2011 SEC Men's Tournament
Opening Round
Game 1 -- (E4) Georgia 69 , (W5) Auburn 51
Final Stats
Game Photos
Georgia Quotes
Auburn Quotes
Game Highlights
Atlanta, Ga. -- One day after proclaiming himself "More healthy than I've ever been," Trey Thompkins scored 22 points to lead Georgia past Auburn 69-51 on Thursday in the opening game of the Southeastern Conference tournament.
Georgia (21-10) has a chance to again bolster its NCAA tournament hopes when it faces Alabama, the Western Division's No. 1 seed, in Friday's SEC quarterfinals.
Thompkins, a 6-foot-10 junior, is ranked among the SEC leaders with his averages of 15.8 points and 7.6 rebounds despite battling ankle, shin and toe injuries. He said Wednesday he is "100 percent, ready to go" for the postseason. He added 10 rebounds to help support his claim.
Chris Denson, a freshman from Columbus, led Auburn (11-20) with a career-high 21 points. Travis Leslie had 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Gerald Robinson added 11 points for Georgia. Thompkins recorded only his second game with 20 or more points in his last 12 games.
Auburn couldn't extend its season with first-year coach Tony Barbee. Auburn closed its regular season with back-to-back comeback wins over Mississippi and LSU, overcoming double-digit deficits in each game.
The Tigers were in their familiar comeback mode from the opening minutes against Georgia, which scored the first five points and never trailed. Thompkins scored Georgia's final seven points of the first half as the Bulldogs took a big lead of 15 points at 34-19 before settling for a 34-23 advantage at the break.
Thompkins had two 3-pointers in the first 4 minutes of the second half to help Georgia pad its lead.
2011 SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament
Atlanta, Georgia
Game #1 Tournament Notes
Georgia 69 Auburn 51
Series Notes include today’s game:
All-Time Series: Georgia leads 89-87
SEC Tournament: Georgia leads 5-3
Season Series: Georgia leads 2-0
Georgia Notes:
The Bulldogs’ third-place East finish was their best since 2003
Georgia had beaten Auburn Feb. 5 in Athens, 81-72, in overtime
Georgia pushed its 34-23 halftime advantage with an 11 to 4 run to open the second half
Georgia led wire-to-wire in the game
Trey Thompkins had his sixth double-double of the year. He has back-to-back double-doubles, the first Georgia player to do this since Thompkins vs New Orleans and Wofford in November, 2009.
Travis Leslie had his fifth double-double of the season
The last time two Bulldogs had double-doubles in the same game was Thompkins and Leslie on Jan 12, 2011 vs Vanderbilt
Georgia has just seven turnovers, tying the fewest against an SEC opponent this season
Biggest lead was 21 (66-45)
Georgia plays Alabama Friday at 1:00 p.m.
Georgia’s SEC Legend is Walter Daniels, a guard who played from 1976-79
Auburn Notes:
Entered the game with a two game winning steak
Chris Denson’s 21 points were a career high
Auburn’s SEC Legend representative is Jimmy Fibbe, a forward from 1958-61