Field Level Media
Jan 19, 2022
K.D. Johnson tormented his former team while sparking No. 2 Auburn to an 83-60 rout of visiting Georgia in a Southeastern Conference game on Wednesday.
Johnson, who played in 16 games for the Bulldogs last season as a freshman before transferring to Auburn during the offseason, scored 12 points on 4-for-10 shooting for the SEC-leading Tigers (17-1, 6-0), who extended their winning streak to 14 games.
Wendell Green Jr. had a double-double with 12 points and a game-high 11 assists for the Tigers. Walker Kessler added 15 points, six rebounds and six blocks, and Jaylin Williams chipped in 13 points and five rebounds. Jabari Smith, one of the top NBA prospects in the nation, had 12 points and a team-high seven rebounds, and Allen Flanigan added 10 points.
Georgia (5-13, 0-5), which was without leading scorer Kario Oquendo (13.4 ppg) for undisclosed reasons, lost its seventh straight game and fell for the eighth time in the past nine games.
Christian Wright scored 16 points and Noah Baumann and Braelen Bridges added 11 apiece for Georgia, which remained the lone SEC team without a league win.
Auburn shot 45.8 percent (33-for-72) from the field, including 27.8 percent (10-for-36) from 3-point range, while Georgia simply couldn't keep pace. The Bulldogs shot 42 percent (21-for-50) from the field and 38.5 percent (5-for-13) from long distance. Auburn, which outrebounded Georgia 41-31, also converted 18 Bulldogs turnovers into 18 points.
The Tigers took control of the game midway through the first half by going on an 11-2 run to take a 19-9 lead following Williams' 3-pointer with 11:25 remaining.
Auburn put the game away before halftime, ending the first half on an 20-7 run to take a 52-27 lead at intermission.
Led by Johnson and Green (nine points apiece), Auburn had eight players score at least three points during its highest-scoring first half this season. Auburn shot 50 percent (21-for-42) from the field and 31.8 percent (7-for-22) from 3-point range, and outrebounded Georgia 25-13.
The Bulldogs, who were led by Wright's 10 points, shot 41.7 percent (10-for-24) from the field and 28.6 percent (2-for-7) from beyond the arc, in addition to committing eight turnovers in the first half.
--Field Level Media