You would expect Auburn, coming off a blowout loss to Baylor, to take the floor against rival Georgia on Tuesday night with passion, energy and a will to get back on the winning side of things.
From the very beginning of the game, it was obvious that it was the Bulldogs that had the fire in their bellies for the game.
In what was a frustrating night to watch Bruce Pearl’s team, Auburn was outhustled, outfought and outworked in every aspect of the game and the result was an embarrassing 91-86 defeat to the Bulldogs.
We can point at a lot of things that made the difference in Auburn Arena but it’s very simple: whenever there was a loose rebound, Georgia was the one coming down with it. Blocking out seems to have been that Pearl and his staff have yet to reach in their playbook despite years of it being a problem for teams during their tenure, no matter how successful they were.
After beating Georgia by 18 in Athens last month, it seemed that the Tigers felt as those the Bulldogs would just give the game to them. Sluggish and sloppy were terms you would use to describe the first five minutes of the game as Tom Crean’s team jumped out to a 10-2 lead.
Whenever the Tigers made a run, Georgia had an answer and, a lot of times, it came on second-chance points.
It was as if Auburn’s mind wasn’t ever on the game, especially guard Allen Flanigan who had one of his worst nights in a Tigers uniform. You would think that the simple act of making a wide-open layup for someone who is 6-foot-6 would be easy but Flanigan has turned it into a task. His lack of control with the ball in his hand is somehow worse as he killed momentum twice with charging fouls, something that has become a regular thing for him.
It wasn’t all Flanigan, of course. Devan Cambridge remains an issue on the offensive side of the floor except when he is finishing an alley-oops. JT Thor basically disappeared, Jaylin Williams basically never showed up at the arena and Dylan Cardwell was just someone to put in the middle of the floor without much else use.
This is where I am supposed to stop and say, “Hey, this is a young team!” Well, that really isn’t the case anymore. With the exception of Sharife Cooper who had struggles of his own on Tuesday night, this is a group that should be improving, not regressing, as the year goes along.
If Saturday was a sign that Auburn can play with the big boys for just a little while, Tuesday showed that the Tigers have a lot of work to do.
When watching the film of this game, all of the players are going to see times when they were out-worked for the ball by an overmatched Georgia team that just willed their way to a win. It should be met with a red face in front of the rest of their teammates and coaching staff and the only way to react is to bring more grit and determination than ever in the next practices and ensuing games.
It’s the only way this team gets better. Take the loss, have each player look in the mirror and learn from it.