No. 1 Auburn wins at No. 23 Georgia, Pettiford scores 24 – Auburn Tigers

ATHENS, GA. – Tahaad Pettiford scored a career-high 24 points, and Auburn No. 1 survived no. 23, Georgia’s furious last-minute rally to win 70-68 Saturday at Stegeman Coliseum, the Tigers’ 10th straight victory.

“It’s hard to win on the road,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. “It’s a great road win. There’s a lot to learn from. We missed some free throws late, which we haven’t. Georgia is going to beat just about anybody that comes in here. Proud of our ball club.”

Pettiford made a pair of free throws to give Auburn a 69-60 lead with 41 seconds left, but the Bulldogs had two chances to tie the game in the final seconds.

“Georgia is a great team, especially at home,” Pettiford said after helping the Bulldogs to their first home loss. “We knew they were going to give us everything they’ve got.”

The Tigers missed two of three free throw attempts, while Georgia hit a 3-pointer and a pair of layups to pull within three with 9 seconds left.

After an Auburn turnover, Georgia missed a game-tying 3-pointer, but the Bulldogs rebounded, fouled and made the first free throw to pull within two points with less than a second to play.

Intentionally missing the second free throw, Georgia was awarded possession when the ball went out of bounds from Auburn with 0.3 seconds left.

Asa Newell, who led Georgia with 16 points and 10 rebounds, missed a tip-in at the buzzer and Auburn escaped Athens with its program-record sixth win of the season.

Playing their second game without All-American Johni Broome, the Tigers beat Georgia 39-38. Dylan Cardwell led the Tigers with seven rebounds, three assists, four blocked shots and two steals.

“We didn’t wobble on the boards,” Pearl said. “We had 25 defensive rebounds; they had 12 offensive. It’s a relationship we can certainly live with and one we were worried about going into.”

Leading by six at the half, Chad Baker-Mazara scored 10 points in the second half to help the Tigers maintain their lead throughout. Baker-Mazara and Miles Kelly each scored 13 points.

Pettiford ignited Auburn off the bench with 15 first-half points, scoring 12 points during a 14-0 run on a trio of 3-pointers and three free throws that turned a one-point lead into a 15-point advantage.

“We had a mindset of taking over and being composed on defense and that’s what helped us come out with the win,” said Pettiford, who made 5 of 7 3-point attempts. “Whatever I have to do to help my team win, if it’s making shots or making stops on the defensive end, I was willing to do anything.”

“He’s a special player,” Pearl said. “Special players have to make special plays in difficult circumstances.”

Auburn led by 17 on Ja’Heim Hudson’s layup with 8:28 left in the opening half before a 13-0 Georgia run. The Bulldogs pulled within a point late before Pettiford’s fourth 3-pointer helped the Tigers take a 33-27 halftime lead.

Hudson played a season-high 18 minutes and contributed five points, three rebounds and two steals.

“I thought Ja’Heim Hudson did a phenomenal job of stepping up and holding down the fort defensively,” Pearl said. “That’s what the team is all about.”

Without a midweek game, Auburn (17-1, 5-0) will have extra time to prepare for next Saturday’s 7:30 p.m. CT showdown with No. 6 Tennessee at Neville Arena.

“We will prepare all week and we will be ready for Saturday,” Pettiford said.

“We’re going to work on us a little bit, then we’ll start getting ready for Tennessee toward the end of the week,” Pearl said.

Jeff Shearer is a senior writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on X: @jeff_shearer