Observations: Auburn 70, Georgia 68

It took tough defense — and even tougher shotmaking — for the Tigers to escape with a dramatic SEC road win over a ranked rival.

(Zach Bland/Auburn Tigers)

ATHENS, Ga. — Bruce Pearl was slightly taken aback when he heard the question.

His Auburn basketball team had just survived a road game at Georgia. The Tigers shot less than 40% from the field and saw a nine-point lead with 41 seconds left evaporate to two… with the host Bulldogs getting the final possession.

Former 5-star Asa Newell saw his tip-in attempt fall short at the buzzer, and Auburn escaped with a 70-68 road win. While the Tigers led for all but 54 seconds of the game, they had been taken to the absolute brink by their ranked archrivals.

So, you could call it tunnel vision. You could call it the unshakable commitment to taking things one game at a time. You could call it still being in a post-win haze.

But Pearl had to pause for a little bit before answering this question: What does winning two ranked games this week without Johni say about your team?

“I hadn’t even thought about that,” Pearl said, shaking his head in amazement. “Two ranked opponents without Johni. I hadn’t even thought about that.”

Johni Broome, the former National Player of the Year frontrunner, was on the sidelines Saturday afternoon in Athens. For the second straight game, Broome was out with a sprained ankle that he suffered a week earlier in another close road win.

Auburn jumped to No. 1 in famed Associated Press Top 25 poll, in spite of Broome’s injury. But the Tigers had to play back-to-back Quad 1 games against ranked teams. No one would have been surprised if Auburn lost this week without its MVP.

In fact, some might have expected it.

But there Auburn was, walking out of Georgia with a 17-1 overall record and a perfect 5-0 mark in the toughest SEC race to date.

“We're just showing the world that we can still play without him,” point guard Tahaad Pettiford said. “He's a big part of this team, and we would love to have him back any time he can come back. But it can be anybody's day, anytime. I just love how somebody can just have their day, and the whole team can just build around them.”

Auburn has now won 10 Quad 1 games in the regular season, tying the conference’s high mark that Alabama set a couple of years ago.

The Tigers still have 13 games left on their schedule.

“Just a great, great win,” Pearl said. “Road wins are hard to come by in this league, especially road wins against your arch rival — one of your arch rivals — and a ranked team, like Georgia. I thought getting off to the start that we got off to sent a very strong message, that we did not come here without our best player to try to give you a great fight, you know?

“We came here to try to win the game.”

Auburn did just that, even if it cranked up the unnecessary drama in the final minute. The Tigers managed to get a high-quality win with their Broome-less, grind-it-out offense struggling for consistently against a tough Bulldogs defense.

Even more impressively, they did it with one of their youngest players leading the charge away from home.

“We didn't play our best, either,” Pearl said. “We didn't play our best. We had two or three guys that had some subpar shooting nights. But I'll give Georgia the credit for that. Our kids obviously hung in there and found a way.

“And Tahaad Pettiford's pretty special.”

Here are five Observations from Auburn’s 70-68 win at Georgia, along with the Rotation Charts, Nerd Stats and the Quote of the Day.

(Zach Bland/Auburn Tigers)

Tahaad Pettiford rises to the occasion yet again

Pettiford showed he had the potential to be special in his second game as a college basketball player: a 21-point performance in a road win over an elite Houston defense.

Since then, it’s felt like Pettiford has delivered his best performances in big games. He had 14 points in Auburn’s come-from-behind win over now-No. 2 Iowa State in Maui. He scored 20 to give Auburn a chance at now-No. 3 Duke. He had 18 against Purdue.

And, now, Pettiford has scored in double figures — off the bench — in each of his first five SEC games.