1/5/23 Auburn Articles

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Pearl unhappy with guard play as Tigers lose at Georgia

Mark Murphy

5–6 minutes

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ATHENS, Georgia–Auburn got plenty of good shots vs. Georgia, but struggled to make enough of them as the Tigers went down 76-64 to the Bulldogs on Wednesday night at Stegeman Coliseum. The loss dropped Auburn to 11-3 for the basketball season and 1-1 in the SEC.

Auburn finished the game with 69 field goal attempts, 16 more than the Bulldogs, but made just 24 to finish at 34.8 percent for the game. Georgia made the same number of field goals to finish at 45.3 percent from the field, including 50 percent shooting in the second half.

The visitors didn’t get much production from anybody other than Johni Broome, who scored 22 points and pulled in a game-high 12 rebounds. Auburn’s only other scorer in double figures was Allen Flanigan with 11  points in a reserve role.

“We have got to do a better job of checking out, boxing out and getting defensive rebounds–that is on all five of us on the court,” said Broome, who scored in double figures for an eighth consecutive game. “We have got to do a better job of being more disciplined.”

Broome hit 9-17 field goals and Flanigan was 5-10, but the numbers were problematical for some of their teammates. For example:

*Wendell Green missed all six of his treys and was 2-12 from the field.

*Jaylin Williams was 1-9 from the field and 1-5 on three balls.

*K.D. Johnson took five shots and made one, a three-pointer.

“Our bigs were pretty good,” Coach Bruce Pearl said. “Our guards have to play better (vs. Arkansas on Saturday). Arkansas, obviously, is much better than Georgia.”

Georgia got big scoring numbers from senior guard Terry Roberts, who scored 26, almost doubling his season average of 14.1 points. UGA’s top scorer for the season, junior guard Kario Oquendo, added 17 points for the Tigers. Roberts hit 8-16 field goals while adding two assists and three steals. Oquendo, who was 3-5 on treys, made 6-10 field goals.

“Give Georgia credit, they really out-played us,” Pearl said. “Their guards are really good. I think that Roberts makes a huge difference for them.

“Our challenge has been when we go up against really good guards, elite guards–Memphis and USC,” Pearl said, adding that UGA’s Oquendo and Roberts are both talented.

Georgia led most of the first half as the Tigers struggled with their shooting. With the help of a 10-0 run Auburn led 24-23 on a jump shot by Flanigan, but the Bulldogs regained the lead 14 seconds later and were up 38-30 at halftime.

Auburn made just 10-33 field goals (30.3 percent) while the Bulldogs hit 13-31 (41.9 percent). Auburn made 3-11 threes and 7-11 free throws while UGA made 4-9 threes and 8-10 free throws.

Broome and Green led the Tigers in first half points with seven apiece. Roberts, a senior guard, scored 14 first half points for the Bulldogs while Oquendo added 11 points.

Most of the other statistics were close at halftime. The Tigers were plus two in rebounds and committed eight turnovers, one more than Georgia.

The Tigers cut the lead to four points on multiple occasions in the second half, the last time with 7:56 left on a fastbreak dunk by Flanigan on a pass from Green.

For the game the Tigers pulled in 41 rebounds, two more than the Georgia. Each team turned the ball over 11 times and each team got 18 points from its bench. Where Georgia enjoyed a big edge was at the foul line, making 22-32 free throws to 10-16 for the visitors.

Pearl said the Tigers got good play at center from Broome and Dylan Cardwell, but struggled at other spots. Broome's 22 points tied Green's total vs. Saint Louis for the most points by an Auburn player this season.

“We needed to win more one-on-one battles," Pearl said. "Jaylin Williams needed to win his matchup. We can’t win if Jaylin goes 1-9. We just can’t.

Wendell Green is double-teamed by the Bulldogs. (Photo: Dale Zanine, USA TODAY Sports)

"We didn’t get off to a good start which have to do to win on the road, and they did, which gave them, obviously, some confidence,” Pearl said. “We have got to get better point guard play.”

Stat of the Game: Auburn made three treys to the start the second half, but finished the 3-17.

Worth Noting: The Tigers were outscored 36-28 for points in the paint.

Up Next: The Tigers will take on Arkansas at 7:30 p.m. CST on Saturday at Neville Arena.

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Instant Analysis: Auburn suffers first SEC loss on the road at Georgia

Taylor Jones

2–3 minutes

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The first road game of the SEC schedule for Auburn was filled with poor shooting to go along with a solid shooting night for their opponent.

Georgia outshot Auburn 45% to 35% and spent much more time at the free throw line than the Tigers in their 76-64 win at Stegeman Coliseum in Athens on Wednesday.

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Wednesday’s win over No. 20 Auburn is the first for Georgia in the Mike White era, who continues his success after going 142-88 in seven seasons at Florida. It is also the first time that Georgia has started the SEC schedule with a 1-0 record since the 2016-17 season.

The Bulldogs jumped out to a 21-10 lead by the halfway mark of the first half, but would go on a drought over a four-minute span to allow Auburn to tie the game with 6:06 remaining in the half. Wendell Green Jr. kicked off the run by making two free throws and tied the game at 21-21 on a layup.

Momentum would not stay with Auburn long, however, as Georgia closed the half by outscoring Auburn, 16-10, to take a 37-30 lead into halftime. The Bulldogs shot 41% from the field through the first 20 minutes, while Auburn could only muster 30%. Green and Johni Broome led the team in scoring with seven points.

Georgia stayed consistent out of the locker room, as they continued to pull away from the Tigers. The Bulldogs took a 60-53 lead with 7:30 remaining in regulation, which would be the closest deficit for the remainder of the game.

The Bulldogs opened the game with a hot offensive start. Georgia shot 50% through the first nine minutes of the game to take a 15-10 lead. Terry Roberts and Mardrez McBride were perfect through the timeout, scoring four and two points respectively. Jabari Abdur-Rahim scored five points off the bench by connecting on three-of-four free throws and succeeding on a field goal.

The loss brings Auburn’s record to 11-3, 1-1 in SEC play. Broome ended the game with a double-double, scoring 22 points and reeling in 10 rebounds. Allen Flanigan was next in line with 11 points off of the bench.

Auburn returns to Neville Arena on Saturday to host No. 13 Arkansas Razorbacks. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. CT.

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Guard play troubles the Tigers in loss to Georgia - The Auburn Plainsman

 

4–5 minutes

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Bruce Pearl’s Tigers are quite familiar with the state of Georgia. Five of the six current NBA players from Pearl’s program are from Georgia, which doesn’t even include stars like Jared Harper and Bryce Brown. Five current Tigers are from the state and Auburn was 8-2 in their last 10 matchups against the Bulldogs entering tonight’s ballgame.

All that success in the neighboring state came to a pause tonight, with No. 22 Auburn falling to Georgia 76-64 inside of Stegeman Coliseum. The Tigers fall to 1-1 in conference play and 11-3 overall, losing just their second time in their last six trips to Athens. 

“We've got to fix a lot of things but everything is fixable," said forward Johni Broome. "So, let’s get back to it and get ready for the next one."

Despite coming out of the game early in the first half with an injury, Broome had his third double-double of the season for the Tigers with a team-highs of 22 points and 12 rebounds. Auburn’s other two big men, Jaylin Williams and Dylan Cardwell, shot a combined 1-11 from the field and Georgia led 34-26 in points in the paint. 

“Dylan did a good job defensively but we needed to win more one on one battles,” said head coach Bruce Pearl. “Jaylin Williams needed to win his matchup. We can’t win if Jaylin Williams goes 1-for-9. We just can’t.”

Auburn’s struggle to contain talented guards continued with Bulldog Terry Roberts leading the way with a season- and career-high 26 points in 30 minutes of play for Georgia. Kario Oquendo was the only other Bulldog in double figures with 17 points and four rebounds. 

“The guards are really good. I think that Roberts makes a huge difference for them,” Pearl said. “Our challenge has been when we have gone up against really good guards, elite guards; Memphis, USC, and I do think that Oquendo and Roberts are. I put them in the category.”

Outside of Williams’ big night in Athens, the rest of the Tigers shot a combined 15-52 from the field. Auburn’s three guards, Wendell Green Jr., K.D. Johnson and Zep Jasper combined for 15 points and went 2-for-10 from the 3-point shot. 

“We do the best we can in ball screen coverage to try to help the guards get through. Our guards are having a hard time staying in front of people,” Pearl said. 

Allen Flanigan bounced back after a disappointing performance against Florida to start conference play by being the only other Tiger to score in double figures in Athens, with 11 points and three rebounds. This was Flanigan’s first double-figure performance since the Colgate game on Dec. 2.

“Allen didn’t play great against Florida and really worked hard all week long, just coming in and grinding and just having a really good attitude and doing the best he could instead of just being frustrated," Pearl said. "I can see Allen working really hard, doing the right things and doing the little things and it translated pretty quickly. So, maybe that’s something we can build on."

Auburn will travel back home to take on the No. 13 Arkansas Razorbacks this Saturday inside of Neville Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. CST and will be televised on the SEC Network.

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Observations from No. 22 Auburn’s 76-64 loss at Georgia

Published: Jan. 04, 2023, 9:20 p.m.

4–5 minutes

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By

• Nubyjas Wilborn | nwilborn@al.com

Johni Broome’s 22 points and 12 rebounds weren’t enough to keep No. 22 Auburn from losing 76-64 in Wednesday’s rivalry game against Georgia on the road.

Broome scored the first seven points for the Tigers after the Bulldogs jumped to a 5-0 lead. K.D. Johnson hit a three with 15:20 left in the first half for the first points by a Tiger other than Broome. Auburn trailed by one point after Johnson briefly silenced the fans from his former school.

Georgia pushed its lead back out to 11 with a Kario Oquendo layup at the 10:08 mark. Qquendo finished the game with 17 points. Wendell Green tied the game with one of his two buckets with a little over six minutes in the first half.

Terry Roberts scored two of his 26 points to regain the lead. Allen Flanigan gave Auburn its only lead with 4:12 left in the half on a jumper off a rebound. Roberts struck again 14 seconds later with a layup. Georgia regained the lead on the bucket by Roberts and never trailed again.

Roberts finished the half with another driving bucket, and the Tigers went into the locker room down 37-30. During halftime, the officials deducted a point from UGA after ruling that the Bulldogs had improperly got a free throw because of an incorrect count of Auburn team fouls.

“Didn’t get off to a very good start, which you have to on the road in order to win, and they did, which gave them some confidence,” head coach Bruce Pearl said after the loss.

Auburn will host No. 13 Arkansas on Saturday at Neville Arena. Let’s get into some takeaways from the Tigers’ loss at Stegeman Coliseum.

-- Broome shot 9-17 and 2-5 from three. Flanigan was 5-10 for 11 points. Other than Flanigan and Broome, the rest of the Tigers shot 10-52 from the field and 2-21 from three.

-- Roberts and Oquendo combined for 43 points, and Auburn’s starting guards had 12 points. Green with five and Jasper with seven.

“Our guards have been having a hard time staying in front of people,” Pearl said on the guard matchup. “You can go under, build a wall a little bit, and maybe you do that against teams that struggle to shoot the ball and let them shoot behind. That could be something we go to. It’s nothing something that I’ve done before very often. But keeping guards in front of us has become an issue. And our bigs do a pretty good job of helping them. But getting the guards back in front and competing to stay in front is an issue.”

-- Auburn (11-3, 1-1 SEC) got outscored 36 to 28 in the paint, mainly by the Bulldogs attacking the rim and scoring on layups or dunks.

“Layups. Just driving at us. Just driving at us,’ Pearl said. “We couldn’t stay in front. Wasn’t their post-up game, they didn’t score at all in the post-up, and that’s what they’re really good at; Bridges is really good at. Just drove us downhill.”

-- Pearl expressed displeasure with Jaylin Williams going 1-9 and 1-5 from three for five points.

“We needed to win more one-on-one battles,” Pearl said. “Jaylin Williams needed to win his matchup. We can’t win if Jaylin Williams goes 1-for-9. We just can’t.”

Flanigan’s 11 points provided a bright spot for Auburn. Pearl appreciated his efforts.

“It was good to see Al,” Pearl said. “Al didn’t play great against Florida and really worked hard, all week long, just coming in and grinding and just having a really good attitude and doing the best he could — instead of just being frustrated.”

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[aubiefifty 16,777]

 

[TXaubie 566]

1 hour ago, aubiefifty said:

Stat of the Game: Auburn made three treys to the start the second half, but finished the 3-17.

👀 

[KansasTiger 3,248]

Coach the fricken offense, Bruce. Stop letting them do whatever they want. Shoot whatever shots they want, make sloppy passes, never box out. And play Lior Berman for God's sake. This team is not playing defense well enough to use that as an excuse to keep him on the bench. But we need someone that can hit more than 30% of his shots from the field. Bad.

[aubiefifty 16,777]

One big issue Bruce Pearl identified after Auburn basketball's loss to Georgia

 

Richard Silva, Montgomery Advertiser

Thu, January 5, 2023 at 2:55 AM CST

 

 

ATHENS, Ga. — The sky isn't quite falling yet for Auburn basketball, but coach Bruce Pearl needs to make some adjustments.

The No. 20 Tigers (11-3, 1-1 SEC) lost 76-64 against Georgia (11-3, 1-0) at Stegeman Coliseum on Wednesday. There was more than enough blame to go around — Jaylin Williams shot 1-of-9, Wendell Green Jr. missed 10 of his 12 attempts from the floor and the freshman duo of Tre Donaldson and Yohan Traore scored just one point. But there's a glaring issue in each of Auburn's losses this season that can't be overlooked.

Senior guard Terry Roberts lit the Tigers up for 26 points Wednesday. In a loss against Memphis on Dec. 10, fifth-year guard Kendric Davis poured in 27. Facing USC on Dec. 18, senior guard Boogie Ellis exploded for 28 points.

THE LOSS:Johni Broome shines, but rest of Auburn basketball offense struggles in loss to Georgia

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PEARL'S THOUGHTS:Why Bruce Pearl said expect season-long 'rock fight' after Auburn basketball tops Florida

Notice a pattern?

The Tigers, despite having elite rim protection, have struggled to contain high-level guards.

"We do the best we can in ball-screen coverage to try to help the guards get through," Pearl said after the Georgia game. "Our guards have been having a hard time staying in front of people. You can go under and kind of build a wall a little bit, and maybe you do that against teams that really struggle to shoot the ball and let them shoot behind. That could be something we go to.

"It's not something that I've done before very often. But keeping guards in front of us has become an issue. And our bigs do a pretty good job of helping them. But getting the guards back in front and competing to stay in front is an issue."

Ellis came into the game against Auburn last month shooting 37.3% from beyond the 3-point arc. Davis entered the matchup with a 31.1% mark, and Roberts was a 30.6% shooter from long range ahead of Wednesday's game. Would the Tigers have been better off baiting these opposing guards to shoot from deep, rather than trying to stay in front of them and forfeiting driving lanes?

That's for Pearl to decide, but he has to do so quickly.

 

Auburn forward Johni Broome (4) shoots over Georgia center Braelen Bridges (23) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2023, in Athens, Ga. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

The level of competition with conference play now in full swing won't lighten up, in fact, it'll stiffen. Auburn beat Florida in its first game against an SEC foe this season before dropping the meeting with Georgia, but those two teams aren't exactly the toast of the conference. The Gators were picked to finish seventh by the preseason media poll, and the Bulldogs, even worse, were ranked second to last.

Auburn plays host to No. 13 Arkansas (11-2, 0-1) on Saturday (7:30 p.m., SEC Network), and still has multiple games remaining against nationally-ranked teams like No. 7 Alabama, No. 9 Tennessee, No. 21 Missouri and No. 25 Kentucky.

There are several other issues at hand, too. For the struggles the Tigers have had defending opposing guards, their offense is arguably an even bigger problem. Johni Broome played exceptionally against the Bulldogs, sans his four turnovers, dropping the third double-double of his young Auburn career with 22 points and 12 rebounds.

But there wasn't that second option for Auburn to go to when Broome was getting smothered inside. Allen Flanigan shot 5-of-10 and scored 11 points, but the Tigers need a consistent, and efficient, offensive threat to go along with their center. Maybe it'll prove to be Flanigan. Maybe it's Williams. Or perhaps most likely, it's Green.

Regardless, the time for that player to step up is now.

"We needed to win more one-on-one battles," Pearl said of the loss to the Bulldogs. "Jaylin Williams needed to win his matchup. We can't win if Jaylin Williams goes 1-for-9.

"We just can't."

Richard Silva is the Auburn beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at rsilva@gannett.com or on Twitter @rich_silva18.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: One big issue Pearl identified after Auburn basketball's loss to Georgia

[aubiefifty 16,777]

does auburn seem to be getting worse instead of better? it just seems like after the final four we have been going slowly backwards. i think sometimes taking these one and done freshmen guards is hurting us. i know the one kid sat out most of the year to be safe and when he finally got to play it seems to have hurt him.i just always thought getting great talent to auburn under pearl was a given. to me we seem to be wors than we were when he first started. i know bruce was hurt and had an op and it might have been a distraction but i am just grasping at straws here. i have not given up on auburn for the record.

[KansasTiger 3,248]

1 hour ago, aubiefifty said:

does auburn seem to be getting worse instead of better? it just seems like after the final four we have been going slowly backwards. i think sometimes taking these one and done freshmen guards is hurting us. i know the one kid sat out most of the year to be safe and when he finally got to play it seems to have hurt him.i just always thought getting great talent to auburn under pearl was a given. to me we seem to be wors than we were when he first started. i know bruce was hurt and had an op and it might have been a distraction but i am just grasping at straws here. i have not given up on auburn for the record.

This is just my personal opinion and theory, but I think this year is the culmination of a few factors. Losing Jabari and Kessler didn't help, but I think Bruce promised some of these guards some concessins about taking guard transfers and playing time, and miscalculated that they would step up. He wanted to keep his word to them, but we are 'reaping the rewards' of that decision/promise two years later, now. Because there was talent out there last year we did not even attempt to pursue from an outside perspective.