AUBURN, Ala. - The Auburn Tigers (24-7, 13-5) closed out the regular season with a resounding 92-78 win over the Georgia Bulldogs (16-15, 6-12) behind a stellar shooting night from beyond the arc.
Auburn made 11 threes on 47.8% shooting, with seven of them coming from junior guard Denver Jones. Jones had all of his 21 points come via the triple, and added three rebounds and assists to his solid stat line.
Jones became the first Auburn Tiger to hit seven threes in a game since Jabari Smith did it in February of the 2021-2022 season.
“I just take the open shot when I get it, and shoot it with confidence,” Jones said after the game “I feel like it’s time for everyone to start to get hot. Right here in March is the right time for everyone to start playing with more confidence. Start taking the open shots and start knocking them down.”
Jones has been getting hot at the right time for Auburn, shooting 57% from three-point range in his last six games. With Jones continuing to emerge as an elite shooter, the Tigers have added another level to their play style.
“It makes us more dangerous,” head coach Bruce Pearl said. “The thing I love about Denver [Jones] is he’s locked in defensively. He’s locked in the scouting reports. He’s locked into his work ethic. He’s being rewarded because he’s doing all the right things almost all the time.”
One of the biggest contributors to Jones’ open looks was the Tigers ball movement. Auburn had a season high 29 assists, the most in a single game in the Bruce Pearl era. Dishing the ball out has been something that Auburn has done well all season long. The team finished with a season total of 560 assists, just 12 shy of a program record.
“Obviously we shared the ball on the offensive end,” Pearl said. “Twenty-nine assists is a pretty good way of sharing.”
The Tigers finished the regular season with 24 wins, 13 of which coming against SEC competition. They never won a game by less than 10, winning every game this season by double digits.
“To be tied for third when we’re picked sixth, we could have finished a lot lower than that,” Pearl said. “Twenty-four wins. Twenty-four wins by double digits is kind of historical. I think our fans enjoy this team. So just reflecting on that. I’m very grateful for that.”
Now, the Tigers will look forward to postseason play with the SEC tournament on deck. The win over Georgia secured a top-four seed, as well as a double bye in the conference tournament.
“BP stresses to the locker room that every team we play from now on is going to be a sweet 16 team,” Jones said. “That’s going to have to be our mindset. We know we’re not going to get those games back, so we might as well just keep winning.”
The Tigers will sit back with a double bye and await their first opponent in the SEC tournament. Regardless of the opposition, Auburn’s first contest will be Friday, March 15, on ESPN and the Auburn Sports Network.
