Seeking a triumphant start to SEC play on Saturday at Stegeman Coliseum, Auburn fell to No. 23 Georgia in a tightly contested, overtime-trilling affair, 104-100.
With the loss, Auburn fell to 9-5 on the season and is 1-5 in Quad I matchups. Saturday marked the first Georgia win over Auburn in the last six matchups.
Here are the biggest takeaways from the game:
Overtime thriller
Auburn began the season with an overtime thriller against Bethune-Cookman, and did the same on Saturday to begin its conference slate.
Trailing by five points with seven seconds left, Keyshawn Hall was fouled on a 3-pointer. He hit the first two and missed the last one, but Kevin Overton was there to corral the miss and throw up a buzzer-beater fadeaway to send it to overtime at 92 apiece.
In the final five minutes of play, Auburn had no answer for Jeremiah Wilkinson, who buried a pair of contested threes and scored seven points in overtime. Somotochukwu Cyril manned the paint with a trio of blocks, swatting away five on the night to match a career-high and continue to be the catalyst for the nation’s leading team in blocked shots per game – the Bulldogs tallied eight on the night.
A late and costly turnover on the Tigers' second-to-last possession ultimately cost them a chance at an overtime upset as the Bulldogs hit a pair of free throws to ice it.
Pair of dynamic guards lifts Georgia’s offense
The nation’s leader in scoring offense was too much to handle at times for the Tigers, as the Bulldogs saw four scorers go for 15 points or more.
The Bulldogs did their damage by committee on Saturday, but it was a pair of 20-point scorers that fueled their seventh 100-plus-point performance this season.
Averaging 104 points per game on its home floor, Georgia was led by its leading scorer, Jeremiah Wilkinson, with 31 points. He also cashed in on nine free throws and was the catalyst for the Bulldogs’ overtime performance.
Marcus Millender came off the bench and tallied a season-high 24 points with five triples, going 7-of-10 from the floor.
Blue Cain and Cyril scored 15 apiece, with Jordan Ross adding 12 before he fouled out.
The Bulldogs shot 52% from the field and buried 11 triples, despite coming into this one shooting less than 30% from deep in six games this season.
Additionally, leading the nation in fast-break points at 27.5 per game, Georgia tallied 20 points in transition on Saturday, with 20 coming off 13 Auburn turnovers.
Tahaad continues his tear on the road
Last season, when Auburn took the floor in Athens, Tahaad Pettiford tallied 24 points with five threes to fuel the Tigers’ 2-point win over the Bulldogs.
And it was much of the same today for the star-studded point guard.
Coming off the bench for the first time this season, Pettiford tallied 25 points before he fouled out towards the end of the second period. He shot a 10-of-21 mark from the field to lead all Tiger scorers. It marked the 11th 20-point game of his career – six this season – all of which have come on the road.
This season, Pettiford is averaging 20.4 points on the road and has yet to surpass the 13-point mark inside Neville Arena.
He was one of five Tigers in double figures against the Bulldogs on Saturday, with Keyshawn Hall recording 20. Kevin Overton poured in 20 points – one point shy of his third consecutive 20-point game – and Keyshawn Murphy tallied 12. Filip Jovic pieced together a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out in overtime.
Positive: Auburn dominates the board
As bad as the Tigers were, situationally, on Saturday, they dominated the glass against one of the best rebounding teams in the nation – a positive sign, considering Georgia isn’t close to the biggest team Auburn will see in the SEC.
The Bulldogs came into this one 14th nationally in both defensive and offensive rebounds per game with 29.7 and 14.5, respectively.
The Tigers out-rebounded Georgia 50-35 with a whopping 23 offensive rebounds – the most of the season – and recorded 17 second-chance points to Georgia’s 13.
Jovic led the way with 10 total boards, and Overton, KeShawn Murphy, Hall and Sebastian Williams-Adams each hauled in seven apiece.
Auburn will return to action on Tuesday against Texas A&M in Neville Arena. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. on the SEC Network.
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