3 takeaways from Auburn basketball’s home win over Georgia
No win in the Southeastern Conference is easy and every victory in college basketball’s toughest league deserves some sort of celebration.
Auburn men’s basketball beat Georgia 82-70 Saturday afternoon, but it was the second game in a row the Tigers had problems with a team from the bottom half of the SEC, a week after beating then No. 2 Alabama on the road.
Late free throws stretched the margin, but similar to Arkansas, Georgia had a chance to win in the final minutes.
Auburn still took care of business, improving to 13-1 in conference play and inching closer to a third SEC regular season championship under head coach Bruce Pearl.
Here are three takeaways from Saturday’s game:
Continuing the trend from Wednesday’s 67-60 win over Arkansas, Auburn’s offense left a lot to be desired early in Saturday’s game.
The Tigers started the game slow, scoring 29 points and averaging .967 points per possession in the first half.
Turnovers weren’t as much of a problem against Georgia as they were against Arkansas, but the offense looked out of sorts at times. Open looks were hard to come by, Auburn had issues finishing at the rim and a good number of open shots wouldn’t fall.
Part of that is a credit to Georgia’s defense. The Bulldogs came into the game ranking 12th in the country in 3-point defense and 35th in KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency ratings.
The slow start didn’t flip the outcome of this game, but it’s something the Tigers can’t afford to make a habit of going into March.
Auburn beat Georgia by just two in the teams’ first matchup in January, a game in which the Tigers were without star center Johni Broome.
Pearl said before the game that having Broome back would give the team a boost on both ends of the floor, and that seemed to be the case in Saturday’s rematch. The All-American finished with a season-high 31 points and 14 rebounds, leading the team in both categories.
Broome carried Auburn’s offense for stretches during the game on a day where an individual lift was much needed at times.
The performance comes one game after Auburn launched a website campaigning for Broome to win National Player of the Year, but what he did on the floor Saturday made his case clear.
With all negatives things you could say about Auburn’s offense to start the game, the Tigers deserve credit for their improvement after the break.
Auburn did a good job of getting to the basket in the second half, getting some open dunks, but also getting to the free throw line 22 times. That was needed, given the Tigers shot 27.3% from 3-point range.
The increased production started and ended with Broome. Nineteen of his 31 points came in the second half, and he made all seven of his field goal attempts in the final 20 minutes.
RECOMMENDED
Why Auburn basketball can’t overlook late-season Quad II games like GeorgiaFeb. 21, 2025, 10:23 p.m.
Scouting report: What to know about Georgia ahead of matchup with AuburnFeb. 21, 2025, 2:00 p.m.
Feeding Broome and consistently getting to the basket and free throw line finished with Auburn scoring 53 points in the second half and shooting 59.3% from the field.
That was crucial in half where Georgia also significantly increased its offensive output, scoring 46 points and shooting 46.7% from the field. The slow start obviously wasn’t ideal, but the second half proved why Auburn is still the country’s most efficient offensive team, even on a day where shots weren’t falling from deep.
Peter Rauterkus covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @peter_rauterkus or email him at prauterkus@al.com
Powered by Advance Insights
1 of 5
To understand how we may use the results of this poll, please read our
Privacy Policy and User Agreement. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google
Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, (updated 8/1/2024) and acknowledgement of our Privacy Policy, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (updated 1/1/2025).
© 2025 Advance Local Media LLC. All rights reserved (About Us).
The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local.
Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site.
YouTube’s privacy policy is available here and YouTube’s terms of service is available here.
Ad Choices
Slow start
Johni Broome makes his case for Player of the Year
Second half offense was the difference
Johni Broome’s season-high 31 points and 14 rebounds lead No. 1 Auburn past Georgia 82-70
WOODTV.com
by: Associated Press
Posted: Feb 22, 2025 / 06:42 PM EST
Updated: Feb 22, 2025 / 06:42 PM EST
AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — Johni Broome scored a season-high 31 points and added 14 rebounds as No. 1 Auburn defeated Georgia 82-70 on Saturday.
For the second straight game, Auburn (25-2, 13-1 SEC) found itself in a tight contest against an unranked opponent before pulling away in the final minutes.
Broome took over in the second half, including a run of seven straight points for the Tigers. The double-double was his 17th of the season.
Denver Jones added 17 points for the Tigers, while Chad Baker-Mazara and Miles Kelly had 11 each.
Asa Newell led the Bulldogs (16-11, 4-10) with 20 points. Silas Demary Jr. added 18.
Georgia: The Bulldogs have struggled mightily on offense in road games this season, and a low-scoring first half didn’t bode well for them. However, Georgia was able to score efficiently on Auburn after halftime, which could give Mike White’s team momentum moving forward.
Auburn: In an odd twist, the SEC leaders have shot the ball much better on the road than at home in conference play. The Tigers will want to find their offense again for their final two games at Neville Arena.
Shortly after an incident in which four technical fouls — two on each team — were issued, Auburn went on a 7-2 run. That stretch included a wild fast-break play in which Dylan Cardwell secured a steal and threw the ball the length of the floor to Broome, who passed it to Baker-Mazara for a layup.
Broome, who did not play in Auburn’s first meeting with Georgia in January due to an ankle injury, went a perfect 7 for 7 from the field in the second half.
Georgia returns home to host No. 2 Florida on Tuesday. Auburn hosts No. 24 Ole Miss on Wednesday.
___
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
