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Bulldogs Prepare for Auburn (video)

Georgia vs. Auburn
Wednesday’s game is the 174th all-time meeting between Georgia and Auburn in basketball. Georgia leads the series, which began in 1908 and has been renewed annually since 1945, by an 87-86 count. The Bulldogs have gained their slim lead by winning three of the past four meetings.

Auburn is the third most frequent opponent in the history of UGA basketball. Florida ranks first (192 meetings) and Georgia Tech is second (184).

Georgia’s victory at Auburn in 2008 broke a streak of home-court wins in the series that had reached nine years. It was also the Bulldogs’ first win there since 1994. In the 18 years since the SEC expanded and was pared into Divisions, the home team has won all but four times: 1994, 1999, 2008 and 2009.

A geographical breakdown of the series follows:
Games in Athens: UGA leads 58-22
Games in Auburn: AU leads 55-22
Neutral-Court Games: AU leads 9-7

Noteworthy...
Georgia’s 59-54 win at Auburn in 2008 was the last time it defeated a Western Division school. Since then, Bulldog teams have dropped eight straight regular-season games vs. the West. Still, Georgia maintains a winning all-time ledger against the Western Division (56-55).

There are currently 11 sophomores among the SEC’s top 30 scorers. Of those 11, only Storm Warren of LSU has upped his freshman-year scoring average greater than Travis Leslie. Additionally, Trey Thompkins has pushed himself into the top five on this list, which follows:

A couple other notes about Leslie: of the top 20 rebounders in the SEC, he is the shortest at 6’4” and the only one listed as a guard. He also leads the Bulldogs in assists (3.9/game) during SEC games.

The entire Bulldog team, in fact, is a comparative juggernaut on offense during the SEC schedule. The Bulldogs’ per-game scoring average through eight SEC games (72.4 ppg) is actually 4.4 points higher than their overall average. That’s a rarity indeed; not since 2001 has a Georgia team’s final SEC-games average been higher than its final overall scoring average.

Additionally, the Bulldogs lead the SEC in FG percentage, 3-point FG percentage and assists during the conference schedule. Last Saturday against Vanderbilt, 12 of Georgia’s 14 second-half baskets were assisted. The NCAA Staticians’ Manual estimates that 50-60 percent of all field goals are assisted by a pass.

Getting effective minutes from his bench has been a season-long challenge for coach Mark Fox. Against Vanderbilt on Saturday, he may have found the most valuable contribution yet from a substitute. Freshman guard Vincent Williams, mostly spelling a flu-ridden Dustin Ware, tallied a season-best seven points and four assists in 16 minutes.

A couple of other stats that merit a mention: the 3-point shot is not the preferred weapon of choice for this Georgia team. In fact, the Bulldogs don’t average enough 3-pointers to qualify for national rankings in accuracy. However, the Bulldogs do lead the SEC in 3-point shooting in the SEC schedule, having made 29-for-61 (48 percent) in their past five league games.

Thanks to his recent hot streak (20.0 ppg in past 8 games), Trey Thompkins’ current overall average of 17.5 points is the highest by a Georgia player in seven years, going back to Jarvis Hayes’ mark of 18.3 in the 2003 season. Thompkins’ combined scoring & rebounding averages of 17.5 / 7.8 are the best by a Bulldog since Jumaine Jones posted 18.8 and 9.5 at the end of the 1999 season.

Along that same theme, the combined scoring punch of Thompkins and Travis Leslie (31.8 ppg) is Georgia’s best by a twosome since Jarvis Hayes and Ezra Williams teamed up to average 34.9 points in 2003.

Georgia has yet to win a true road game this season, coming ever so close in three of its last four tries. The aggregate W/L loss record of the Bulldogs’ seven road opponents is now 122-37 (.767), with an average RPI of 47.

#Assists per game