AUBURN, Ala. – Handing No. 23 Georgia its first home loss presents an imposing challenge, says No. 1 Auburn coach Bruce Pearl.
“The environment will be hostile,” said Pearl, whose top-ranked team has won nine consecutive games and shares the SEC lead with No. 21 Ole Miss. “I’m sure we’ll have witnesses who will make the trip over there. Should be a great environment. We’ve had some success over there but the games have all been incredible.”
No. 1 Auburn will be without injured All-American Johni Broome for the second straight game. The Tigers defeated No. 15 Mississippi State 88-66 Tuesday at Neville Arena to improve to 4-0 in SEC play.
“It’s another Quad-1 opportunity for us,” Pearl said. “We’ll have to continue to play really well being down a big man.”
Like Auburn, Georgia is unbeaten at home, boasting an 11-0 record at Stegeman Coliseum, including conference wins over Kentucky and Oklahoma.
A 6-11 freshman, Asa Newell averages 15.3 points per game, one of four Bulldogs who average double-figure scoring.
“We’re going to have to do a great job of guarding,” Pearl said.
Auburn boasts two talented freshmen of its own in Tahaad Pettiford and Jahki Howard.
“They’ve done really well,” Pearl said. “They’ve gotten better and as a result, when we go to the bench, we don’t drop off.”
Saturday’s showdown will be a homecoming for Auburn’s native Georgians, including guard Miles Kelly from Stone Mountain.
“It’s going to be great,” said Kelly, who played his first three college basketball seasons in Atlanta at Georgia Tech. “I have a lot of people trying to come to the game, asking me for tickets. Georgia Tech and Georgia was a huge rivalry when I played there, so being able to go back there and us being the No. 1 team in the country is going to be great.”
Seeking its 10th consecutive win, No. 1 Auburn (16-1, 4-0) plays at No. 23 Georgia (14-3, 2-2) Saturday at noon CT on SEC Network. Andy Burcham and Randall Dickey will call the action for listeners on the Auburn Sports Network.
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on X: @jeff_shearer