Georgia found a way to win its 20th game of the season Saturday despite the absence of starting guard Kenny Gaines and major foul troubles.
The Bulldogs defeated Auburn 64-61 in their regular-season finale, with the final score matching Georgia’s largest lead of a hard-fought game.
Georgia heads to the SEC tournament in Nashville, Tenn., with a 20-10 (11-7 SEC) record, marking the first time since 1996-98 that the Bulldogs have had back-to-back 20-win seasons.
The Bulldogs will be the No. 3 seed in the conference tournament and will get a double bye into the quarterfinals. Their first opponent, in Friday’s late game, will be South Carolina, Missouri or Ole Miss.
Georgia’s players and coaches left Auburn Arena savoring a victory on a day in which much went wrong — mainly Gaines’ absence with a sprained foot and foul issues in both halves — but enough went right.
Asked afterward if it was a relief to escape with a victory over an Auburn team (12-19, 4-14) that won by a point in Athens last month, Georgia coach Mark Fox rejected that characterization.
“No, it’s joy,” Fox said. “I don’t coach for relief. You take Alka-Seltzer for relief.”
Georgia players and coaches felt good about their chances of making the NCAA tournament before Saturday’s game — and even better afterward. The win seemed to solidify the Bulldogs as a team expected to receive a berth.
“I am happy in some ways that this helped Georgia because I would like to see Georgia make this NCAA tournament,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said.
In the end, the Bulldogs won the game at the free-throw line. Guard Charles Mann made two free throws with 1:32 remaining to give Georgia a 62-60 lead, and after Auburn trimmed it to 62-61, UGA guard J.J. Frazier made two free throws with 4.9 seconds to play to provide the final margin.
“I heard the crowd yelling, and I got to the line and just zoned them out,” Frazier said. “I heard (Mann) say, ‘Finish at the line, like we do in practice.’”
It was an appropriate finish, given that Georgia shot 19-for-21 from the line for the game, including 9-for-9 by Mann. Auburn was 10-for-18 from the line.
Overall, Frazier led the Bulldogs with 16 points, followed by Mann’s 15 and forward Nemanja Djurisic’s 14. Guard K.T. Harrell scored 24 points for Auburn.
The day started poorly for Georgia with word that Gaines wouldn’t play. The shooting guard injured his left foot in practice Thursday, an injury that Fox described Friday as a sprain. After Saturday’s game, Fox said Gaines’ status for the SEC tournament will depend on “how his body responds.”
Minus Gaines, Georgia’s play was disjointed in the first half against Auburn. The Bulldogs committed 10 turnovers in the half (17 for the game).
Worsening the situation, forward Marcus Thornton and Mann were able to play only seven and six minutes, respectively, in the first half because of two fouls apiece.
Still, Georgia led 31-28 at the half.
The Bulldogs have experienced injuries throughout the season, but the absence of Gaines — the team’s second leading scorer and best perimeter defender — was particularly hard felt.
“It was tough to see him fall down,” Djurisic said. “He’s a big part of what we do.”
“Throughout the season, we had players down due to injury, and other players just have to step up,” Mann said. “Juwan (Parker) has been hurt all season, and he gave us a great 11 minutes (in the first half Saturday).”
Parker finished with five rebounds.
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