Stukes, Georgia top cold Tigers

ATHENS, Ga. - Georgia's Levi Stukes looked at a 2-2 score that lasted almost seven minutes into Saturday's game against Auburn and figured the miserable offensive showing had to be good news for the Bulldogs.

"I told my team, as long as it's 2-2, we're right in there," Stukes said.

Stukes helped spark Georgia's offense, scoring 15 points in his return after missing three games with an ankle injury, and the Bulldogs snapped a seven-game losing streak by beating cold-shooting Auburn 57-45 Saturday.

Georgia (8-15 overall, 2-10 Southeastern Conference) won for the first time since its only other conference win over Vanderbilt on Jan. 22.

Auburn scored only 14 points in the first half as it was held below 50 points for the second straight game.

Following a 67-43 loss to Vanderbilt Wednesday night, Auburn has scored its lowest points in back-to-back games in 54 years. In 1951, Auburn scored 35 points against Kentucky and 51 against Vanderbilt in consecutive games.

"We shot the ball poorly," said Auburn coach Jeff Lebo. "At the start of the second half our first five looks were as good as you can get. You've got to put the ball in the hole."

Lebo said he was surprised to see Stukes, though he said his team had studied game film that included the sophomore guard.

"He was a difference-maker," Lebo said. "Obviously, he's their best player. He was a big lift for them."

Georgia coach Dennis Felton said he made the decision to play Stukes at Saturday morning's shootaround.

Stukes didn't start but played 26 minutes, making four 3-pointers.

"It's the kind of injury where the medical staff relies on him to be honest about it," Felton said.

Stukes said it was his decision to play.

"I told the trainer to give me a shot out there," Stukes said.

Auburn (12-13 overall, 3-9 SEC) had 16 points from Frank Tolbert and 13 from Ian Young but could not overcome its poor outside shooting.

Auburn and Georgia are the SEC's poorest-shooting teams in conference games, and they played to form. Even while winning, Georgia shot only 37.2 percent from the field.

Auburn made only 1 of 17 3-point attempts and overall made only 31.5 percent of their shots from the field.

"We couldn't get anything together," Lebo said. "We are so small that we really live and die by the outside shot, and they weren't falling tonight."

Sundiata Gaines had 14 points and 12 rebounds for Georgia. Steve Newman added 13 points.

After scoring only 17 points in the second half of its 67-43 loss to Vanderbilt Wednesday night, Auburn scored even fewer points in the first half against Georgia.

Auburn missed 12 of its first 13 shots from the field and was 0-for-10 on 3-pointers in the first half to trail 24-14 at halftime. The 14 points set a season low for a half.

Georgia's edge in the half was its 3-for-9 shooting on 3-pointers, including two by Stukes, who leads Georgia with 15.4 points per game.

While Auburn, which started four guards, struggled with its perimeter shooting, Georgia had difficulty passing over the Tigers' zone defense to take advantage of its size advantage with 6-foot-10 Dave Bliss and 6-foot-9 Newman. Auburn lists no player taller than 6-foot-6 among its starters and top three backups.

Georgia led by 14 points at 37-23 with 13 minutes to play, but Auburn picked up its scoring when Tolbert and Young began driving to the basket instead of relying on 3-point tries.

A 10-1 run for Auburn, capped by a three-point play by Quinnel Brown with 9:18 left, cut Georgia's lead to five points, 38-33. Auburn could come no closer than three points as Newman scored six points in the final six minutes.