Georgia Bulldogs lose third straight, 84-81 to Auburn
By John Buhler
The Georgia Bulldogs are stumbling down the stretch in SEC play, as they drop their third game in a row, falling to Auburn on The Plains, 84-81 Wednesday.
The Georgia Bulldogs’ struggles away from Stegeman Coliseum continue to mount in 2016, as the Dawgs drop their third straight game Wednesday to the Auburn Tigers at Auburn Arena, 84-81.
Georgia again tried to make up the deficit in the final minutes of the second half, but ultimately came up three points short on the road to fall to 14-12 on the year and 7-8 in SEC play. Though the Georgia Bulldogs outscored Auburn 58-45 after halftime, overcoming a 39-23 first half swoon proved too much for the Dawgs against the Tigers.
While Georgia made it a closer game than what it really was, the first half against Auburn was about as ugly of a first half the Dawgs had played all season. Turnovers were rampant, shot selection was poor, and transition defense was suspect. Frankly, it was the most disjointed UGA had look all year in the first half, as a poor Auburn team was clearly having its way with the Dawgs.
Georgia was able to make things interesting by shooting the basketball well in the second half and playing overall strong team defense. UGA finished shooting 40.6% from the field and 45.5% from three in their loss to Auburn.
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The Dawgs had four starters finish in double figures scoring. J.J. Frazier led the way with 29 points on 7-14 shooting, going 3-4 from three and 12-16 at the free throw line. Frazier would finish with six assists, six rebounds, and a steal.
Kenny Gaines was feeling it from three with 23 points on 7-16 shooting, including 6-12 from three. He would finish with three rebounds, two blocks, an assist, and a steal. Charles Mann had 11 points on 3-9 shooting, but was a perfect 4-4 at the line. He would finish with five rebounds and three assists. Yante Maten had 10 points on 5-9 shooting, with eight rebounds and a block.
Georgia continues to struggle to get any sort of offensive production outside of their big four with the rest of the team generating only eight points of offense. Derek Ogbeide had four points and eight rebounds in the starting lineup. Mike Edwards had the same numbers coming off the Georgia Bulldogs’ bench.
With this most recent loss to Auburn, it seems inevitable that the Dawgs will not get a bye in the SEC Tournament in Nashville in a few weeks. Since that is technically a road game, that doesn’t look very promising for Georgia, as the Dawgs have only won two games away from Stegeman this season.
They had a great opportunity to get their 15th victory on the year Wednesday night, as well as their third road win, but ultimately came up a three-point field goal short from sending it to overtime.
Next: Georgia Bulldogs sunk by Vanderbilt Commodores, 80-67
Georgia will look to bring that second half energy back with them to Athens for a Saturday afternoon tipoff with the Ole Miss Rebels. That game will take place at 12:00 PM ET and the SEC Network will have cover it on television. Go Dawgs!