The Georgia men’s basketball team once again fell victim to an untimely wave of turnovers and inconsistent shooting in an 82-70 defeat to No. 1 Auburn at Neville Arena. Despite an inspired first-half effort, and another stellar showing from 2025 NBA Draft lottery pick Asa Newell, the Bulldogs could not keep pace with the top-ranked Tigers down the stretch.
Georgia (16-11, 4-10 SEC) opened the game on the wrong foot, surrendering an initial burst of offense to Auburn that put the Bulldogs behind early. A pivotal defensive sequence, however, seemed to halter the Tigers’ momentum. Silas Demary Jr. forced a turnover and immediately lofted an alley-oop pass to Justin Abson for a monster slam that ignited a 6-0 run. Auburn answered with a barrage of inside scoring, but Georgia’s hustle on defense offered just enough pressure to stay within striking distance.
Even with the early highlight-reel plays, the Bulldogs struggled to convert open looks, finishing the first half shooting 8-for-27 (29.6%) from the field. Demary. provided a spark at the buzzer, hustling down the court, stopping at the perimeter and drilling a 3-pointer as time expired. The late triple sent Georgia into the locker room down only five.
Auburn guard Chad Baker-Mazara went shot-for-shot with Demary Jr. to open the second half, adding an element of flair that soon boiled over into a minor scuffle. After the two groups exchanged shoves, officials assessed a combined four technical fouls. Despite the heated moment, neither side could create significant separation until Auburn center Johni Broome took over in the paint.
Broome was a force all night, finishing with a career-high 31 points, 14 rebounds and two blocks. Time and again, he punished Georgia’s interior defense with a combination of dunks and soft hook shots. He converted a put-back slam off a missed shot and followed it with another powerful dunk on back-to-back possessions, putting Auburn up by eight.
Georgia made one final push behind Demary. and Blue Cain, who drilled a 3-pointer to trim the deficit to four. Yet the Bulldogs’ 13th turnover of the afternoon halted any momentum. Dylan James was called for a travel after walking with the ball on the baseline and Auburn capitalized with another Broome-led flurry of buckets. The Tigers pulled away in the final minutes, aided by a hard foul on Demary that left the guard with a bloody nose.
Newell led Georgia with 20 points, five rebounds and two blocks, providing flashes of the star potential many NBA scouts project. Still, the Bulldogs shot just 38.6% from the field and matched their season average of 13 turnovers.
“I don’t think the final score was indicative of how close the game was, credit our guys,” head coach Mike White said. “Obviously, Auburn is really, really good. They’re perhaps the best team in the country, and it was a two-possession game there for a lot of the time down the stretch, couldn’t quite hit the big one or two that we needed to hit to make it a little bit closer. That said, the three or four possessions where we did hit a big shot, they answered immediately with a score on the other end. That’s what good teams do and good players do. Back to work. Long ride home, and then we’re back to work tomorrow.”
Auburn’s dominant inside presence and depth ultimately proved too much for Georgia to overcome. The Bulldogs have shown glimpses of promise throughout the season, but a bid for March Madness looks essentially gone at this point. The last chance Georgia has it making a name for itself will be when the No. 2 Florida Gators visit Athens on Tuesday night. Tip off is set for 7:00 p.m.
