanigan’s first double-figure performance since the Colgate game on Dec. 2.
“Allen didn’t play great against Florida and really worked hard all week long, just coming in and grinding and just having a really good attitude and doing the best he could instead of just being frustrated," Pearl said. "I can see Allen working really hard, doing the right things and doing the little things and it translated pretty quickly. So, maybe that’s something we can build on."
Auburn will travel back home to take on the No. 13 Arkansas Razorbacks this Saturday inside of Neville Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. CST and will be televised on the SEC Network.
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