The search for an SEC win continues on Wednesday as Auburn travels to take on Georgia.

Auburn, Georgia and Vanderbilt are the only SEC teams still winless in conference play. Auburn currently sits at 6-6 (0-4 in SEC play) while Georgia is 7-3 (0-3 in SEC play).

Though, for the first time this season, Auburn may be at full force.

Sharife Cooper made his season debut against Alabama and Justin Powell returned to practice on Monday.

The Tigers won’t be able to focus on limiting just one Bulldog — with six Georgia players averaging double-digit points this season.

“They've got six guys that average double digits in scoring, so they've got really good balance,” Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl said. “[Sahvir] Wheeler is a tremendous point guard, powerful, fast. You've got to game plan all around him. Great in transition. Georgia's playing the 10th-fastest pace in the country, so one of our challenges has been transition defense.”

While Cooper’s return was an obvious boost to the roster, it still didn’t solve some of the issues the team has been having all season long.

“Well, I think the team is, we’re better offensively with Sharife. There’s no question about it,” Pearl said. “But the things that are ailing us, whether it’s 50-50 balls, defensive rebounds, ending possessions, physical play — which I think is a big part of what’s ailing us — he doesn’t bring that. So, those are the things that affect winning. And we need everybody else, and Sharife, to bring that in order for us to win. Now we’re better with him. No question.”

And while getting Cooper back made some things easier, it also made some things more difficult and new challenges arose.

Previously Auburn was running with the 6-foot-6 Powell and Allen Flanigan, creating some size advantages.

Now, with Cooper who’s listed at 6-foot-1, some adjustments have to be made in the game plan.

“When Sharife is getting to the rim, then the other guards have got to think about rotating back way more than when, you know Justin Powell for example, was our point guard,” Pearl said. “He’s not getting to the rim nearly as much, therefore Justin’s able to get back and you see an area where: oh, I hadn’t thought about the fact that having him for a day was going to present some other problems. You know, when Al and JP we’re our point guard, we would be much more inclined to switch a lot because we have a lot of same size guys.

“Now, we’ve got a smaller, faster point guard. How does that change how we defend? So there’s just a lot of adjustments that we’re going to need to make as we continue now how to win with him and play with him. I love the challenge of doing it. Love the challenge of doing it. But, a lot of adjustments are needing to be made in a very short period of time.”

Auburn and Georgia face off at 6 p.m. CST with the game broadcasted on SEC Network.

“The matchup against Georgia matters,” Pearl said. “It's an opportunity for one of these two teams to get their first SEC win.”

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