How to Watch No. 1 Auburn vs. Georgia, Preview, News and Notes

#1 Auburn Tigers (24-2, 12-1 SEC) vs. Georgia Bulldogs (16-10, 4-9 SEC)
February 22, 2025 at 3:00 p.m. (CT)
Neville Arena (9,121) | Auburn, Ala.

Television: ESPN
Play-By-Play: Tom Hart
Color Analyst: Dane Bradshaw

Radio: Auburn Sports Network
Play-By-Play: Andy Burcham
Color Analyst: Randall Dickey

» No. 1 Auburn (24-2, 12-1 SEC) looks to continue its winning ways as it gets set to host Georgia (16-10, 4-9 SEC) in the second meeting between the two rivals on Saturday afternoon at Neville Arena.

» With five games left to play, Auburn (12-1) holds a two-game lead over second-place Alabama (10-3) and Florida (10-3) and a three-game lead over fourth-place Missouri (9-4) and Texas A&M (9-4) in the latest league standings.

» The Tigers can secure their SEC-best sixth 25-win campaign in the last eight years with a victory on Saturday.

» The Bulldogs are coming off a midweek bye, as their last game was an 87-74 loss to No. 15 Missouri in Stegeman Coliseum one week ago.

» Auburn has won 12 of the last 15 contests in the Georgia series including four straight. The Tigers are looking for their fifth series sweep in the last eight seasons.

» AU previously defeated the then No. 23-ranked Bulldogs, 70-68, on Jan. 18 in Athens – without All-American and National Player of the Year candidate Johni Broome – behind 24 points from Tahaad Pettiford and 13 points apiece from Chad Baker-Mazara and Miles Kelly.

» The Tigers have been ranked No. 1 a school-record, six-straight weeks in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll. Auburn and Kentucky are the only SEC men’s basketball programs that have been ranked No. 1 in the AP Top 25 for at least six-straight weeks all-time.

» Auburn has been ranked for 29 consecutive weeks, which is the eighth-longest active streak in the country and the third-longest streak in program history. Four of AU’s five longest ranked streaks in program history have come since January 2018. Saturday’s game is the 50th-straight game the Tigers have played as a ranked team.

» Auburn has sold out 67-consecutive home games at Neville Arena, where they are 55-4 overall over the last four seasons. Alabama, Texas A&M, Kentucky and Florida are the only schools to pull off a victory at one of the toughest home-court environments in the country – The Jungle.

» Eight NBA scouts will be in attendance representing the Dallas Mavericks, Sacramento Kings, Utah Jazz, Brooklyn Nets, Golden State Warriors, New York Knicks and Houston Rockets.

SCOUTING GEORGIA

» Georgia owns a pair of wins over teams ranked in the Top 20 in the NET. UGA has a neutral-site win over St. John’s (66-63), No. 20 in the NET rankings and an 82-69 home win over Kentucky, No. 14.

» The Bulldogs have three players averaging double figures led by 6-foot-11 true freshman forward Asa Newell, who is averaging a team-leading 15.3 points and 6.8 rebounds per contest. Sophomore guard Silas Demary Jr. is averaging 11.9 points a contest and graduate guard Dakota Leffew (10.3 ppg).

» Newell's team-best 55.5 percent field goal shooting is good for second in the Southeastern Conference. He has also recorded six double-doubles this season.

» Georgia has a Top 35 defensive rating on KenPom and the Bulldogs are 10th nationally averaging 5.5 blocks per game and 18th nationally holding opponents to 29.6 percent shooting from 3-point range.

» Saturday’s game is Georgia’s sixth game against a Top 25 opponent out of seven SEC road games – including five against Top 10 opponents.

» As a team, the Bulldogs rank third in the SEC in blocks per game (5.5).

INSIDE THE SERIES

» Auburn and Georgia are meeting for the 201st time in series history on Saturday with the Tigers holding a 103-97 advantage.

» AU leads the series 65-25 in games played on the Plains.

» The Tigers have won three straight home games and six of seven at Neville Arena in the series.

» Ranked Auburn teams are 17-5 against Georgia all-time including 11-0 in Auburn. When the Tigers are ranked, they are 18-4 against unranked Bulldog squads including 13-0 in Auburn.

AUBURN-GEORGIA SERIES (Last Eight Games)

Jan. 13, 2021 A W, 95-77
Feb. 2, 2021 H L, 86-91
Jan. 19, 2022 H W, 83-60
Feb. 5, 2022 A W, 74-72
Jan. 4, 2023 A L, 64-76
Feb. 1, 2023 H W, 94-73
Feb. 24, 2024 A W, 97-76
Mar. 9, 2024 H W, 92-78

COACHING SIDEBARS

» Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl is on the Naismith Men’s College Coach of the Year Watch List along with Greg Gard, Dennis Gates, Todd Golden, Penny Hardaway, Tom Izzo, Pat Kelsey, Dusty May, Grant McCasland, Ben McCollum, Matt Painter, Rick Pitino, Richard Pitino, Kelvin Sampson and Jon Scheyer. He was previously honored as the NABC Division II Coach of the Year in 1995 while at Southern Indiana and the Sporting News Coach of the Year in 2006 at Tennessee.

» Auburn is 14-7 against Georgia under head coach Bruce Pearl including 7-4 in Athens and 7-3 in Auburn. He is 24-10 against the Bulldogs overall. Pearl’s Milwaukee squad lost 89-69 in Athens in 2002 and he was 10-2 against the Bulldogs during his time at Tennessee including 5-1 in Knoxville and 5-1 in Athens.

» In head-to-head competition, Coach Pearl is 7-7 lifetime versus Georgia head coach Mike White including 3-6 while White was at Florida and 4-1 since his time at UGA.

ON THE GLASS

» Auburn is 17-1 when outrebounding an opponent this season. The Tigers are one of only six teams to outrebound Duke, which currently ranks 10th in the country with a +8.2 rebounding margin.

» The Tigers are fifth in the SEC with a +5.46 rebounding margin. Auburn’s +13 rebounding margin (42-29) against Arkansas on Wednesday, matched the Tigers’ best rebounding margin in an SEC game this season (47-34) at LSU.

ALL ‘4’ AUBURN

» Johni Broome’s 16 double-doubles this season are the second-most in a season in Auburn history, two behind Mike Mitchell’s 18 double-doubles during the 1974-75 season.

» Follow Broome’s career and season highlights at: www.AuburnTigers.com/broome

» Broome, who had 14 double-doubles last season, is one of only three players with multiple seasons of at least 14 double-doubles in program history, joining Mike Mitchell and Cinmeon Bowers.

» The senior big man has also registered 40 double-doubles since his arrival on the Plains in 2022-23, which is tied for the third-most by any player in the SEC over the last 25 seasons. He is tied with Jarnell Stokes, who played at Tennessee from 2011-14, and trails former Kentucky center Oscar Tshiebwe (48 from 2021-23) and LSU forward Glen Davis (44 from 2004-07).

AUBURN SINGLE-SEASON DOUBLE-DOUBLES

1. Mike Mitchell (1974-75) 18
2. Johni Broome (2024-25) 16
3T. Johni Broome (2023-24) 14
3T. Cinmeon Bowers (2015-16) 14
3T. Cinmeon Bowers (2014-15) 14
3T. Chuck Person (1984-85) 14
3T. Korvotney Barber (2008-09) 14
3T. Jeff Moore (1986-87) 14
3T. Mike Mitchell (1977-78) 14
10T. Austin Wiley (2019-20) 13
10T. Charles Barkley (1981-82) 13
10T. Gary Redding (1973-74) 13

PLAYER TO WATCH: CHANEY JOHNSON

» For the first time in his Auburn career, senior guard Chaney Johnson has scored in double figures in five-consecutive games. During that span, he is averaging 14.8 points per game, 5.0 rebounds per game, while shooting 62.5 percent from the field.

» Johnson’s 74 points are the second-most on the team during the last five games and his 25 rebounds are tied for second.

» On Feb. 11 at Vanderbilt, Johnson turned in an SEC career-high 20 points on 9-of-10 shooting in the Tigers’ win over the Commodores. It marked his third career 20-point game at Auburn, but first in conference action.

» Johnson’s five-consecutive, double-figure scoring games off the bench equal freshman Tahaad Pettiford's feat from earlier this season. The last Auburn player to score in double figures in six-consecutive games off the bench was Wendell Green Jr., who accomplished the feat in 11-straight games including seven SEC games during the 2021-22 season.