Auburn didn't escape Athens with a win, but it gave Georgia everything it had.
Despite a late push in the second half that ended up temporarily putting them in the lead, the Auburn Tigers appeared unable to hang on and upset the No. 23 Georgia Bulldogs in their opening game of conference play.
Heroics from Keyshawn Hall, however, gave Auburn the opportunity to compete in overtime. While the Tigers ultimately fell short, they gave it all they had.
Georgia (12-1, 1-0 SEC) ended up pulling off a 104-100 victory over Auburn (9-5, 0-1 SEC) at Stegeman Coliseum on Saturday afternoon.
Tahaad Pettiford was a crucial part of Auburn's effort — along with five other members of the team who finished the game in double figures — but Georgia's offense was too much for it to keep pace with.
Pettiford hit a floater with 0:25 left in regulation that cut Georgia's lead to two points, but after he picked up his fourth foul — giving the Bulldogs' Marcus Millender a chance to extend the lead with two made free-throws — and turned the ball over with 0:15 left to play, Auburn's effort to escape Athens with a win looked to be over.
Hall had the opportunity to shoot three free-throws with less than a second on the clock. He made the first two, but missed the third, grabbed it and put it back to tie the game at the buzzer and force overtime.
This was a back-and-forth game from the beginning.
It was a tight contest early, as neither team was able to pull away throughout the first half. When the final buzzer of the period sounded and both sides returned to the locker room, Georgia was in possession of a narrow 47-42 lead.
Auburn managed to slowly trim away at the lead, and after a Kevin Overton lay-up with 5:06 left in regulation, the Tigers were up 74-73. That was the first lead they had since the 3:23 mark of the first half.
Georgia reclaimed control of the game after that point appeared to be on the way to a victory in regulation.
Pettiford led the Tigers in scoring with 25 points and in assists with four. Filip Jovic led in rebounding with 10.
Auburn had a good shooting performance from the field, as it finished 34-of-75 or 45.3%. It struggled from 3-point range and the free-throw line, however, ending the game at 26.7% and 66.7%, respectively.
The Tigers return to action on Tuesday, Jan. 6 when they host the Texas A&M Aggies at Neville Arena. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. CT, and SEC Network will carry the television broadcast.