The Georgia Bulldog basketball team that beat the Auburn Tigers January 4 in Athens tangles with the Tigers again tonight.
From Mike Mobley, UGA Sports Communications...
The Starting Five
• UGA has used 10 different starting lineups, including 3 altered quintets over its last three outings.
• UGA and AU are meeting for the 197th time, making AU UGA’s third-most frequent opponent all-time.
• According to KenPom.com, UGA is the nation’s most improved defense, up 237 spots from last season.
• UGA is on pace to hold opponents under 30.0 from 3-point range for just the 2nd time in program history.
• UGA’s assist-to-TO ratio is up by +.22 since Thanksgiving, the best improvement by an SEC team during that span.
The Opening Tip
Georgia opens a two-game road swing on Wednesday by trekking roughly 180 miles down I-85 to The Plains to take on No. 25/23 Auburn. The Bulldog also will venture to College Station to face Texas A&M on Saturday.
Georgia is currently 14-7 overall and 4-4 in the SEC play following an 81-78 overtime victory over South Carolina on Saturday.
That win improved the Bulldogs to 11-1 at home this season, including a 76-64 victory over then-No. 22/20 Auburn four weeks ago.
Mike White improved his record at Stegeman Coliseum to 18-2 all-time with the decision over the Gamecocks. That tally includes a 1-0 record at Louisiana Tech and a 6-1 mark at Florida before becoming Georgia’s head coach last March.
Saturday’s game marked the Bulldogs’ second consecutive sellout at Stegeman and the fourth crowd of 10,000+ fans in Georgia’s last five home outings.
Keeping An Eye On: Entering Today’s Game . . .
Jailyn Ingram is...
• 23 points from 1,500 for his career
Series History With Auburn
In a closely contested rivalry that dates back well over a century, Auburn owns a slim 99-97 advantage in all-time matchups with Georgia.
Three weeks ago in Athens, Terry Roberts poured in a career-high 26 points to lead Georgia in an impressive 76-64 victory over No. 22/20 Auburn in the Bulldogs’ SEC opener.
The victory was Georgia’s first in an SEC opener in five seasons, since defeating Auburn, 96-84, on Dec. 29, 2017.
Roberts put up 13 points in each half, and Kario Oquendo added 17 points. Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe fell just shy of a double-double performance, with nine points and nine boards.
The Bulldogs led for 38:28 of the contest and trailed only once – at 24-23 – for all of 14 seconds.
Georgia surged to a 21-10 lead at the 10:08 mark before the Tigers responded with a 14-2 spurt to gain their only advantage of the evening at the 4:12 mark. Roberts quickly responded on the Bulldogs’ next possession.
After leading 37-30 at the intermission, Georgia maintained a two-possession or larger edge advantage throughout the second stanza. The margin bulged to 13 points twice, and the Bulldogs led by double digits for all but 10 seconds of the final 6:14.
In the Bulldogs’ most recent trip to The Plains on Jan. 19 last season, Christian Wright scored 16 points and Noah Baumann and Braelen Bridges also reached double figures with 11 points apiece to lead Georgia in an 83-60 setback at No. 2 Auburn.
The Tigers broke the game open with a 14-3 first-half surge that turned a one-point lead for the Bulldogs into a double-digit deficit 4:21 later.
Scouting The Tigers
Auburn is 16-5 overall and 6-2 in the SEC and ranked No. 25 and No. 23 in the AP and coaches polls, respectively, this week. The Tigers are coming off an 80-77 loss at West Virginia last Saturday as part of the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
The Tigers have been ranked throughout the 2022-23 campaign, topping out at No. 11/14 on Dec. 5 after opening the season with an 8-0 record.
Wendell Green Jr. is averaging a team-high 13.6 points per game, while Johni Broome is contributing 13.4 points and a team-best 8.5 rebounds. Both players have been even more productive in SEC play, with Green scoring 15.8 ppg and Broome posting 14.8 ppg and 9.0 rpg.
Jaylin Williams also is scoring at a double-digit paces of 11.1 ppg overall and 11.8 ppg in conference action.
Last Time Out
Mardez McBride came off the bench to score a season-high 17 points and lead Georgia in an 81-78 overtime victory over South Carolina last Saturday at a sold-out Stegeman Coliseum.
Kario Oquendo added 16 points, Frank Anselem notched a career-best 12 points and Terry Roberts chipped in 10 for his team-leading 18th double-digit outing. Jusaun Holt recorded career highs of eight points and five steals.
Georgia rallied from a double-digit deficit with 6:31 remaining to force overtime and then improve to 11-1 at home this season. A three-point play by Oquendo at the 6:23 mark started a 10-0 surge that knotted the score at 62-62 just 68 seconds later.
Following three more ties, the Bulldogs took their first lead since 20-18 on a pair of Justin Holt free throws with 51 seconds remaining. South Carolina scored with 30 seconds remaining to lead to OT.
Oquendo scored all eight of Georgia’s points in the extra session, including going 6-of-8 from the line.
Bulldogs’ Defense Stiffens
With a Jan. 11 win over Mississippi State, Georgia doubled its overall and SEC win totals from last season. Much of the Bulldogs’ success can be attributed to their defense.
During the 2021-22 season, Georgia ranked No. 338 nationally in both scoring defense (78.5 ppg) and field goal defense (.473) and No. 260 in 3-point field goal defense (.439).
The Bulldogs entered this week up 232 spots to No. 106 in scoring defense (66.9 ppg), 269 positions to No. 69 in opponent FG percentage (.414) and 238 slots to No. 22 in opponent 3-point percentage (.296) this season.
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