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1/4/23 Auburn Articles


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Auburn at Georgia: Stream, injury report, broadcast info for Wednesday's game in Athens

Taylor Jones
2–3 minutes

Georgia hosts Auburn on Wednesday, and if you’re wondering how you can watch the action live, you’ve come to the right place.

The No. 20 Auburn Tigers look to earn its second SEC win of the young conference season on Wednesday when they face the Georgia Bulldogs for game one of a home-and-home series at Stegeman Coliseum in Athens.

Buy Tigers Tickets

Auburn earned a last-minute win last Wednesday over Florida, 61-58 in the SEC opener at Neville Arena. Johni Broome and Wendell Green Jr. each scored 14 points in the win. Broome also secured 11 rebounds.

The Bulldogs are under the direction of first-year head coach Mike White, who comes to Georgia after winning 142 games in seven seasons at Florida. Georgia is a much-improved team under White says Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl.

“The more I watch Georgia, and, obviously, we have had time to watch Georgia, the more impressed I have been with them,” Pearl said Monday. “Mike (White) has come in and done a really good job. They have got an older, veteran team with a lot of transfers. They are playing pretty well right now.”

Below, you will find all of the key information needed ahead of Wednesday’s game between the Tigers and Bulldogs including broadcast information, injury reports, and a projected starting lineup.

Here’s when you should tune in to see the game:

  • Date: Wednesday, Jan. 4
  • Time: 5:30 p.m. CT
  • TV Channel: SEC Network
  • Live Stream: fuboTV (watch here)
  • Radio: Auburn Sports Network (Andy Burcham, Brad Law)
AUBURN    
G Chance Westry Knee Questionable for Wednesday’s game
GEORGIA    
No Injuries Reported    

AUBURN

  • Wendell Green Jr. (12.7 PPG)
  • Johni Broome (8.4 RPG)
  • Chris Moore (57.1 3P%)

GEORGIA

  • Kairo Oquendo (14.3 PPG)
  • KyeRon Lindsay (5.2 RPG)
  • Terry Roberts (4.4 APG)
AUBURN  
Johni Broome F
Chris Moore F
Jaylin Williams F
Zep Jasper G
Wendell Green Jr. G
GEORGIA  
Matthew-Alexander Moncrief F
Braelen Bridges C
Terry Roberts G
Kairo Oquendo G
Mardez McBride G
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Auburn aims to maintain success vs. Georgia, buck trend against Mike White

Published: Jan. 04, 2023, 7:00 a.m.
5–6 minutes

A familiar foe in a new setting is sprucing up Auburn’s rivalry with Georgia.

When No. 22 Auburn travels to Athens, Ga., for a 5:30 p.m. CT tip against Georgia at Stegeman Coliseum, Bruce Pearl will once again be going toe to toe with a coach who has gotten the best of him in recent years. Georgia coach Mike White, formerly the head coach at Florida for seven seasons, has won six of his teams’ nine matchups against Pearl’s Auburn squads since the 2015-16 season.

Read more Auburn sports: Bruce Pearl has ‘no doubts’ about Chance Westry despite Auburn freshman’s diminished role

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“Mike White has done a great job against me personally,” Pearl said. “I told you guys about matchups; I think matchups matter. I think he’s done a good job with his teams.”

Now White will try to continue to be a thorn in Pearl’s side with his new team at Georgia, where he took over in the offseason after making the jump from Gainesville, Fla., to Athens.

White’s Bulldogs have gotten off to a strong start this season, already eclipsing the team’s win total from last season. Georgia won just six games during the 2021-22 campaign and is off to a 10-3 start to the season in Year 1 under White that includes an 8-0 mark at home.

“The more I watch Georgia—and obviously, we’ve had time to watch Georgia—the more impressed I’ve been with them, “Pearl said. “Mike has come in and done a really good job. They’ve got an older, veteran team with a lot of transfers. They’re playing pretty well right now. They still, you know, don’t know a lot about themselves in the sense that they haven’t played as tough of a schedule. But I think as a result, they’ve built up some confidence.

“They’re way better than they were a year ago. They’re just way better than a year ago.”

To that end, Georgia has yet to play a game against a Quad 1 opponent this season and is 0-2 in Quad 2 games. Only two high-major programs have played, and won, more Quad 4 games this season than the Bulldogs, who are 8-0 in those matchups.

Still, Pearl isn’t taking Georgia lightly, even as Auburn has won eight of the last 10 meetings in the series. Between that trend and White’s string of success against Pearl’s Auburn teams, something has to give Wednesday evening at Stegeman Coliseum.

“We’ll go back and look at how they guard us and what they ran against us and try to make some anticipation as to what they’ll do — whether they do some of the things they’ve done,” Pearl said. “Typically, coaches like Mike — I’m not going to put him in my category as far as age is concerned, I won’t do that to him — but Mike’s been around long enough that he’s a veteran coach. Veterans typically do what veterans do.”

What White has typically done against Pearl’s teams is limit them offensively. In White’s six wins against Auburn while at Florida, the Gators held the Tigers to 65 points per game. In Pearl’s three head-to-head victories against White, Auburn’s scoring average was 10 points higher (75.3). Still, the Tigers scored more than 80 points just twice in those nine games.

White has brought that same defensive tenacity to Georgia, where the Bulldogs have been much improved on that end this season. Georgia is 83rd nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency this season, according to KenPom, and the Bulldogs have given up 80-plus points just twice so far—in losses to Wake Forest and UAB. Last year’s Georgia team was 318th in adjusted defensive efficiency and gave up nearly 80 points per game on average (78.5 for the year).

“You can scout them and look at what they’re doing against others, but then against us, oftentimes, they’ll do something different than what they’ve been doing,” Pearl said of White’s teams. “Unique to us. And so sometimes it’s — because not everybody plays like we do. It’s hard to look at what other people are doing and then figure ‘Well, that’s what they’re going to do.’ The matchup obviously has been competitive. It’s getting harder and harder to predict what people are going to do against us. So, you’ve just got to be prepared for no matter what they do and make the adjustments on the fly.”

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.

If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation.

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Auburn/SEC basketball notes: busy stretch for Tigers

By Mark MurphyMon Jan 02 2023

16

AUBURN, Alabama–Coach Bruce Pearl’s Auburn basketball team will be busy with three games in 10 days beginning with a rivalry contest on Wednesday. The upcoming three games include a pair of road contests plus a Saturday night home matchup vs. a ranked opponent.

Following a week off since winning their SEC opener at home vs. the Florida Gators, the Tigers will return to action on Wednesday at Georgia. Tipoff for the game vs. the Bulldogs is set for 5:30 p.m. CST with television coverage on the SEC Network.

Auburn, which is 11-2 overall and 1-0 in the SEC, is ranked 22nd in the first AP Top 25 poll of 2023. That is two spots below last week’s ranking for the Tigers. The Tigers moved up three spots in the USA Today Coaches Top 25 Poll to 20th after edging Florida 61-58.

In their third true road game of the season the Tigers will face the 10-3 Bulldogs, who are 8-0 this season at Stegeman Coliseum. For Coach Mike White the matchup vs. the Tigers will be his first SEC game as head coach of the Bulldogs after making the move to Athens from the University of Florida.

Three days later the Tigers will take on Arkansas at Neville Arena. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. CST for a contest that will be televised on the SEC Network. The Razorbacks, who are ranked 13th in this week’s AP Poll, were upset in their league opener at LSU to drop to 11-2 for the season. Arkansas fell four spots in this week’s AP ranking. LSU has the most votes of any team outside the Top 25. 

Three days after playing the Razorbacks, Auburn will be back on the road for a Tuesday night contest at Ole Miss. The Rebels are 8-5 and 0-1 in the SEC after losing a 63-59 home game to Tennessee. 

Another SEC team, the Kentucky Wildcats, dropped out of the AP Top 25 after losing at Missouri and are four spots out of the ranking. Missouri moved into this week’s poll at No. 20 while Mississippi State dropped out with the 28th most votes. Also from the SEC, Tennessee dropped one spot in this week’s AP Poll coming in at eighth. Purdue (13-0) remains No. 1. The only other unbeaten team in the Top 25 is 14-0 New Mexico. The 14-0 Lobos moved one spot ahead of Auburn and are ranked 21st.

In the coaches poll Purdue is also No. 1. SEC teams making that Top 25 in addition to Auburn include Alabama (7th), Tennessee (9th), Arkansas (13th), Missouri (21st) and Kentucky is tied for 25th with Iowa State.

Auburn and SEC basketball notes: Auburn is eighth in scoring among SEC teams at 72.69 points per game and tied with Arkansas for third in scoring defense at 61.77 points per game behind Tennessee (53.23) and Mississippi State (54.54). Missouri is the top scoring team with its average of 88.77 points...Pearl’s Tigers are ranked seventh in field goal shooting (44.2 percent) and third in field goal defense (38.9 percent). Missouri is hitting at a 51.1 percent rate, which leads the league and is ranked fourth nationally with Gonzaga No. 1 at 52.6 percent. Tennessee leads the league in field goal defense, allowing opponents to make just 33.2 percent of their shots, which ranks No. 1 nationally...Auburn leads the nation in blocked shots at 6.8 per game...Every SEC team is currently above .500 in won/loss percentage with Vanderbilt and South Carolina having the worst records at 7-6. LSU and Missouri, teams with new head coaches, have the best records at 12-1. Both the Bayou Bengals and Mizzou are 1-0 in league play along with Auburn, Tennessee and Alabama, teams that are 11-2 overall.

16COMMENTS

Brandon Miller of Alabama is leading the SEC in scoring at 19.2 points per game. On Monday he was named SEC Freshman of the Week. Auburn’s top scorer, Wendell Green, is 18th at 12.7 with Johni Broome next at 12.3...Broome is fifth in the SEC in rebounding at 8.4 per game. Last season’s SEC and national player of the year, Oscar Tshiebwe of Kentucky, leads the nation in the category with 13.6 per contest. Auburn’s Jaylin Williams is 20th among SEC rebounders at 5.3 per outing...Broome is second in the league in blocked shots at 2.67 per game behind Liam Robbins, who is averaging 2.85 for Vanderbilt. Dylan Cardwell is fourth at 2.15...Broome is sixth in the league in field goal percentage at 49.6. Missouri’s Kobe Brown, who has sparked his team’s surprising start, is the league leader at 60.6 percent...Another Auburn player in the Top 10 of an SEC individual category is Green, who is seventh in free throw percentage at 80.0. The junior guard is 11th in assists at 3.54 per contest...Another junior guard, K.D. Johnson, is 10th in the league in free throw accuracy at 78.3 percent...LSU guard Trae Hannibal, a 6-2, 215-pound senior from Elliott, S.C., came off the bench for 19 points on 9-14 shooting vs. Arkansas to earn SEC Player of the week honors.

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Auburn basketball is pushing hard to land two elite 2024 players

Andrew Stefaniak
~2 minutes

Two of Auburn's biggest class of 2024 targets cut their lists over the last few days, and both had Auburn listed. 

Ace Bailey cut his list to 12 schools, including Kentucky, Georgia, Rutgers, Texas, Memphis, South Carolina, Tennessee, Kansas, West Virginia, Arkansas, Oregon, and of course, Auburn. 

Tahaad Pettiford cut his list to seven schools, including UCLA, Kansas, Kentucky, UConn, Seton Hall, Ole Miss, and Auburn. 

Bailey is ranked 15th overall on 247Sports, with Pettiford right on his tail at the 26 spot. 

The Tigers currently only have one commit in the class of 2024, and this is big man Peyton Marshall who is 48th overall in the class. 

If the Tigers could land Bailey and Pettiford, they would have their point guard, power forward, and center of the future. 

It is still amazing to see the Auburn logo on the lists for these top recruits next to the blue bloods like Kentucky and Kansas. 

Before Coach Pearl brought this program from the depths of college hoops to the top, you would have never seen this happen.  

Decisions from these two are likely, not close, but you can rest assured knowing Coach Pearl and his staff will be doing everything in their power to get them on the Plains for good. 

If you want to see our breakdown of Bailey, click here

If you want to see our breakdown of Pettiford, click here


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Bruce Pearl has 'no doubts' about Chance Westry despite diminished role

Published: Jan. 03, 2023, 9:45 a.m.
5–6 minutes

Chance Westry watched from the bench last week as Auburn opened SEC play with a hard-fought win against Florida in Neville Arena.

For the first time since his return from offseason knee surgery, the highly touted freshman did not see the floor for the Tigers, logging a DNP—coach’s decision during their 61-58 victory against the Gators. It was the latest development in Westry’s role, which has diminished over the last five games as No. 22 Auburn (11-2, 1-0 SEC) prepares for its first conference road game Wednesday at Georgia (10-3, 0-0).

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The former four-star prospect went from averaging more than 14 minutes per game in his first six games post-surgery to playing eight minutes against both Memphis and Georgia State, a combined two minutes during Auburn’s two-game West Coast swing, to falling out of the rotation entirely in the team’s SEC opener last week. During the four games prior to last Wednesday’s Florida game, Westry shot a combined 1-of-9 from the field, 0-of-4 from 3-point range and had five turnovers against three assists.

Despite the freshman’s lessened role of late, Auburn coach Bruce Pearl has maintained confidence in the long-term outlook for Westry, who was a top-40 player in the 2022 class.

“First of all, he’s handled it terrific; he has,” Pearl said Monday. “Chance Westry is going to be a great player in this program…. I have no doubts about his future in this program.”

For now, at least, the versatile 6-foot-6 guard is taking a backseat in the rotation as Auburn gives him more time to get right following his preseason knee procedure. Westry underwent an arthroscopic procedure on his right knee on Oct. 6 — the same day Pearl had a similar procedure done on his knee — and missed most of the preseason after a promising summer of development, which included Auburn’s three-game tour in Israel.

Westry didn’t return to the court until Nov. 15 against Winthrop, missing the first two games of the season. He saw time at both guard spots and on the wing in his debut but then shifted focus to playing point guard behind Wendell Green Jr. Westry’s career hasn’t gotten off to the start many expected, however. In 10 games, he’s averaging 2.7 points, 1.1 assists, less than a rebound per game and has shot just 31.1 percent overall while going 0-of-14 from beyond the arc.

“He missed the entire fall,” Pearl said. “He had pretty good, major knee surgery. He came back and he wasn’t what he was before his injury and what he was this summer. At this point, then, you’ve got to look at the guys that are able to be out there and go, ‘OK, we’re going to go with them right now.’ Right now, he’s just working to get back to 100 percent.”

What that means for Auburn’s rotation as SEC play picks up is that Allen Flanigan and Chris Moore will continue to split time at the three, Zep Jasper and K.D. Johnson will work at the two, while freshman Tre Donaldson will serve as Green’s backup at the one. As Westry’s role has shrunk in recent weeks, Donaldson has seen his grow.

The 6-foot-2 freshman, like Westry, has seen his role fluctuate this season. He went from playing double-digit minutes off the bench in Auburn’s first four games, to single-digit spells against Bradley (6 minutes), Northwestern (3 minutes) and Colgate (3 minutes), to a pair of DNPs against Saint Louis and Memphis.

Over the last four games, though, Donaldson has been thrust back into the backcourt rotation, averaging more than 16 minutes per game during that stretch. He has made the most of the opportunity behind Green, too. Donaldson is averaging five points, 2.5 rebounds, three assists, two steals and just one turnover per game over the Tigers’ last four outings while shooting 50 percent from the field and 50 percent from 3-point range.

“I just think that Tre’s done a good job, especially when he was out of the rotation and then got the opportunity to get back into the rotation and took advantage of the opportunity,” Peal said. “Stayed right and stayed ready. Kept working. Understood the position that he was in but wasn’t happy about it and came back and has played better than what he did at any time since he’s been here. The speed and the physicality of the game compared to high school, it’s just night and day.

“When Tre plays with a motor, he’s really effective out there. And there’s a lot of responsibility on the point guard. He’s done a pretty good job. There aren’t many freshman point guards playing in college basketball right now.”

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.

If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation.

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Auburn basketball drops in latest AP Top 25 poll

Lance Dawe
~2 minutes

Auburn won their only game vs Florida last week but fell two spots in the latest AP top 25 poll.

The Tigers (11-2, 1-0 SEC) fell to No. 22 in the poll, but not because of their own doing - Xavier and Missouri climbed above them after beating No. 2 UConn and No. 19 Kentucky, respectively.

There are now five SEC teams ranked, with the Kentucky Wildcats falling completely out of the poll following a blowout loss to Mizzou.

Here is the week nine AP Top 25 poll in its entirety.

1. Purdue

2. Houston

3. Kansas

4. UConn

5. Arizona

6. Texas

7. Alabama

8. Tennessee

9. Gonzaga

10. UCLA

11. Virginia

12. Miami

13. Arkansas

14. Wisconsin

15. Indiana

16. Duke

17. TCU

18. Xavier

19. Baylor

20. Missouri

21. New Mexico

22. Auburn

23. College of Charleston

24. Ohio State

25. Iowa State

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Georgia has played one of the weakest schedules in the country. If we play our normal Defense we may hold them under 60. 

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In the first article it shows Westry as questionable knee. I wonder if we brought him back to soon.  I believe if he can become 100% healthy and then get back to game shape he could be the catalyst we need towards end of season. I have watched his film he has a nice stroke he can shoot the mid-range jumper, go to the rim, has a decent 3 point shot but can improve on it and is the big guard we need with a very solid handle.

What I would like to see from this team is continue playing hard D, realize we have to play inside out, cut down on bad turnovers and make the big dance even as a lower seed and by that time have Westry back 100% from injury and in game shape as without him we will be hard pressed to get past 1st round in big dance. 

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