Auburn’s Bruce Pearl gives hot take on Georgia basketball culture after 70-68 escape

ATHENS — Bruce Pearl loaded his team back on the bus Saturday afternoon knowing Auburn had dodged a bullet.

The Tigers led throughout the action, thanks in large part to their seasoned team understanding the value of a strong start in the hostile road environment Stegeman Coliseum has become, jumping to a 26-9 lead.

But it took Auburn all it had to hold on against a rapidly improving No. 23-ranked Georgia program for the 70-68 win.

“My hat is off to Mike White and that coaching staff,” Pearl said in the postgame, his No. 1-ranked Tigers having improved to 17-1 on the season, and 5-0 in the SEC.

“They have changed the culture of this program. They have gotten some great kids in recruiting, they have beaten me in recruiting. A lot of guys on that roster we recruited.”

That list includes 6-foot-11 UGA freshman forward Asa Newell, recently projected by ESPN as a Top 25 NBA prospect in the upcoming draft.

Newell scored 16 points — eight in the final 10 minutes — before his last-second, potential game-tying tip fell just short of going over the front of the rim and forcing overtime.

Pearl had said earlier in the week that Newell, who also had a game-high 10 rebounds, “checked all the boxes you want in a player.”

It just so happened that on this day, Auburn’s star freshman Tahaad Pettiford shined a bit brighter, as the guard scored a career-high 24 points on 7-of-13 shooting that included 5 of 7 marksmanship from beyond the 3-point line.

“Special players make special plays in special situations,” Pearl said. “When you’re playing a really good team like Georgia, every player is challenged at every position. And your best players have to be the ones to step up.”

The Tigers sprinted to a 26-9 lead on the strength of an 18-2 run, but the Bulldogs showed they had as much bite as their recent Top 25 ranking indicated by going on an 18-2 run of their own to make a game of it.

Georgia was unable to recapture the lead, but the program’s tenacity and the players’ skills were evident right down to the final minute.

Auburn opened the door for the Bulldogs to be on the doorstep of forcing overtime after UGA had trailed by nine points with just 41 seconds left.

The Tigers missed two of three free throws in the final 30 seconds and turned the ball over with nine seconds left, sending the sellout crowd at Stegeman Coliseum into a frenzy.

Georgia was unable to capitalize, however, as Dakota Leffew missed his 3-pointer from the corner with seven seconds left, and then Newell’s tip came up short after officials reset the clock after Auburn fouled on the late scramble off Leffew’s miss.

“When they get to be shooting the ball a little bit better from the perimeter,” Pearl said, looking at a stat sheet that showed Georgia was 7-of-20 shooting the 3 but 9-of-20 shooting from the free-throw line, “that’s when they’ll be playing their best.”

Pearl proudly noted to his Auburn radio audience that the Tigers have won four of their last five at Stegeman Coliseum — including ending what had been an SEC-best 13-game Georgia home win streak.

The veteran Auburn coach indicated he doesn’t think many — if any — other SEC teams will be so fortunate in Athens this season.

“Georgia is going to beat almost everybody that comes in here, they are, and they might beat everybody that comes in,” Pearl said. “They are a really good team, with a really good roster, and they are really deep.”

The Tigers will likely retain their No. 1 ranking before seeing action again at home against Tennessee at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Auburn will be hoping its best player, power forward Johni Broome, will be back from the ankle injury which forced him to miss the Georgia game as well as the Tigers’ 88-66 win over No. 15 Mississippi State earlier this week.

Georgia, meanwhile, will likely remain a projected NCAA tournament team as it heads to Arkansas for a 9 p.m. game on Wednesday before traveling to play at Florida next Saturday.

“I think Georgia is really good defensively, they have big, strong physical guys that are mobile, and they work well together,” Pearl said, providing his final takeaway on how Mike White has elevated the program.

“Their 2-point field goal percentage defense is going to carry them — man, it’s hard to score inside against those guys,” he said. “This is one win, we are definitely getting back on that bus to head home, feeling good about.”