Georgia basketball: Upset over Auburn a possible preview for next season
Georgia basketball stunned the No. 13 Auburn Tigers at home Wednesday night. The Bulldogs travel to Vanderbilt this Saturday.
The SEC portion of the schedule has been rough for the young Georgia basketball team. The “Bullpups” have blown two 20-point leads and a 12-point-lead during a stretch where they lost eight of nine games.
After defeating Tennessee on Jan. 15, Georgia’s record was 11-5. Not outstanding, but still very much in in the race for a spot in the NCAA Tournament. For the following nine games, Georgia (13-13, 3-10) looked like a different team. It succumbed to pressure late in games leading to turnovers and bad transition defense. The Bulldogs couldn’t finish. For a team of freshman, this kind of play is excusable in November, but not in February.
Then, the No. 13 Auburn Tigers came to town. Yes, the Tigers were without one of their best scorers (Isaac Okoro). He might have made a difference in the outcome, but he wouldn’t have made a difference in how the Bulldogs performed.
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The late game head-scratchers had diminished. Georgia cut down on turnovers, moved the ball well on offense and found open shots. Transition defense was really good as well, Auburn had to sink some hotly contested shots to stay in the game.
When it came time to put the game away, Toumani Camara put the team on his back. He drew fouls, made his free throws and even created turnovers in the final minute to leave little doubt of who the better team was on Feb. 19. Camara finished the game with 12 points, eight rebounds and three steals.
Fellow freshman Sahvir Wheeler and junior Rayshaun Hammonds also played well. They combined for 26 points and 12 rebounds, Wheeler added four assists and Hammonds drained a pair of three-pointers. Along with Anthony Edwards, Georgia’s “big three” for next year’s team controlled the pace of the game. For at least one night in the middle of SEC play, Georgia basketball showed what kind of team it can be when it plays a mature brand of basketball.
Losing Edwards will have an effect on this team, but with how Wheeler and Camara have grown through this recent losing skid, Edwards leaving will have nowhere near the same effect as Nic Claxton’s departure. Those two freshmen will continue to grow and mature through the remaining games and offseason, while Hammonds takes on the reigns as the leading upperclassmen.
How those three players progress through the next nine months will affect how well Georgia plays in the 2020-21 season. Based on Wednesday’s effort, next season looks like the one where Georgia begins smashing the glass ceilings above it.
There is still a lot to play for in this season. Georgia can still go on a magical run and make the NCAA Tournament. Or it’ll settle for the National Invitational Tournament where it can make some noise in that 32-team field.