Observations: Auburn 92, Georgia 78

Denver Jones rained 3s, Jaylin Williams assaulted rims and Auburn dished out a ton of assists to finish off a strong regular season.

SG Denver Jones (Zach Bland/Auburn Tigers)

The play started like a lot of halfcourt sets do for Auburn these days: With a big man — Jaylin Williams this time — catching the ball at the top of the key.

Over in the left corner, Denver Jones faked like he was going to go around the perimeter and get the first pass from Tre Donaldson. Instead, when Williams got it, he changed direction and cut toward the basket. He got a back screen from center Dylan Cardwell, who accepted a pass from Williams as both his and Jones’ defenders stayed to prevent the easy basket on the inside.

But this was ultimately just window dressing. As Donaldson dove into the corner, like he was going to take a dribble handoff from Cardwell, Jones curled back to the top of the key. Williams was there to hammer Jones’ defender with a pin-down screen.

Cardwell, who has become a trustworthy player with the ball in his hands on the perimeter this season, waited patiently. He then took a dribble to his right before lobbing a short underhanded pass to Jones on the left wing. Cardwell went the extra mile, too, adding yet another screen for Georgia’s Noah Thomasson to fight through.

Thomasson desperately lunged at Jones. Thomasson went down. Jones went up. The ball went through the net.

It was the seventh 3-pointer of the game for Jones, tying a career-high he set back at Florida International and making him only the sixth Auburn player since 2010 to hit seven triples in a single contest.

It was also the 28th assist of the game for Auburn, setting a new record in the Bruce Pearl era. On the next possession, Jones would give Auburn 29 of them, hitting Williams for a corner 3-pointer after Georgia decided it would double-team the red-hot shooting guard.

“Assists are fun,” said Williams, who won his final home game by a score of 92-78. “An assist usually leads to a 3-ball or a crazy dunk or something like that. Assists can change the game, and when you’re playing like that, everyone involved is having fun.

“And that’s just Auburn basketball.”

Williams would know something about a crazy dunk. The first basket of his Neville Arena farewell was one of those — and, of course, it came off of an assist.

Fellow senior Chris Moore stole a Georgia inbounds pass underneath Auburn’s own basket and launched a lead ball up the middle of the court to Williams. Georgia’s Dylan James tried to meet Williams at the rim.

All he got for that effort was a foul and a poster.

The dunk put Auburn up by 14 points a little over midway through the first half. It would go into the halftime locker room with a same-sized lead, thanks to a last-second dunk from Williams on a run-out opportunity.

And, even after the Tigers weren’t as sharp in the second half, they still won by 14. They still locked down a top-four seed and the double-bye in the SEC Tournament. And they still recorded their 13 SEC victory and their 24th overall win of the season — every single one of them by double-digits.

“To win 13 games in the league this year is really something,” Pearl said. “I’m just very grateful to our players and our coaching staff, because this league was daunting. It’s the best I’ve seen it. There’s a lot of cliches you could throw at it, but to be tied for third, you know, when we were picked sixth and could’ve finished a lot lower than that…

“Twenty-four wins. Twenty-four wins by double-digits is kind of historical.”

Here are four Observations from Auburn’s 92-78 win over Georgia to cap the regular season, along with the Rotation Charts, Nerd Stats and the Quote of the Night.

(Zach Bland/Auburn Tigers)

The ball movement was some of the best it’s ever been

Johni Broome has been a Georgia Killer. In his first three matchups against the Bulldogs, he averaged 19 points and 14.3 rebounds per game on 63.2% shooting.

Even though Georgia has a formidable big man in Russel Tchewa, the Bulldogs knew they had to sell out to stop one of the nation’s best players. They constantly threw double- and even triple-teams at him, trying to get the ball out of his hands.

Broome took six shots in the first few minutes of the game, but he only had four more attempts the rest of the way. He went 4-10 from the field, not quite up to his usual efficiency down low.

But it didn’t matter. He had five assists, six rebounds, two blocks and a steal while going 6-8 from the free-throw line. Broome didn’t have to rack up the points — although he finished with 14 of them — in order to make a massive impact.

“Johni would love to score more,” Pearl said. “But I feel good about him getting the ball, because he is unselfish, and he is a really good passer. I think that, for Johni, the ability to be able to make plays offensively and defensively, inside and out — shoot it inside-out, score it inside-out, be a reliable free-throw shooter and a playmaker — that's the stuff that translates to the next level for him.”

While Broome was taking more of a backseat to scoring opportunities, Williams was annihilating the rim and being as effective with his own playmaking. He had four assists and zero turnovers.

Off the bench, Chaney Johnson had five assists to go along with eight points and four rebounds. Dylan Cardwell had four assists on a night where he reached double-digit points (10) for the second straight game.

Together, Auburn’s starting frontcourt had as many assists as Georgia had as a team. And together, Auburn’s backup frontcourt had as many assists as Georgia had as a team.

“I've got a monster on the floor every time,” Pearl said. “…We just don't drop off.”