Fighting through traffic, Wendell Green Jr. connected on a tiebreaking layup with 3.3 seconds to play and the 74-72 victory on Saturday in Athens, Ga., preserved No. 1 Auburn’s winning streak and prevented the Tigers from being upset by Georgia in Southeastern Conference play.
The Bulldogs’ final shot attempt from half-court landed off the mark. Kario Oquendo scored a game-high 25 points for Georgia.
Green — making just his fourth start of the season — tallied 19 points, five rebounds and three assists as Auburn (22-1, 10-0 SEC) won its 19th straight game. Green started at point guard in place of Zep Jasper, who was ruled out with a non-COVID-related illness, according to the team.
“I give Georgia unbelievable credit,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl told the SEC Network after the hard-fought victory. “We made plays at the end. … We got weaknesses like everyone else. This game was up for grabs at the end. It’s a grind.”
The Tigers led for the majority of the day, but had to fight back after a second half rally from the Bulldogs (6-17, 1-9).
After trailing by as many as 15 points in the first half and by 12 at halftime, Georgia began the second half on a 26-14 run to tie the game up. Oquendo had 12 points during that stretch, and Georgia made 12 of 19 shots as a team in that span to even things up with the Tigers.
A pair of free throws from Jabri Abdur-Rahim with 7:57 left in the second half gave Georgia its first lead of the day at 58-56.
Auburn quickly responded with a KD Johnson layup to knot the score, and the two sides exchanged buckets for the next few minutes. Johnson again tied the game up at 72 with a layup with 38.5 seconds to play. Georgia’s Noah Baumann misfired on a 3-point attempt in response, and then Green scored to clinch the win for Auburn.
Johnson led Auburn in scoring with 20 points, while Walker Kessler added 10 points, nine rebounds and four blocks.
Aside from Oquendo, three other Bulldogs scored in double-digits. Braelen Bridges had 14 points, Jaxon Etter had 13, and Aaron Cook notched 10 points and nine assists.
Auburn shot 14 of 18 from the free-throw line, while Georgia was 20 of 29. Auburn held a big advantage on the glass, outrebounding Georgia 46-35, and outscoring the Bulldogs 20-8 on second-chance points.
–Field Level Media
