AUBURN | Bruce Pearl is worried he’ll sound like a broken record, but Auburn’s sixth-year head coach has a point.

This year’s Georgia squad appears leaps and bounds better than last year’s that finished 11-21 overall and 2-17 in the SEC.

“I know you guys are probably tired of hearing me say this, but I think we continue to play the best opponent that we’ve played so far. I’m really impressed with Georgia,” Pearl said. “They’re much improved from a year ago. It’s got Tom Crean’s handprint all over it. They play fast. They play hard. They’re very aggressive defensively. They turn you over a lot.

“They’re a little like us in the sense that they’re probably better from the 2 than the 3. These are two of the better teams at getting to the rim.”

Being in the second year under Crean is a plus for the Bulldogs, but the addition of freshman Anthony Edwards is probably the biggest reason for their improvement.

The shooting guard, who is third in the SEC averaging 18.7 points per game, is already being tabbed as a potential No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.

“Our basketball fans have gotten to see some of the all-time greatest players down here in Auburn. When you watch a guy like Anthony Edwards, that comes to mind. He’s a consensus top pick. He was a consensus top-three player in the country. It’ll be a great, great matchup for us.”

Georgia, 10-4 overall, had a big road win at No. 9 Memphis last Saturday before opening SEC play with a tough 78-69 loss to No. 14 Kentucky after leading 37-31 at halftime. Edwards had 13 points against Memphis and 23 against the Wildcats.

“Everybody on the team has to understand what he does and how he does it,” Pearl said. “But like defending Anthony Edwards, you have to defend Rayshaun Hammonds, you have to find (Tyree) Crump. (Sahvir) Wheeler is a left-handed point guard that comes out the bench and he's really effective. They've got some veterans. One of the things that I think makes Georgia really good, is like Auburn, (Crean) is playing nine, sometimes 10 guys.

“They can come at you in waves. They're very athletic. They're very fast. We'll do the things that we need to do, as far as the stuff that they run, to try and obviously be disruptive and do what we do defensively to see if we can bother them. We've got to rebound. We can't let them have those second shots and we've got to find a way to not let them get to the rim and line us up and drive us downhill.”

No. 5 Auburn is off to a 14-0 start, 2-0 in the SEC, and along with No. 7 San Diego State, one of two undefeated teams in the country. Tip-off for the AU-UGA game will be 11 a.m. CT on ESPNews.

BASKETBALL NOTES:

** Anfernee McLemore had a key 14 points off the bench in the first half, but Vanderbilt out-scored Auburn 37-19 in bench points. Pearl sees the development of his bench, which also includes sophomore Jamal Johnson, and freshmen Allen Flanigan and Devan Cambridge, as very important for the second half of the season.

“Our bench is still an area that needs to improve a lot,” Pearl said. “We don't beat Vanderbilt unless Anfernee McLemore doesn't come in when Austin Wiley gets two fouls and play lights out, particularly on the offensive end in the first half.

“I just continue to look at our bench as Allen and Devin and Jamal get more and more experience. Those three guys, the other three players, all first-year players as far as being out there. I think they've got the most room for growth and when they do we'll become a better team.”

** Pearl on the important of the Auburn-Georgia rivalry and recruiting in the state of Georgia.

“Our win at Georgia last year began our 12-game win streak in March. It was probably as significant a win as we'd had,” Pearl said. “Georgia has been a great place for us to recruit. Since 2015, we've been able to sign, I think, 10 players from the state of Georgia. Our starting lineup last year in the Final Four, four of those guys were from Georgia and if Chuma (Okeke) was healthy, it would have been all five. And so, our rivalry against Georgia is very, very important and very significant. I know it means a lot to our fans. That all said, get up early, get some breakfast, get your coffee, and come on over to Auburn Arena because it's going to be a pretty exciting game.”

** Pearl on a quick turnaround after Wednesday night’s late 83-79 win over Vanderbilt and moving the game from 5 p.m. to 11 a.m. due to the threat of severe weather.

“Wednesday night was a late night. We were tired yesterday, and as a result, I just really took it easy on them. We’re fine today,” Pearl said Friday. “We’ll go get at Georgia today. I’ve talked to Tom Crean, and they’re just going to head over about three hours earlier than they would have. They can’t shoot tonight anyways because of the gymnastics meet. They couldn’t have done that even with a 5 o’clock game. But again, Georgia has been good to work with. They understand the safety and security of our community and their team and their fans traveling in. That’s what is most important.”