The Stretch 4: How Auburn can open SEC play with a bang at UGA

The Tigers only get one shot at the Bulldogs in the regular season. Here's what it will take for Auburn to beat its red-hot rival on the road.

(Zach Bland/Auburn Tigers)

AUBURN — Steven Pearl got a text message earlier this week.

“Reality starts Saturday.”

It was a message meant to convey the importance of this day, when Auburn basketball opens SEC play at a ranked and red-hot rival Georgia. It will also be Pearl’s first conference game as the head coach of the Tigers.

Pearl had his own thoughts on the matter, though.

“I was like, ‘If SEC play is reality, what the hell was our non-conference?’” Pearl said.

That anonymous texter might have been better off sending that message to Mike White and Georgia, truth be told.

Saturday will be Auburn’s sixth Quad 1 game of the season so far. The Tigers are currently 3-4 in Quad 1 and Quad 2 games combined, having played what KenPom calls the No. 20 schedule in college basketball to this point. Auburn has seen the best of the best, having faced three of the nation’s top four teams all away from home and adding wins over top-25 squads St. John’s and NC State.

Georgia, meanwhile, has only played one Quad 1 game all season — an overtime loss to a top-35 Clemson team on a neutral floor. The Bulldogs went 2-0 in their Quad 2 games in non-conference play, routing a top-75 Cincinnati team and a rebuilding Florida State team outside of the top 100. Georgia went 2-0 in Quad 3 games and 8-0 in Quad 4 games, having played KenPom’s No. 344 schedule so far.

When Auburn and Georgia square off in their first conference game of the season Saturday, it will be a clash of two programs who did non-conference play differently.

“I think we had to be pretty locked into our non-conference slate in order for us to kind of survive it,” Pearl said. “So, going into conference play, that's the benefit of playing a tough schedule — you kinda know what you're getting into moving forward.”

Even with the weak schedule, though, Georgia is a team to be taken quite seriously. The Bulldogs are ranked and should be considered the favorites at home in Athens.

“Really good opponent that just, analytically, just kind of jumps off the page at you,” Pearl said. “They’ve won 11 straight at home, 9-0 this season at home. They average 99 points per game. I think they average, like, 104 at home. So obviously, really can fill it up and score it. They play 11 guys. So they really try and come at you in waves and wear you out.

“Lead the nation in blocked shots per game, fast-break points per game. Top 10 in the country in free throws made per game, free throws attempted per game, bench points per game and rebounds per game. … They’re a worthy opponent.”

This is looking like it could be White’s best team at Georgia and — maybe — the best for the entire program in decades.

You don’t have to remind Auburn that its best-ever team won by just two points in Athens last season. And three years ago, when Auburn was in a similar reloading position to where it is right now, Georgia beat it in Stegeman Coliseum.

Auburn has been in this position before, and this specific team has already seen what it’s like playing in hostile environments against some of the nation’s best. Now it’s time for the Tigers to put the lessons they learned in the non-conference to the test.

“It’s definitely a positive that we’ve been in those experiences, but I think the one thing that I think we could’ve done is handle certain situations better,” Pearl said. “Part of that is 10 new players figuring each other out, with nine of those being underclassmen.

“But now we’ve got to learn from it, draw from it, and take the things that we did well and didn’t do well in those environments and apply them Saturday, because Stegeman is gonna be rocking. … It’s gonna take everything we’ve got, and we’ve just got to have a level of composure and calm about us. I think our veterans have got to do a good job in those situations of stepping up to give the rest of the group the confidence and the courage to go out there and beat a really good team.”

For a full breakdown of Auburn vs. Georgia in Athens on Saturday, here is this week’s edition of The Stretch 4 preview.

(Zach Bland/Auburn Tigers)

How do you slow down UGA? Start by guarding your yard

The transformation of Georgia’s offense under White this season has been nothing short of extraordinary. The Bulldogs have been a defense-first squad since he took the job, topping out at No. 99 in raw offensive efficiency last season.

This season, Georgia is No. 15 in that category nationally and No. 24 in the opponent-adjusted KenPom mark. So, even though some of Georgia’s eye-popping offensive numbers can be attributed to its (lack of) strength of schedule, the KenPom numbers show that what the Bulldogs are doing is still impressive against anyone.