Game Preview and Open Thread - Auburn vs Georgia

Hank Hill put it best.

“Son, when I was your age, we had these things called ‘songs’. They were two-minute stories about falling in love or burning down Georgia.”

Burning down Georgia. I like where your head’s at, propane man.

Auburn gets its first crack to burn down Georgia today when the Bulldogs come into Auburn Arena trying not to become the first win in another long winning streak for the Tigers. Instead, they’ll try to give Auburn an actual losing streak. We can’t let it happen.

After the lackluster performance in Tuscaloosa on Wednesday night, it only stands to reason that Auburn should bounce back. I mean, we got what seemed like our full season’s allotment of bad shots out of the way at Coleman Coliseum as our fourteen-game winning streak was snapped by stupid Alabama.

We missed threes, we missed free throws, we gave the ball away, and generally couldn’t stop John Petty. We missed a golden opportunity with Collin Sexton on the bench, and now we’ve got to take on maybe the league’s best player to get our streak going again.

Mark Fox brings his Bulldog team to the Plains today, featuring Yante Maten, standing 6’8, 240, and averaging 19.7 ppg to go along with 9.8 rebounds per game. He’s just one of three 6’8 guys in Georgia’s top five scorers. If you thought it would get easier after Alabama’s length, you thought wrong.

The Tide hassled us on Wednesday night with their long reach and forced Auburn into a horrible shooting percentage around the basket. We may have the same issues today with Georgia. Maten, Derek Ogbeide, and Rayshaun Hammonds all stand at 6’8, and Georgia will try to take advantage of their presence close to the hoop. The Bulldogs won’t shoot many threes (they haven’t had a game with double-digit threes all year, Auburn’s had eight), and so Auburn will need to do a much better job of rebounding than they did against Bama to slow Georgia down.

It’s pretty simple for the Tigers today. Shoot better from the line (just 63% against Bama), don’t turn the ball over (fourteen turnovers against Bama), and don’t go sixteen minutes between three-pointers. I expect a good home crowd and a Tiger team ready to wash the bad feelings away today. It should be a much better performance from the home team.

HOW TO WATCH AND LISTEN - Auburn vs Georgia - 5 pm CST - Auburn, AL

TV: SEC Network

Radio: Auburn Sports Network