ATHENS, Ga. – Making his first start at Auburn, Chad Baker-Mazara responded with a career-high 25 points to lead the Tigers to a 97-76 win at Georgia on Saturday.
"Chad Baker-Mazara was the best player on the floor tonight, and nobody is terribly surprised by that," Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl said.
Baker-Mazara was inserted into the starting lineup against the Bulldogs as Pearl looked to shake things up with Jaylin Williams out due to injury. He came out firing with eight points and a pair of 3-pointers in the game's first four minutes. He closed out the first half with 18 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field.
"To be honest, I just realized the guy in front of me couldn't guard me," Baker-Mazara said. "I told Coach (Pearl), 'Let's take advantage of that.' He believed in me today, put the ball in my hands, and thankfully I got to execute."
Baker-Mazara finished 8-of-12 for the game and was 7-of-7 from the free throw line. He added five rebounds, four assists and two steals.
As part of the shakeup with Williams out, Chaney Johnson and Aden Holloway joined Baker-Mazara in the starting lineup Saturday. Both players scored in double figures.
For Johnson, it was his first Division I start after transferring in from UAH. He did his best Jaylin Williams impression with 16 points on 6-of-9 from the field and grabbed four rebounds.
"When Jaylin Williams went down, Chaney Johnson was next man up," Pearl said. "But you saw his skill. You saw his athleticism. You saw him do it inside and out. You saw him do it defensively. You saw him do it on the boards. He did not look like anybody's backup 4 man. Just a tremendous step-up by Chaney."
Holloway returned to the starting lineup, and thanks to a barrage of 3-pointers down the stretch, the freshman finished with 15 points. It was his highest scoring output since he put up 15 points against USC back in December. He connected on a total of five shots from beyond the arc for the game and dished out three assists to just one turnover.
Midway through the second half, Georgia made a run and cut the Auburn lead down to 3 (64-61), but with the crowd starting to get back in the game and the momentum shifting, it was Baker-Mazara who settled the team down.
"He brought our guys in. He calmed everybody down, and he did it again," Pearl said. "Just like he did at Ole Miss."
The Tigers responded with a 14-2 run of their own. Johni Broome scored five quick points, including a 3-pointer. K.D. Johnson drained one from deep. And then Holloway made back-to-back 3-pointers to extend the lead back to 15 (78-63).
Broome made it four Auburn players in double figures with 16 points and pulled down a team-high 13 rebounds to record his 11th double-double of the season, surpassing his total from last season. It was his 18th straight game with 10 or more points.
As a team, Auburn shot 62.1 percent (36-of-58) from the field, its best field-goal percentage since shooting 65.4 percent against Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Dec. 30. The Tigers also matched a season high with 14 3-pointers, a mark they set against Indiana. It's the most 3-point field goals in an SEC game since Auburn made 14 at South Carolina on Jan. 23, 2021.
"Just a great win," Pearl said. "On the road against a good team and our rival. Beating Georgia matters. Beating Alabama matters. It matters to our fans. It matters to our players. It matters in recruiting. And we beat a good team."
With the win, Auburn (21-6, 10-4) reached double-digit SEC wins for the 23rd time in program history and the sixth time in the last seven seasons, which matches Tennessee for the most in the league over that span.
The Tigers and the Volunteers will meet Wednesday night in Knoxville for a game with championship implications. Both teams are within a game of the SEC lead.
GEORGIA POSTGAME NOTES
» With the win, Auburn now leads 101-97 in the all-time series with rival Georgia – the Tigers' most wins against any opponent in program history. Auburn has won five of its last seven trips to Athens and 10 of the last 13 games overall against the Bulldogs. The 21-point win tied as Auburn's third-largest margin of victory at Georgia and the largest since a 95-71 win on Jan. 10, 1977.
» Auburn's 97 points were the Tigers' most points in a SEC road game since earning a 109-86 win at South Carolina on Jan. 23, 2021. The win was Auburn's SEC-best 12th win of the season by 20-or-more points, including five in SEC play, which is tied with Tennessee for the most in the league, pending the outcome of the Volunteers' game against Texas A&M on Saturday night.
» Head Coach Bruce Pearl is 22-10 against Georgia in his coaching career including 12-7 at Auburn. Pearl is now 11-6 lifetime with his teams in Athens including 6-4 at Auburn. He is now 5-7 in head-to-head matchups with Georgia head coach Mike White (Florida and UGA).
» Auburn improved to 21-6 on the season. It's the sixth time in the last seven seasons the Tigers have won at least 21 games, which matches the number of seasons with 21-or-more wins in the first 111 seasons in program history. The 21 wins are tied for the 11th-most in a season in program history. Auburn matched the 1999-2000 Tigers for the fifth-best 27-game start in program history.
» AU reached double-digit SEC wins for the 23rd time in program history, including the sixth time in the last seven seasons, which matches Tennessee for the most in the league over that time. The Tigers have won double-digit SEC games for the third-straight season, which matches the longest streak in program history (1957-58 to 1959-60 and 2017-18 to 2019-20).
» Auburn shot 62.1 percent (36-of-58) from the floor, which is the Tigers' best field-goal percentage since they shot 65.4 percent (34-of-52) against Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Dec. 30, 2013.
» AU matched its season high by making 14-of-26 three-pointers, a mark the Tigers set against Indiana on Dec. 9, 2023. It was the Tigers' most 3-point field goals in an SEC game since they made 14 3-pointers at South Carolina on Jan. 23, 2021.
» Auburn held Georgia to 3-of-14 shooting from long range, which matched the Bulldogs' season low for 3-pointers (at South Carolina).
» Chad Baker-Mazara led four Tigers in double figures with a career-high 25 points on 8-of-12 field goals, 2-of-3 3-pointers and 7-of-7 from the free-throw line versus the Bulldogs. He added five rebounds, four assists, two steals and one block in the win. It was his first 20-point game this season and his sixth game in double figures in the last seven contests.
» Johni Broome and Chaney Johnson each scored 16 points at Georgia. Broome was 8-of-12 from the floor and 1-of-2 from 3-point range. He added 13 rebounds, two assists and two blocks in the game. It was his 57th career double-double and his 11th of the season, which surpassed his total from last season. It was also Broome's 18th straight game in double figures.
» In his first start of the season and in his Auburn career, Johnson set a new season high with his 16 points on 6-of-9 field goals, including one 3-pointer, and 3-of-4 from the foul line to go with four rebounds, one assist and one steal at Georgia. It was his second game in double figures this season (15 points vs. Alabama A&M).
» Aden Holloway scored an SEC-career high 15 points and matched his career best draining five 3-pointers (Indiana) on eight attempts at Georgia. He added three assists and one rebound in the win. It was his ninth game in double figures this season and first since scoring 10 points at Vanderbilt on Jan. 17.
