ATHENS, Ga. (AP) Tahaad Pettiford hit 5 of 7 shots from 3-point range, scoring 24 off the bench to help No. 1 Auburn escape No. 23 Georgia with a 70-68 win on Saturday.
Auburn (17-1, 5-0 SEC) has won 10 in a row and a second straight game without star Johni Broome, who injured his ankle in a Jan. 11 win over South Carolina.
Georgia (14-4, 2-3) struggled with free throws, making 9 of 20 from the line.
Auburn: The Tigers earned a Top 25 win without leading scorer Broome (17.9 points per game).
Georgia: The Bulldogs suffered their first home loss of the season (11-1). The loss snapped a 13-game winning streak at Stegeman Coliseum – the fourth longest home winning streak in program history.
Down 70-67 with nine seconds to play in regulation, Georgia had a chance to tie the game at 70 after a Miles Kelly turnover led to Dakota Leffew getting a look from 3 with seven seconds to go. His shot was too strong. Asa Newell had a chance to tie it at the buzzer, but missed.
The Tigers tallied 32 points off the bench in Broome’s absence.
Auburn hosts No. 6 Tennessee on Jan 25. Georgia visits Arkansas on Tuesday night.
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| TOP SCORERS | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
0
 |
T. Pettiford G | 24PTS | 2REB | 2AST | |
|
14
 |
A. Newell F | 16PTS | 10REB | 1AST | |
| STARTERS | PTS | REB | AST | PF |
| C. Baker-Mazara | 13 | 6 | 1 | 2 |
| M. Kelly | 13 | 5 | 0 | 1 |
| D. Jones | 8 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| C. Johnson | 2 | 6 | 1 | 3 |
| D. Cardwell | 2 | 7 | 3 | 1 |
| BENCH | PTS | REB | AST | PF |
| T. Pettiford | 24 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| J. Hudson | 5 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| J. Howard | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| C. Moore | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| J. Pegues | – | – | – | – |
| C. Williams | – | – | – | – |
| P. Patterson | – | – | – | – |
| A. Scott | – | – | – | – |
| R. Trapp | – | – | – | – |
| B. Muschalek | – | – | – | – |
| J. Shay | – | – | – | – |
| D. Cardwell | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 70 | 34 | 7 | 16 |
| STARTERS | PTS | REB | AST | PF |
| A. Newell | 16 | 10 | 1 | 3 |
| T. Lawrence | 12 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| B. Cain | 12 | 8 | 2 | 1 |
| S. Demary Jr. | 8 | 3 | 2 | 4 |
| R. Godfrey | 5 | 4 | 0 | 2 |
| BENCH | PTS | REB | AST | PF |
| J. Abson | 7 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| D. Leffew | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| S. Cyril | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| D. Montgomery | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| B. Klatsky | – | – | – | – |
| J. Newell | – | – | – | – |
| M. Jennings | – | – | – | – |
| D. James | – | – | – | – |
| S. Drezgic | – | – | – | – |
| J. Kee | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 68 | 35 | 8 | 17 |