It wasn’t a great start, but it was a great finish for the Georgia Bulldogs as they scored a 96-84 win at Auburn on Thursday.
Here are some quick thoughts on the game:
1. Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl summed it best after the game
Here’s what he said:
“Maten and Frazier were the two guys that could beat us, and those were the two guys that did beat us.”
Yes, they did. Yante Maten scored 31 points and JJ Frazier scored 27.
Once again, Maten showed his range in going 2-of-4 from behind the arc. He’s now taken 24 threes this season and hit 11 of them. He only took 16 threes combined in his first two seasons in Athens.
As for Frazier, his quickness continues to cause problems for everyone.
2. The Tigers’ inexperience showed down the stretch
Once Georgia stormed back with a 12-0 run to take its first lead late in the second half, Auburn didn’t react in the best of ways.
The Tigers took bad shots and made bad decisions in trying to cut into the deficit. It was a sign of the inexperience of several of Auburn’s top players.
Mustapha Heron, Danjel Purifoy, and Austin Wiley are a fantastic nucleus, but they’re all freshmen.
How they progress in key situations throughout the season will determine how far Auburn can go.
3. Maten still doesn’t get the credit he deserves
I mentioned this before the season, but it’s worth mentioning again.
At SEC Media Day back in October, two SEC coaches had interesting comments on Maten:
“I’ll tell you this: The most underrated player in the SEC is Yante Maten,” said Mississippi State head coach Ben Howland.
“If Moses Kingsley wasn’t the Preseason Player of the Year pick, I’d go with Yante Maten,” said Ole Miss head coach Andy Kennedy.
Maten is playing like a SEC Player of the Year candidate right now.
He just does so many things well, and again, adding that three-point element to his game will be huge going forward.
4. Georgia didn’t need its bench
Depth is the biggest concern for the Bulldogs in terms of whether or not they can be an NCAA tournament team this season.
Maten and Frazier can certainly get them there, but bench play may limit how far they can advance.
Georgia only had seven bench points against Auburn, which is a statistic that would surprise plenty of people when considering that Mark Fox’s team scored 96 points.
The Bulldogs didn’t need the their bench last night, but they most definitely will throughout the SEC season.
5. Wiley is only going to get better
The 6-foot-11 freshman is already showing what he can do for the Tigers.
He scored 11 points and added four rebounds on the night, but the most important thing that he did was get experience against someone like Maten.
Remember, this is a kid that enrolled early. He’s still very young.
But there’s no doubt that he has the tools to be a special player for Pearl.
Blake Lovell has worked in sports media for over 10 years. He currently covers SEC football and basketball for various publications.