Edwards shut down, other observations from Auburn’s convincing win over Georgia
How does a good team put away an opponent (that boasts the top-ranked recruit in the nation) at home? An 11-3 run to start the second half, to blow the game wide open, will do the trick.
No. 5 Auburn looked every bit like the top-five team it is on Saturday. Georgia looked every bit like the team full of freshmen the Bulldogs are. In the end, even a sluggish start and an early deficit wouldn’t keep the Tigers (15-0, 3-0 SEC) from cruising to an easy win.
“Any time you beat Georgia, and you’re the coach at Auburn, it matters,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said.
Here are three observations from Auburn’s 82-60 win over Georgia:
TIGERS OVERCOME SLOW START
It took a solid 10 minutes for Auburn to finally get settled into its halfcourt offense. The Tigers started just 2-of-7 shooting and struggled to find
Georgia jumped out to a quick 14-8 lead, and Rayshaun Hammonds caused the Tigers all sorts of issues on both ends of the floor. Then Auburn found its rythm.
Afernee McLemore jump-started everything with a dunk, J’Von McKormick tied the game with a three-pointer and Auburn went on a 25-6 run. It closed the half on a 15-1 run and put the game to bed before the midway point in the second half.
“They don’t panic,” Georgia coach Tom Crean said of Auburn. “They don’t seem to let misses and things like that affect them on the other end. That really stood out even moreso today, with our youth.”
AUBURN SHUTS DOWN EDWARDS
Georgia basketball goes as Anthony Edwards goes. Edwards did not “go” on Saturday.
The freshman had his freshman game, scoring 18 points and finishing 6-of-15 shooting -- and most of his scoring came once the game was already essentially decided.
Auburn sat off him on defense, which limited his ability to take contested three-pointers (a shot he favors) and played sound help defense, which limited his ability to drive to the basket.
Auburn guard Allen Flanigan, who finished with 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting, took turns guarding edwards with Isaac Okoro. Flanigan could see the freshman’s confidence waning from the moment it started decreasing.
“He dropped his head a couple times,” Flanigan said. “That gave me more confidence to keep pressuring him.”
Edwards had three points at the half, but his biggest struggle came from the free throw line, where he shot 4-of-11 while being serenaded by chants of “overrated.”
STATEMENT WIN OVER A SOLID OPPONENT
This is by no means a bad Georgia team that Auburn just took to the cleaners on national television.
The Bulldogs fell to 0-2 in the SEC with Saturday’s loss, but have a win over Memphis and close losses to Kentucky and Michigan State. They led for most of that Kentucky game.
“Georgia owns one of the best wins the SEC has,” Pearl said. “Their win last Saturday at Memphis, and then in the first half, they go into the locker room with a good lead on Kentucky. So, they’re a good team.”
Which makes what Auburn did to arguably the best team it’s faced this season all the more impressive.
Take away the first 10 minutes, and this was a domination.
Convincing wins at home, like Auburn just pulled off, are what fans of top-five teams should expect when facing an outmatched (and young) opponent.
“Auburn is a tremendous team,” Crean said. “Not only one of the best in our league, obviously one of the best in the country.
“Any conversation that comes up in the next few months on who can win it all should have Auburn in it.”
UP NEXT
- Auburn at Alabama
- Wednesday, Jan. 15
- 8 p.m. CT, 9 p.m. EST
- Tuscaloosa, Alabama
- ESPN2
AUBURN GEORGIA BOX SCORE
GEORGIA (10-5): Edwards 6-15 4-11 18, Hammonds 4-10 2-3 12, Wheeler 2-6 2-2 6, Camara 2-5 1-2 5, Gresham 2-4 1-2 6, Brown 0-1 4-7 4, Crump 0-2 0-0 0, Harris 0-1 0-1 0, Fagan 2-4 3-5 7, Howard 0-0 0-0 0, Peake 1-1 0-0 2, Turnier 0-1 0-0 0, Walton 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-50 17-33 60.
AUBURN (15-0): Okoro 3-8 0-0 7, Doughty 6-12 3-7 17, McCormick 3-8 2-3 9, Purifoy 3-7 0-0 7, Flanigan 5-6 0-0 12, Johnson 2-4 0-0 6, McLemore 6-8 0-1 12, Wiley 3-4 2-4 8, Cambridge 0-1 0-0 0, Akingbola 0-0 0-0 0, Jones 0-2 0-0 0, Williams 2-2 0-0 4, Franklin 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 33-62 7-15 82.
Halftime—Auburn 35-24. 3-Point Goals—Georgia 5-19 (Hammonds 2-4, Edwards 2-9, Gresham 1-1, Camara 0-1, Harris 0-1, Turnier 0-1, Fagan 0-2), Auburn 9-24 (Flanigan 2-3, Johnson 2-3, Doughty 2-5, McCormick 1-1, Okoro 1-4, Purifoy 1-4, Cambridge 0-1, Jones 0-1, McLemore 0-2). Fouled Out—Camara. Rebounds—Georgia 30 (Hammonds 9), Auburn 38 (Purifoy 8). Assists—Georgia 9 (Edwards, Wheeler 3), Auburn 15 (Doughty 4). Total Fouls—Georgia 20, Auburn 23.
This story was originally published January 11, 2020 at 2:14 PM with the headline "Edwards shut down, other observations from Auburn’s convincing win over Georgia."
