Looking to begin its SEC slate with a bang, Auburn basketball fell 104-100 in an overtime thriller against No. 23 Georgia (13-1, 1-0 SEC) on Saturday in Stegeman Coliseum in Athens, Ga.
The loss marked Auburn’s fifth of the season as the Tigers fell to 1-5 in Quad I affairs. Additionally, it was the first time Georgia has corralled a win against the Tigers in six games and the first time Auburn has lost an SEC opener since the 2020-21 season.
“Disappointed with the result,” said Auburn head coach Steven Pearl. “It’s tough to win on the road, but we put ourselves in position to win in a lot of different ways. But we came up short.”
Despite Kevin Overton’s last-second heroics in regulation with Auburn facing a 2-point deficit – he extended the game with a fadeaway heave as time expired in the second period – Auburn struggled to contain Georgia’s guard tandem of Jeremiah Wilikson and Marcus Millender, who combined for 55 points.
“You’ve got to have a little bit of pride in not letting those guards go for 31 and 24,” said Pearl, referencing Wilkinson and Millender, who scored 24 points and made five 3-pointers. “It’s not the threes I’m as concerned about. I’m more concerned about the one-on-one drives where they get into the paint. My biggest challenge for our guys is we have to have more of an identity in our one-on-one defense.”
Wilkson, who poured in a game-high 31 points, scored seven in the extra five minutes and buried a pair of contested threes to give the Bulldogs their best start to a season in program history.
Saturday also marked the Bulldogs’ seventh game of the season in which they topped 100 points – a program record.
The Tigers were led by Tahaad Pettiford, who came off the bench after “failure to meet our team’s expectations,” per Pearl. Pettiford scored 25 points before fouling out with minutes to go in the second period. Saturday’s performance marked the guard’s 11th career game of 20 or more points.
Five other Tigers notched double digits, including Keyshawn Hall (20), Kevin Overton (19), Elyjah Freeman (14), KeShawn Murphy (12) and Filip Jovic putting together a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
The Tigers dominated the boards, 50-35, and corralled 23 offensive rebounds, marking a new season-high, but could not overcome Georgia’s 11 triples and 52 percent mark from the field.
Auburn (9-5, 0-1 SEC) will return to action against Texas A&M on Tuesday night in Neville Arena. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. CT on SEC Network.
