AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn might not be ranked No. 1 yet, but the second-ranked Tigers certainly played like the best team in the country at times Wednesday night.
Auburn throttled Georgia 83-60 at home to earn their 14th straight victory and improve to 17-1 on the season.
Led by 15 from Walker Kessler, six different players scored in double figures. The Tigers shot 46 percent from the field, only turned it over eight times, and the 52 points in the first half were a season high, topping the previous mark of 47 set against Yale.
"I thought we got better in the first half," Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl said. "We were making shots. We held those guys down pretty good. We turned them over pretty well and got some points off of turnovers. I thought we shared it and shot it pretty well in the first half from 3. We made seven 3s in the first half, and that helped us a lot.
"We had great energy in the building. Once again, the environment was fantastic here in this arena. I appreciate all of our fans more than I could even begin to tell you."
Junior Allen Flanigan provided the exclamation point with a left-handed slam in transition in the closing minutes, a play set up by a block from Dylan Cardwell on the other end. Flanigan, who knocked down two early 3s, finished with 10 points, and it was one of 10 blocks by Auburn on the night. Kessler, the nation's leader in blocked shots, led the Tigers with six blocks.
Wendell Green Jr. posted a double-double with 12 points and 11 assists. It was the 10th straight game in double figures for Green, but it was his passing that stole the show against Georgia. He threw multiple lobs to Kessler and Devan Cambridge for alley-oop dunks, and he set up Jaylin Williams for a dunk on a bounce pass from halfcourt in the second half.
"Shout out to my teammates," Green said. "They finished around the rim, they hit open shots. Assists are a two-way street. I can't do it without my teammates. All the credit to them for my 11 assists."
"Wendell did such a special job getting the ball to the right people at the right time," Pearl said. "Wendell was having fun out there, which I love to see."
Green is the first Auburn player to record a double-double with points and assists since Sharife Cooper had 15 points and 14 assists last February against Ole Miss.
Williams finished second on the team with 13 points, one off his season high, and he also pulled down five rebounds. Auburn's bench outscored Georgia, 31-9.
"We just know coming off the bench – if the starters are not having a good start, when we come in, we have to pick up the energy," Williams said. "If they're having a good start, we have to come in and have the same energy as them."
K.D. Johnson and Jabari Smith scored 12 points apiece for the Tigers. Johnson, playing against his former team, knocked down three triples in the first half and after back-to-back 3s in the corner, the sold-out crowd at Auburn Arena was chanting his name.
Smith knocked down a late 3 to put him in double figures, and the star freshman has now scored 10 or more points in 15 consecutive games.
Auburn is off to a perfect 6-0 start in SEC play for only the second time in program history (1958-59). With Texas A&M's loss to Kentucky on Wednesday night, the Tigers are the lone unbeaten remaining in the conference standings.
Auburn and No. 12 Kentucky will meet Saturday in what will be the first matchup between top-12 teams in the 12-year history of Auburn Arena.
"We've got to step up in a huge way for Kentucky," Pearl said. "I think it's one of the best teams John (Calipari) has had in years. It'll be a clash of the titans, that's for sure."
