Against Georgia, No. 14 Auburn must perform better without Jaylin Williams.
On Saturday night in Athens, Georgia, No. 14 Auburn will play its first Southeastern Conference game after a week-long break. Auburn (20-6, 9-4 SEC) lost to then-No. 22 Kentucky, 70-59, at home on February 17. For the Tigers, it was their second defeat in their last three games. Jaylin Williams’ injury forces Auburn to rely more on its depth at forward. Williams is averaging 13.0 points and 4.7 rebounds in 26 games this season while starting, despite suffering a knee injury against Kentucky.
Although Williams was not expected to play against Georgia, Auburn coach Bruce Pearl stated that the injury was not thought to be a season-ending one. Pearl said, “He’ll come to Georgia with us.” We believed that the injury had not caused significant harm, so there were many references to his expected return date of between 10 days and two weeks, among other dates. There wasn’t, in my opinion, anything substantial about that.He’s going to Georgia. I don’t think he’ll play at this point. We’ll kind of take it from there after that.”
Georgia (15-11, 5-8) is attempting to win two straight games after edging past Vanderbilt 76-64 on the road on Wednesday. The Bulldogs’ six-game losing streak was ended by that. Mike White, the coach of Georgia, expressed his happiness for his team, who hadn’t won since January 24. White remarked, “That’s a happy locker room.” “Because our guys—we’ve been talking about this all year—they consistently bring it and work hard. Their daily approach to practise and work in general is excellent, the best I’ve ever seen.We needed more of that because we witnessed a team that performed like they had practiced.”
With 12.7 points per game, Jabri Abdur-Rahim and Noah Thomasson are tied for the team scoring lead. Third on the list of scorers with 10.2 points per game is RJ Melendez.
Johni Broome leads Auburn in scoring with 16.1 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. Williams is followed in the top three by Chad Baker-Mazara, who averages 9.6 points per game on 44.7 percent shooting, including 41.2 percent from beyond the arc. Williams’ starting position is anticipated to be filled by forward Chaney Johnson. In 26 games this season, Johnson has averaged 3.8 points and 3.5 rebounds off the bench. This is his first year at Auburn following his transfer from Alabama-Huntsville. Denver Jones, a guard, may also play a bigger part as Auburn looks to replace Williams.
Auburn and Georgia will play two games together in the regular season, starting with this one. The matchup between them is scheduled for March 9 at Auburn in the last game prior to the conference tournament.
READ MORE
What was Dylan Cardwell saying prior to Auburn vs. Georgia?
Tomorrow, the Georgia Bulldogs visit the No. 14 Auburn Tigers on the road.
Before the game, what was Dylan Cardwell, the forward for Auburn, saying?
Cardwell expressed his gratitude for Jaylin Williams’ injury not being more serious.
Cardwell remarked, “I was incredibly joyful and happy.” “In the end, it was his fifth year; he is not allowed to return. After this, he pursues a professional career. I’m more concerned about his future than I am about him playing for us again. Thank goodness it wasn’t a tear. It would have been terrible if he had given this programme his all in his fifth year and then it had ended like that. I was merely
Cardwell discussed his observations of Georgia.
Cardwell said, “At home, they’re insane.” “I believe that their home games have all had a margin of eight or ten points. They have faced opponents from both Florida and Alabama. They have faced strong teams. They benefit greatly from having home court advantage. They’re (5-8) in the SEC, but they’re not giving up. They remain a competitive team. It will be interesting to observe how they respond to our accusations. Of course, the rivalry between Auburn and Georgia only intensifies it. The game is going to be thrilling.”
Cardwell discussed Auburn’s shooting struggles with Kentucky.
“It was terrible,” Cardwell remarked. Being a part of and witnessing that stuff was terrible. It was simply strange. I couldn’t understand it. It was completely nonsensical. This place is usually on fire. You know, it was just open shots. There were only open shots. I therefore had no idea what it was. We seemed to be very offensively prepared, in my opinion. We had a solid week of offensive shooting, in my opinion. The ball simply missed the mark. At the end of the day, we really have no control over that. It was peculiar. It’s just unfortunate that we lost that game. But ultimately, move on to the next game.”
