Auburn will play Dogs without leading scorer

The Bulldogs snapped a two-game losing streak.

Left in the cold: After its first made field goal of the second half, Auburn went on a 0-of-18 stretch.

Sophomore forward Yante Maten posted another double-double as he scored 12 points and 12 rebounds.

In a game where Auburn was missing its leading scorer and only scholarship point guard, the Tigers struggled to score in its eighth straight road loss.

Georgia picked up its second win of the week as it bested the visiting Auburn Tigers 65-55 in Stegeman Coliseum on Saturday.

Kareem Canty, Auburn’s best player and one of the most prolific scorer’s in the SEC, has been suspended indefinitely for “conduct detrimental to the team”, coach Bruce Pearl told auburntigers.com before the game.

The 6-foot-1 junior is 13th in the nation with 3.3 made three-pointers per game, however during the last four games he is just 5-of-34 (14.7 percent) from beyond the arc, dropping his season three-point percentage to 36.1 percent.

Georgia led by 10 points at halftime and never trailed in the second half. He also leads the Tigers with 111 assists, the third-best total in the SEC.

“Kareem has had some strong moments for our team this season”, Pearl said. A lot of this can be attributed to Canty being suspended, but Auburn also wasn’t able to hit the shots that Bowers and others were able to get them.

“I sat a couple of guys around after shootaround and said ‘If he does not play, I want the right response”, Fox said. Illinois State was even worse from the field, finishing the game shooting just over 27 percent from the field.

Canty’s exit put more pressure on freshman guard Bryce Brown, who had 18 points in a loss to LSU on Tuesday. This is a glaring stat in which may lead to the assumption that Georgia will take care of business.

It wasn’t a pretty game for the Bulldogs, but three players finished in double figures and coach Mark Fox called the defensive effort, “consistently solid”. It is unclear how long Canty’s suspension will last.

Block party: In addition to Maten’s 5 blocked shots, guard Kenny Gaines had 2 blocks in the first half.

Devon Gales, the Southern wide receiver who suffered a paralyzing neck injury during a September football game at Georgia, was given a standing ovation when his attendance was announced. “I think people would line up to have my problems or your problems”.