Georgia’s road trip will continue on Saturday with a stop in Auburn to face the Tigers.
The Bulldogs successfully snapped a two-game losing streak on Tuesday with a 61-60 road win over LSU. Yante Maten’s go-ahead bucket in the game’s final moments was the difference and gave Georgia a much-needed win.
Saturday brings another opportunity for a resume building victory. Auburn is 16-2 overall and 4-1 in SEC play after suffering a 76-71 loss at Alabama on Wednesday. Georgia comes into the game 12-5 overall and with a 3-3 mark in a wildly competitive conference picture. The Tigers enter Saturday with the ninth best RPI in the country and tops in the SEC. The Bulldogs are 46th in RPI which is the ninth-best mark in the conference.
Mark Fox looked to shake things up with his slumping team and switched up the starting lineup for the first time all season. Freshman Teshaun Hightower and senior Juwan Parker both moved into the starting lineup replacing freshman Rayshaun Hammonds and E’Torrion Willridge. Hightower played 27 minutes and finished with eight points, three rebounds and two steals. He however gave the Bulldogs another athletic body to throw at a talented LSU backcourt.
Perimeter defense will be key again today as Auburn features one of the best backcourts in the country. Auburn leads the SEC in scoring averaging 85.7 points per game and their talented trio of guards are a big reason why.
Junior Bryce Brown is averaging 15.8 points and shooting 39 percent from three-point range. Mustapha Heron averages 15.1 and at 6-5 uses his size well to get to the free throw line where he averages more than five attempts a game. Jared Harper averages 12.4 points, is shooting 41 percent from three-point range and has the all-around game that complements Brown and Heron well.
Georgia comes into Saturday’s game with the league’s best defense allowing just 60.7 per game. They are holding conference opponents to just 35 percent shooting and lead the league in rebounding.
The inside game will be very important today as the Bulldogs will need big days from Maten and Derek Ogbeide. Auburn is no slouch inside either but it is critical that Georgia control the pace if they want to have a chance to pull off an upset.
Game Info
Game Date/Time: Saturday, January 20, 6 p.m. ET
Location: Auburn Arena, Auburn, Alabama
TV: SEC Network
Streaming: SECN+
Radio: Georgia Bulldog Sports Network. Flagship: WSB AM 750 Atlanta; Satellite: Sirius 137; XM 190