Georgia upsets Auburn on the road for second-straight win
Sweet revenge is what Georgia was seeking against Auburn, and the Bulldogs got what they were looking for on “the plains.”
Auburn (10-9, 4-6) entered the game as 8.5 point favorites at home, but Georgia (11-6, 4-6) showed up to play with a vengeance, taking the game 91-86. Georgia has now won their last two games, and have looked like a much better team in those contests.
The Bulldogs made it obvious that they meant business tonight in the early going, jumping out to a lead fast and securing a nine-point lead at halftime. The theme and stigma surrounding Georgia sports teams is that they can’t hold onto lead in the second halves of games, but the Georgia basketball team did not let up, despite a strong effort from Auburn.
This was not Auburn’s best game, but Georgia beat them in almost every statistical category. Most glaringly, Georgia outscored Auburn 52-34 in the paint. Georgia’s biggest weakness all season long has been their play down low. Adding even more to it, Georgia had eight more total rebounds than the Tigers.
Georgia also exceeded all of their shooting averages on the season in this game. The Bulldogs finished 49.3% from the field 43.8% from three-point range and 75% from the free-throw line. Most importantly, Georgia made enough free throws at the end of the game to seal their victory.
Georgia is simply just not a very good shooting team, and they are not anything special in the painted area due to their lack of size. Winning both of those battles against the Tigers were two extremely important factors in their victory.
For head coach Tom Crean, the rebounding and shooting were not the most important reasons why Georgia was victorious.
“They believed they were going to win. That sounds maybe cliche-ish, but they came in believing that they would win,” Crean said.
The confidence and belief of the Bulldogs seems to be sky-high compared the rest of the season. There has been a different energy in the players the last two games.
There were six Bulldogs that reached double figures, with Andrew Garcia closely missing out on that mark with nine points. Tye Fagan led the way with 16 points and six rebounds. Fagan was aggressive at the beginning of the game, turning out to be the start of a solid outing for him.
Toumani Camara secured his fifth double-double of the season with 15 points and 12 rebounds. His rebounding is vital on such a small team that is usually outmatched in size in the SEC.
Defensively, the Bulldogs were able to hold Auburn’s star guard Sharife Cooper in check compared to his performance in Athens. Cooper fouled out at the end of the game with 19 points and 9 assists, which are still star-level statistics, but not as deadly as what he did to Georgia in January.
Up Next
Georgia has a date with Vanderbilt for a 1:00 tip in Stegeman Coliseum. The Bulldogs were able to hold Cooper in check for the most park, and now they will have another star guard to defend in Scotty Pippen Jr., who is currently second in the conference in scoring behind LSU’s Cameron Thomas.