AUBURN, Alabama — Holding a two-game lead over second-place Kentucky in the Southeastern Conference basketball standings, the Auburn Tigers will enter the second half of their league schedule with a road game Saturday against the Georgia Bulldogs. Coach Bruce Pearl said Thursday he wants to see his team get off to a better start in Athens than in their previous two games away from Auburn Arena.
Tipoff is scheduled for noon CST at the Stegeman Coliseum with television coverage on the SEC Network. The game is sold out with a large number of UA fans expected to be there to support the Tigers. Auburn beat the Bulldogs in a previous game this season, 83-60.
“I can tell you the last two times we’ve been on the road, we’ve dropped double digits to Missouri and Ole Miss, so you know the players are going to hear that message loud and clear,” Pearl said.
In the previous road game at Auburn, the Tigers won 55-54 at Missouri after trailing by 10 points in the first half. Auburn was down 14 points in the first half before winning 80-71 at Ole Miss.
Pearl’s team is 6-0 in road games this season with Auburn’s next two away from Auburn Arena with a trip to Arkansas following Saturday’s game in Athens. Of the remaining nine SEC regular season games, five are away from Auburn Arena.
After starting 9-0 in SEC play to establish a two-game lead in the league race against Kentucky and also being the No. 1 ranked team in the nation with a 21-1 overall record, Coach Auburn chief said the Tigers are still developing.
“Our focus isn’t much different,” Pearl said as the Tigers head into the second half of their championship schedule. “We have work to do, we have to keep improving. Are we good enough on this date to beat this team? In November we weren’t good enough to beat UConn, but we were good enough that day to beat the next team.
The next team, the Georgia Bulldogs, lost 99-73 Wednesday night to Arkansas to fall to 6-8 in home games this season with just one win over Alabama last Saturday in their four SEC games at Stegeman Coliseum. this season.
Pearl said a goal for his team on Saturday would be to try and defend the Bulldogs well without fouling them. The Bulldogs average 15.9 free throws per game compared to 10.7 for their opponents.
“Arkansas went there last night as one of the best defensive teams in our league and Georgia had 49 (points) on them in the first half,” Pearl pointed out.
“More to Georgia’s credit, they’re a really good offensive team,” he said. “Cook is second in the conference in assists and obviously a kid who played Gonzaga, so they have pieces there. Oquendo didn’t play against us last time and he’s their top scorer. Bauman is an excellent three-point shooter and Bridges is a top-five scorer in the league.
Kario Oquendo, a 6-4, 215 as a sophomore, is averaging 12.9 points and 4.1 rebounds. Aaron Cook, a 6-2,185 graduate, is averaging 10.5 points and 5.9 assists.
Noah Bauman, a 6-6, 210 senior transfer from Southern Cal, is averaging 9.5 points per game and leads the Bulldogs by three with 46 made while connecting on 42.6 percent of those attempts. Braelyn Bridges, a 6-11, 240 senior transfer from UIC, is averaging 12.4 points and a team-leading 5.8 rebounds.
The Bulldogs are scoring 71 points per game and giving up 77.4. They shoot 44.5% from the field while allowing their opponents to land 46.7% of their shots. UGA is neutral in rebounding margin, but commits 14.5 turnovers per contest while forcing 10.9 per outing.
“We broke up with Georgia last year,” Pearl said. “It’s hard to beat a good team twice. They play much better at home.
Auburn leads its most-played rival 98-96, but trails 63-26 in games played in Athens and trails 29-15 in matchups at Stegeman Coliseum, a facility built in 1964 and renovated ahead of the 2010-11 season.
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