Auburn jumped out to an early lead over Georgia in Stegeman Colisuem and went into the half up a dozen. From there, though, Georgia battled back and even took the lead with under a minute to go.
With 38 seconds left K.D. Johnson drove in and tied it at 72 and then Wendell Green Jr. went down and hit the game-winning layup with three seconds left, to escape with a 74-72 win.
Takeaways from Auburn's win in Athens:
A concerning trend
Auburn has had a few concerning trends this season. Slow starts to games was an issue, but that hasn't popped up in a while. Second half lulls were another issue, but that hasn't occurred in a while either.
Now, though, it's been ice cold starts to the second half that have plagued this team. Auburn was up 42-30 after halftime, but Georgia quickly went on an 11-0 run to close the gap and make the second half rather interesting.
It's been a trend that's nearly cost Auburn some games here recently, and something Bruce Pearl knows Auburn has to work on.
"I don't know because it's been a consistent problem for us this year," Pearl said. "So I haven't got it figured out, I don't know. I failed in that area."
Following the 11-0 run Pearl opted to call a rare timeout, and said after the game he should've called it earlier considering Auburn was a man down.
Absence of Zep key down the stretch
Speaking of man down, the absence of Zep Jasper didn't look like it'd be a big deal at the start of the game. Wendell Green Jr. hit a three to open the game and had 15 points in the first half.
However, his absence was becoming more and more of an issue as the game went on. Auburn was missing its best perimeter defender. And, Auburn was missing that backcourt depth, with Green and Johnson playing 36 and 33 minutes, respectively.
"Having Zep out there, sharing minutes with Zep gives me a break," Green said. "I felt it in my legs; all my jump shots were short. I couldn’t move like how I wanted to, but it’s no excuses. It did—it put a toll on me. I just got to be better prepared in situations like this.”
Usually Auburn's depth is a big advantage in games, but on Saturday, the lack of depth was an issue.
"I think you get to see what it's like to play 36 minutes," Pearl said. "That's what other teams have to play against us. We've got to get Zep (Jasper) back and it just goes to show how important our depth is."
Pearl said afterwards that the players are tired after Oklahoma, Alabama and traveling to Georgia, and may opt to just watch film and extremely limit or not practice before Tuesday's game at Arkansas.
K.D. and Wendell go cold in the second half; heat up when it matters most
K.D. Johnson and Wendell Green Jr. came out hot in the first hald, scoring 12 and 15 points apiece.
But in the second half, they went ice cold, shooting a combined 4-for-21. The two were taking bad shots and just overall looked out of it.
With the game on the line, though, they both stepped up. With under a minute to go Johnson hit a layup to tie the game at 72 and then Green hit the game-winner.
"I'll take my chances with him and the ball in a last-shot situation all day any day," Pearl said. "Him or K.D."
