Georgia (13-10, 4-7) vs. No. 8/9 Auburn (21-3, 9-2)

Saturday, February 10 at 3:30 p.m. ET

Stegeman Coliseum (10,523) in Athens, Ga.

Watch: SEC Network (Mike Morgan, play-by-play; Dane Bradshaw, analyst)

Listen: Georgia Bulldog Sports Network. (Scott Howard, play-by-play; Chuck Dowdle, analyst; Tony Schiavone, Producer); Flagship: WSB AM 750 Atlanta; Satellite: Sirius 183; XM

Game Promotion: First 1,000 students will receive a “Dawg Pound” t-shirt.

 

The Starting 5…

• UGA begins a string of 4 home dates in 6 games…after playing 5 of its   last 7 on the road.

• At Vandy,  Yante Maten passed Dominique Wilkins at No. 4 among UGA’s scoring leaders.

• Juwan Parker, the only DI MBB player with a master’s, is now 2nd on UGA’s career FT pct. leaders list.

• Yante Maten is the only player in the SEC’s top 10 in scoring, rebounding, FG pct. & FT pct.

• Nicolas Claxton started at Vandy, becoming the 9th current Bulldog to start as a freshman.

 

Bulldogs Set To Host Auburn

The Georgia Bulldogs open a home-heavy portion of their season on Saturday afternoon when they host No. 8 Auburn at Stegeman Coliseum. The Bulldogs will play four of their next six contests at home, a welcome change to the stretch they just completed of five road outings in a seven-game span.

Georgia is 13-10 overall and 4-7 in SEC play to date.

All-America and SEC Player of the Year candidate Yante Maten leads the SEC in scoring by a half-point per game at 19.3 ppg (Arkansas’ Jaylen Barford is second at 18.8 ppg). Maten also is third in the league in rebounding at 8.8 rpg and is the only SEC player ranked among the conference’s top-10 in scoring, rebounding, FG pct. (No. 6) and FT pct. (No. 9).

Maten has been a picture of consistency for the Bulldogs.

In 23 games this season, he has 22 double-figure outings, with nine double-doubles and 12 20-point performances.

Over 86 games since the start of his sophomore year, Maten has 78 double-digit scoring performances, with 34 20-point and five 30-point outings, and 24 double-doubles.

“Turtle” Jackson is the Dogs’ second-leading scorer at 9.3 ppg, with 12 double-figure games. Juwan Parker is UGA’s second-best point producer in SEC action at 9.4 ppg.

Auburn is 21-3 overall and 9-2 in the SEC.

Bryce Brown paces a quartet of double-digit scorers for the Tigers at 16.6 ppg, while Mustapha Heron adds 16.2 ppg, Jared Harper contributes 12.9 ppg and Desean Murray chips in 11.2 ppg and a team-high 6.9 rebounds per game.

 

Keeping An Eye On…Entering Today’s Game Among UGA’s Career Leaders

 

Yante Maten is…

• 82 points from No. 3 Vern Fleming

• 93 points from No. 2 Alec Kessler

• 416 points from No. 1 Litterial Green

• 29 rebounds from No. 6 Lavon Mercer

• 85 FTs from No. 3 Litterial Green

• 110 FTAs from No. 3 Alec Kessler

• 67 blocks from No. 2 Charles Claxton

 

Series History With The Tigers

 

The Bulldogs own a 94-92 edge in their all-time series with Auburn, including a 61-25 advantage in Athens.

Last month in Auburn, the No. 17-ranked Tigers rallied from a 14-point halftime deficit to defeat Georgia, 79-65.

The Bulldogs controlled the opening half, gradually building a 40-24 lead on a Juwan Parker 3-pointer with 1:41 left in the half.

Auburn trimmed two points off that margin prior to intermission and then exploded on a 21-4 run to open the second stanza.

After trailing 59-45, Georgia rallied to trim the margin to 64-59 at the 3:57 mark, but the Tigers answered with a three-point play.

In the most recent contest in Athens last  March 1, a stellar performance from J.J. Frazier on helped Georgia defeat Auburn, 79-78, after trailing by as many as 16 points.

Frazier, who scored 31 points in the win, helped the Bulldogs fight back and go ahead 79-73 with 1:13 remaining.

The Tigers responded with a 5-0 run to cut Georgia’s advantage to just one, and stole the ball with 14 seconds left. However, Jared Harper missed a 3-pointer, and Juwan Parker grabbed the rebound as time expired.

Frazier and fellow seniors Kenny Paul Geno, Houston Kessler and Brandon Young were honored prior to tipoff. That quartet represents one-third of just 12 Bulldogs to play on three 20-win teams during the first 112 seasons of basketball at UGA.