The Georgia men’s basketball team lost by double digits once again for the third straight game at home against Auburn 78-61. Three embarrassing SEC losses in a row has now put the Bulldogs at 13-11 overall.
The first half began with a series of runs by each team, but Auburn never surrendered the lead. Although Yante Maten did finish with 16 points and shot 80% from the field he was limited in touches by a stingy Auburn Defense in the paint. Auburn outrebounded Georgia and also finished with fewer turnovers which limited Georgia’s possessions. Because of this, Georgia was never able to find a rhythm offensively and lacked the consistency to keep up with Auburn.
While the margin for the trailing Bulldogs at halftime was only 40-31 the game never felt in reach.
The second half was riddled with turnovers and poor perimeter defense. Auburn was able to shoot an impressive 44% from the 3 point line led by Jared Harper and Mustapha Heron. The pair was able to score a combined 43 points. “Our defense didn’t show up,” Juwan Parker said. “Give credit to them. They hit shots, they embarrassed us on the glass, and they did everything that we didn’t.”
Despite an unfortunate showing by the Bulldogs, there was one bright spot. Freshman Rayshaun Hammonds had his highest scoring game in SEC play this season with 15 points. “Offensively he finally came through today,” Coach Mark Fox said. “He took a step forward offensively for sure.”
The Auburn loss now puts the Bulldogs tied for second to last in the Southeastern Conference standings which would be the worst finish since the 2011 season. Georgia now has 6 regular season games left and is desperate for a win. Georgia will need to gain some momentum as the Southeastern Conference tournament is right around the corner and will be its last hope to make the NCAA tournament.
Georgia will now go on the road to face the Florida Gators in Gainesville on Wednesday, Feb. 14. The game will be available on the SEC network at 9:00 p.m. ET.
Official Basketball Box Score
Auburn vs Georgia
02/10/18 3:30 PM ET at Stegeman Coliseum — Athens, Ga.
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VISITORS: Auburn 22-3, 10-2
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
13 MURRAY, Desean…… f 2-6 1-3 0-0 2 5 7 1 5 0 1 1 0 15
24 MCLEMORE, Anfernee.. f 2-2 0-0 2-2 1 2 3 4 6 1 0 1 1 17
01 HARPER, Jared……. g 8-13 4-7 4-7 0 3 3 1 24 7 2 0 2 38
05 HERON, Mustapha….. g 8-14 2-4 1-1 0 2 2 3 19 0 1 0 0 32
14 DUNBAR, Malik……. g 2-7 2-5 1-4 1 5 6 2 7 0 2 0 0 26
00 SPENCER, Horace….. 2-4 0-0 0-0 3 3 6 3 4 0 1 0 0 21
04 OKEKE, Chuma…….. 2-5 1-2 1-1 1 2 3 0 6 1 0 1 1 27
10 MITCHELL, Davion…. 3-6 1-4 0-0 0 0 0 2 7 2 1 0 1 24
TEAM……………. 1 1 1
Totals………….. 29-57 11-25 9-15 8 23 31 16 78 11 9 3 5 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 16-29 55.2% 2nd Half: 13-28 46.4% Game: 50.9% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 5-12 41.7% 2nd Half: 6-13 46.2% Game: 44.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 3-4 75.0% 2nd Half: 6-11 54.5% Game: 60.0% 4
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HOME TEAM: Georgia 13-11, 4-8
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
01 MATEN, YANTE…….. f 8-10 0-2 4-4 1 4 5 1 20 2 1 0 0 39
20 HAMMONDS, RAYSHAUN.. f 6-10 1-3 1-2 1 4 5 1 14 3 2 0 0 34
33 CLAXTON, NICOLAS…. f 0-3 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 1 22
00 JACKSON II, WILLIAM. g 1-6 1-5 0-0 0 1 1 4 3 4 2 0 0 17
03 PARKER, JUWAN……. g 4-8 2-3 4-5 0 4 4 3 14 3 3 0 1 34
04 CRUMP, TYREE…….. 3-11 3-10 0-0 0 1 1 0 9 1 2 0 1 24
05 DIATTA, PAPE…….. 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 3
10 HIGHTOWER, TESHAUN.. 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3
13 WILRIDGE, E’TORRION. 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4
32 EDWARDS, MIKE……. 0-0 0-0 1-2 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 5
34 OGBEIDE, DEREK…… 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 4 5 0 0 2 1 0 0 15
TEAM……………. 2 2 4
Totals………….. 22-49 7-25 10-13 5 22 27 11 61 15 13 0 3 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-28 46.4% 2nd Half: 9-21 42.9% Game: 44.9% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-12 25.0% 2nd Half: 4-13 30.8% Game: 28.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 2-3 66.7% 2nd Half: 8-10 80.0% Game: 76.9% 2
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Officials: Don Daily, Glenn Tuitt, Jason Baker
Technical fouls: Auburn-DUNBAR, Malik. Georgia-JACKSON II, WILLIAM.
Attendance: 10523
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Auburn…………………… 40 38 – 78
Georgia………………….. 31 30 – 61
Points in the paint-AU 30,UGA 26. Points off turnovers-AU 25,UGA 9.
2nd chance points-AU 15,UGA 6. Fast break points-AU 15,UGA 4.
Bench points-AU 17,UGA 10. Score tied-3 times. Lead changed-0 times.
Last FG-AU 2nd-00:15, UGA 2nd-00:34.
Largest lead-AU by 17 2nd-01:36, UGA None.
AU led for 38:12. UGA led for 00:00. Game was tied for 01:48.