AUBURN, Ala. – When No. 1 Auburn tips off against Georgia Saturday, the Tigers will be at full strength, unlike their first meeting in Athens on Jan. 18 when Johni Broome was unavailable.
Without the national player of the year frontrunner, the Tigers beat the Bulldogs 70-68 behind five 3-pointers from Tahaad Pettiford. Five weeks later, Auburn will attempt to sweep the season series.
“Having Johni back will be a boost. He’s the best player in college basketball,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. “We played one of our best games over there, and they had the ball with a chance to win at the end. It will take another really great effort to get them.”
Both teams attempted 20 free throws in their first meeting. Georgia looks to snap a three-game losing streak in its first game since losing at home to Missouri last Saturday.
“If we want to control our destiny, we’ve got to do a better job of defending without fouling,” Pearl said. “Georgia is really good inside. This is a very good front line. Asa Newell will be a lottery pick at power forward.”
At 4-9 in SEC play, the Bulldogs could dramatically strengthen their postseason resume if they could defeat the top-ranked Tigers.
“We’re competing for a championship,” Auburn senior Dylan Cardwell said. “These games might mean a lot to these other teams, but they mean just as much to us.”
With Broome on the court, Auburn will be able to calls plays for its leading scorer, a luxury the Tigers did not enjoy in their previous win over Georgia.
“We don’t hold cards,” Pearl said. “We showed our best hand; this is how we think our best chance is to win. That’s always interesting to see what adjustments get made the second go-round.”
Fifth-year small forward Chris Moore entered the starting lineup last weekend at Alabama, an adjustment Pearl says “gives us more firepower off the bench” with Chad Baker-Mazara joining Tahaad Pettiford and Chaney Johnson in Auburn’s second unit.
“Chaney and Tahaad, I’d be hard pressed to think of who has anybody better coming off the bench than those two guys. It’s really nice for (Chad) to be able to come in and do what he can do. We get stronger.”
“I’m on the No. 1 team in the country doing some historic things,” said Moore, who along with Cardwell decided to return for their fifth seasons on the Plains. “I don’t know if my career could be any better. I feel like I made the right decision for myself to stay here to be a winner.”
Leading by two games with five to play in the quest for an SEC championship, No. 1 Auburn (24-2, 12-1) hosts Georgia (16-10, 4-9) Saturday at 3 p.m. CT on ESPN. Andy Burcham and Randall Dickey will provide play-by-play and analysis for listeners on the Auburn Sports Network.
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on X: @jeff_shearer