AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn's open date came at the right time, says coach Bruce Pearl, allowing the Tigers time to rest, recover and recalibrate before playing at Georgia Saturday without second-leading scorer Jaylin Williams.
Next Game:
at Georgia
Feb. 24, 2024
5 p.m. CT
TV: SEC Network
Radio: Auburn Sports Network
Williams, who sustained a non-season-ending knee injury vs. Kentucky last Saturday, will travel to Athens to support his teammates, and could return at some point before the SEC Tournament.
In the meantime, Auburn worked in practice this week to come up with contingency plans, beginning with the expectation of more minutes from backup power forward Chaney Johnson.
"Chaney has always been one of our harder workers," said Pearl, mentioning Dylan Cardwell, Chris Moore and Lior Berman as candidates for additional playing time in Williams' absence. "To replace Jaylin is going to have to be by committee."
Defense and rebounding, Pearl has long maintained, will be the factors that allow Auburn to compete for championships. The 2023-24 Tigers are holding opponents to 38-percent shooting.
"That speaks to the effort, that speaks to the commitment to be unselfish and play hard defensively," he said. "It means this team is trying to guard and make it difficult for people to score. Without Jaylin, we'll be challenged both in the frontcourt and the backcourt now."
At Neville Arena, the Tigers are 13-1. On the road in the SEC, Auburn's record is 3-4. A win Saturday at Georgia would give the Tigers a .500 record in SEC play away from home.
"We have not played great on the road this year," said Pearl, whose team has earned SEC victories away Neville Arena at Arkansas, Vanderbilt and Ole Miss. "We have three more opportunities in our last five games to dispel that. It's not going to be easy but that is the opportunity that's in front of us."
With two weeks remaining before the SEC Tournament, No. 14 Auburn (20-6, 9-4) plays Georgia (15-11, 5-8) Saturday at 5 p.m. CT at Stegeman Coliseum on SEC Network. Andy Burcham and Randall Dickey will call the action on the Auburn Sports Network.
"They can see the light at the end of the tunnel," Pearl said. "We have five games left in the regular season. They understand these are all precious. The guys are locked in and pretty focused."
PLAYER TO WATCH: JOHNI BROOME
One of the top players in the country, junior forward/center Johni Broome recorded his 56th career double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds versus No. 22 Kentucky last Saturday. It marked his 10th double-double of the season, which matched his total from last season to give him 20 double-doubles for his two-year Auburn career.
Broome boasts a current streak of 17 straight double-digit scoring games. He ranks second in the SEC in rebounds per game (8.46) and is ninth in scoring at 16.08 points per game. The Naismith and John R. Wooden National Player of the Year Award candidate is the only player in the league averaging at least 16.0 points and 8.0 rebounds per game and the only player ranked in the Top 10 in both the scoring and rebounding columns.
INSIDE THE SERIES: GEORGIA
Auburn leads 100-97 in the all-time series with rival Georgia. It is the longest played series in program history (198 meetings in 104 seasons), the second longest between current SEC schools, and is tied for the 25th-oldest series in NCAA Division I. The oldest SEC series is Kentucky and Tennessee who have played each other 109 seasons.
The Tigers have won nine of the last 12 contests in the series including four of their last six trips to Stegeman Coliseum. The Bulldogs lead 64-27 all-time in games played in Athens.
GEORGIA PIPELINE
The state of Georgia is fertile recruiting ground for Bruce Pearl and Auburn as four current Tigers hail from the Peach State: Jaylin Williams (Nahunta), K.D. Johnson (Atlanta), Dylan Cardwell (Augusta) and Jalen Harper (Mableton).
Five of Auburn's six recent NBA Draft picks under Pearl, including four first-rounders, were Peach State products: Chuma Okeke (Atlanta), Isaac Okoro (Atlanta), Sharife Cooper (Powder Springs), Jabari Smith (Fayetteville) and Walker Kessler (Newnan).
Other Auburn standouts, such as Jared Harper, Bryce Brown, Anfernee McLemore, T.J. Dunans and Zep Jasper, also call Georgia home.
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer