Silas Demary Jr. led Georgia with 15 points but the Bulldogs lost to host Auburn 92-78 on Saturday night.
Georgia now heads to the SEC Tournament in Nashville, where it will open against Missouri at 9:30 p.m. Wednesday night.
Auburn had a double-digit lead over the Bulldogs (16-15, 6-12 SEC) much of the way. Then Denver Jones hit three straight 3s in a two-minute span to help the Tigers build a 60-39 cushion.
Georgia cut it to 12 points in the final nine minutes but then Jones hit another three and Jaylin Williams followed that with a 3-pointer of his own.
“It could have gotten ugly and it has gotten ugly in this building against other teams,” UGA coach Mike White said. “They’re really good. Auburn’s terrific. They executed at a really high level. Really passed it well. They’ve just got balanced scoring. They’ve got depth, skill level.”
Jones scored a season-high 21 points, making 7 of 9 3-pointers, for the No. 13 Tigers.
Auburn (24-7, 13-5 SEC) secured the No. 4 seed and a double bye in the conference tournament with its third straight victory.
“It takes three games to win the championship,” coach Bruce Pearl said. “We’ve won three games in a row several times this year. Obviously we know the competition in this league is incredible.”
The Tigers came into the game tied for second in the SEC with South Carolina, Alabama and Kentucky — all of whom won their games. Auburn won the head-to-head tiebreaker with the Gamecocks.
Johni Broome had 14 points, six rebounds and five assists for Auburn. Williams scored 13.
Jones continued a recent hot shooting streak.
“It makes us more dangerous, and a better coach would have gotten him 14 shots instead of just nine,” Pearl said. “For real. That’s on me.”
Russel Tchewa added 14 points and 10 rebounds for Georgia while Noah Thomasson scored 12.
The Bulldogs started three freshmen, Blue Cain, Demary and Dylan James, for the second straight game.
About the Author
