Georgia beats Auburn for Mike White's first SEC, ranked win
ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia took down No. 22/20 (AP/Coaches) Auburn Wednesday night at Stegeman Coliseum 76-64 in the opener of SEC play. As White’s first SEC win as the coach for the Bulldogs, it’s also his first win over a ranked team since arriving at Georgia this past spring.
Terry Roberts led the way for Georgia in the scoring department with a season-high 26 points to tie his previous career-high from Bradley while Kario Oquendo added 17 of his own. M.A. Moncrieffe led the Bulldogs in the battle on the boards, pulling down nine rebounds. Johni Broome was the top scorer for Auburn with 22 points as a part of a double-double with 12 rebounds as well.
The first half saw Georgia jump out to as large as an 11-point lead on the back of Terry Roberts and Jabri Abdur-Rahim. Roberts had four points in the first four minutes while Abdur-Rahim poured in seven points in the midst of a 10-0 run. However, Auburn responded with an 11-0 run of its own to tie the game with 6:08 to go before the break.
Roberts put the Bulldogs back on top with a pair of free throws before the Tigers took their first lead of the game with 4:12 to go in the first half on an Allen Flanigan jumper that made it 24-23 in favor of Auburn. However, another scoring tear from Roberts with five straight including a 3-pointer helped Georgia jump back ahead to lead 33-24. Ultimately, Georgia would go into the locker room leading by seven with Roberts, Kario Oquendo and M.A. Moncrieffe leading the charge in the first half. Roberts and Oquendo had 13 and 11 points respectively while the 6-foot-8 Moncrieffe brought down seven rebounds against a much bigger Auburn team.
Georgia’s second half went a very similar way to its first: back and forth while keeping the Tigers at a bit of a distance.
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Auburn came out of the locker room by making a trio of 3-pointers in the first 3:30 of action and cut it deficit to four before Roberts and Oquendo responded with a pair of paint finishes.
The Bulldog lead remained between four and eight until a 9-0 run by Georgia with less than eight minutes to go in the game. Auburn fans in attendance were getting into the game with their team down just four before Justin Hill hit a 3-pointer and Braelen Bridges laid in a put back. That made it a nine-point lead for Georgia. Then, Roberts made a fast break layup and a pair of free throws from an intentional foul to give Georgia a double-digit lead with 6:01 to go.
Auburn got its deficit down to eight but no closer as Georgia put the game away with free throws down the stretch on its way to the 76-64 win.
Georgia hits the road for a homecoming of sorts as Mike White returns to Florida for the first time on Saturday. The Bulldogs are looking for their first 2-0 start in SEC play since 2013-14 against a Gators team that’s 7-7 on the season after falling against Texas A&M on Wednesday. Tipoff time in Gainesville is set for 1:00 p.m. ET on SEC Network.
