Every week, we’ll be previewing Auburn Basketball’s upcoming opponents. This week, Auburn finishes its regular season series with Georgia, and travels to Fayetteville to face Arkansas.
Georgia
Georgia’s head coach is still Tom Crean, and they are still the worst team in the SEC. They are currently 6-15 overall and 1-7 in conference play, with their one win coming in head-scratching fashion over Alabama. The last game Auburn played against UGA ended with Auburn securing an 83-60 victory in Auburn.
Players to watch for: #23, forward Braelen Bridges and #10, guard Aaron Cook
Bridges is the most imposing force for UGA, standing at 6-11, 240 lbs. He leads the Bulldogs in points and rebounds, and is 2nd on the team in blocks. Cook is the lead guard on the team, leading the team in assists with about 6 per game. He is also second on the team in three-pointers.
Auburn plays Georgia in Athens on Saturday, February 5th.
Arkansas
The razorbacks are coached by Eric Musselman, who is in his 2nd year as head coach, and has, at the time of this writing, a 45-19 record. He has had a very solid coaching career, winning at least 20 games in six years as a college head coach. Last year, he led Arkansas to Elite 8, their first appearance that deep in the tournament since 1995.
This year, Arkansas has put together another strong team. The Hogs are 16-5, and 5-3 in-conference. They average 78 points per game, while only giving up 68. They started out rocky against major conference opponents, falling by 22 in their annual contest with Oklahoma, and starting 0-3 in conference play with losses to Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, and Texas A&M. They’ve bounced back however, and are on an 8 game winning streak that includes LSU and a redemption game against Texas A&M.
Players to watch for: #1, guard JD Notae and #10, forward Jaylin Williams
Notae is a senior for the Hogs, and was their 6th man last season. Coming off the bench, he was Bleacher Report’s 6th man of the year, and led the team in scoring per 40 minutes. As a starter this season, he’s carried over that production to lead Arkansas in scoring. He averages 18.8 points a game, and shoots 3’s at a decent clip of just over 30%. He is also second on the team in assists, at 3 per game. Jaylin Williams is the dominant big for the Hogs, standing at 6-10, 240 lbs. He averages 9.2 rebounds per game, along with 9 points.
Auburn travels to Arkansas Tuesday, February 8th.
