Riding an 18-game winning streak — the longest in the nation — No. 1 Auburn will head to Athens, Ga., on Saturday afternoon for a clash with the Georgia Bulldogs.
The two Southeastern Conference teams are having very different seasons.
While Auburn (21-1, 9-0) is in the midst of one of its best campaigns ever, Georgia (6-16, 1-8) continues to struggle. The Bulldogs’ lopsided loss on Wednesday at home against Arkansas was their 10th defeat in the past 11 games.
Arkansas won handily, 99-73, as Stanley Umude scored 31 points. Georgia shot decently — 45.3 percent from the floor and 47.1 percent from 3-point range — but turned the ball over 19 times, which Arkansas turned into 26 points.
Arkansas also outscored Georgia 48-30 in the paint and made 15 shots from 3-point range to Georgia’s eight. The Bulldogs also went 17 of 26 from the foul line (65.4 percent).
“We had very poor point-guard play tonight all the way across the board,” Georgia coach Tom Crean said after the loss. “Our decision-making struggled there and just too many turnovers that turned into points. Unfortunately, that’s the game for us there. So the threes and the points off turnovers.”
The story was a bit of the same for the Bulldogs when they most recently faced the Tigers, losing 83-60 in Auburn, Ala., on Jan. 19.
Auburn scored 18 points off 18 Georgia turnovers, and the Tigers made 10 3-pointers to the Bulldogs’ five. Auburn also had a 41-31 rebounding advantage.
Auburn was led in that win by Walker Kessler, who had 15 points, six rebounds and six blocks. In Auburn’s most recent victory – 100-81 over rival Alabama on Tuesday — Kessler had 14 points, 12 rebounds, eight blocks and four steals.
Kessler, a transfer from North Carolina, leads the nation in blocks this season with 93. He also leads the SEC in shooting percentage on 2-point shots, making 73.7 percent of them.
“Unbelievable impact,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said of Kessler after the win over Alabama. “I’m so proud of Walker. He’s a tough kid. He blocked eight, he changed eight. He was a major factor at the rim.”
Kessler is fourth in scoring for the Tigers this season at 11.5 points a game but leads the team in rebounding (7.9) and blocks (4.2). Jabari Smith is still the team’s leading scorer at 15.6 points per-game, while KD Johnson averages 13.2.
Johnson played his freshman season at Georgia.
Auburn deployed a mix of man and zone defense to beat Alabama, completing the season sweep of its in-state rival by limiting the Tide to 35.7 percent shooting from the field.
“The zone slowed them down and put them on the perimeter,” Pearl said. “That and the bench were the difference. Alabama made a nice run to start the second half. Our bench came in and got several stops. The zone was an effective change.”
Georgia is led this season by Kario Oquendo, who averages 12.9 points per game.
–Field Level Media