After a disappointing finish last Saturday against the Kentucky Wildcats, the Tigers had a free Wednesday for extra practice to take on the Georgia Bulldogs in Athens this Saturday. This will be the first time the Tigers take on Georgia this season, as they will play them again at home on March 9.
Last Saturday, the Tigers lost forward Jaylin Williams to a knee injury going in for a dunk in the second half of the Kentucky game. It was announced the next day that Williams' injury was not season-ending, but he would be out indefinitely, which could be a disadvantage for the Tigers this Saturday.
Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl was delighted that Williams’ injury was not season-ending and is hopeful that he could return to the court soon. He announced that Williams will travel to Georgia with the rest of the team this Saturday to keep spirits alive.
“He will travel to Georgia. At this point, I don’t anticipate him playing,” Pearl said. “From that point, we’ll kind of go from there. Saturday will be one week from his injury. The following Saturday will be two weeks from his injury.”
Big man Johni Broome could still be an impactful player, but arguably the main reason the Tigers lost to Kentucky was their inefficient three-point shooting – only hitting 4 of their 22 three-point attempts. Auburn will need players like Tre Donaldson, Aden Holloway and Denver Jones to step up and hit their shots if the Tigers want to keep a high seed in the SEC Tournament and in the NCAA Tournament.
Pearl was disappointed about the outcome of last Saturday’s game. He knew his team got outplayed, but he also gave praise to some of Kentucky’s players for their play.
“They outplayed us tonight, they played really well,” Pearl said. “We knew their guards were excellent and late in the game when it came down to getting decent shots and keeping us at bay, they were able to do that.”
The Bulldogs are coming off a win on Wednesday in Nashville, as they defeated Vanderbilt 76-64. They are looking for a March Madness push this Saturday, standing at 5-8 (11th) in the conference and 15-11 overall.
Offensively, Noah Thomasson was the leading scorer against Vanderbilt with 17 points. There are also Bulldogs that can be deadly behind the three-point line, such as Jabri Abdur-Rahim and Blue Cain.
As conference play starts to come to a narrow close, the Tigers sit at 9-4 in the conference, 14th in the AP Poll and 20-6 overall. If they don’t win this game, they could possibly drop to fifth place in the conference standings, with Kentucky taking their spot if they beat Alabama in Rupp Arena.
The Tigers will take on the Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday, Feb 24, at 5 p.m. CST. Saturday’s game will be broadcasted on the SEC Network.
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Albert Osorio is a senior from Hoover, Alabama, who is majoring in journalism. He joined The Plainsman in January 2024.
