The 2011 SEC Basketball Tournament will tip off this Thursday at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. The first match-up tips off at 1 p.m. and will be between the fourth seeded Georgia Bulldogs and the fifth seeded Auburn Tigers.
Georgia finds itself sitting firmly on the NCAA Tournament bubble and can ill afford an early tournament exit especially to an Auburn team that has struggled for much of the season. Georgia won the previous meeting against the two teams but needed overtime to prevail 81-72 in Athens. In that game, Auburn’s Earnest Ross scored a career high 30 points while nearly leading the Tigers to an upset win over the Bulldogs. Georgia outscored Auburn 14-5 in overtime behind 22 points and 14 rebounds from senior Jeremy Price.
Now the two teams meet with much still at stake for the Bulldogs. With a win Georgia gets a rematch with western division champ Alabama and another chance to help strengthen its tournament resume. If Georgia loses then they may be making plans for the NIT rather than the NCAA tournament. Auburn is looking to play the part of spoiler and is just looking to extend its season one more game.