Georgia basketball put together perhaps its best 40 minutes to snap a six-game losing streak Wednesday at Vanderbilt in a wire-to-wire double-digit victory.

It raised the question was it a just a blip in a fading Bulldogs SEC season or could Georgia bring down one of the league’s top programs back inside Stegeman Coliseum?

The answer came Saturday night against No. 14 Auburn.

The Tigers were a step up in class and way too much for the Bulldogs in a 97-76 Tigers rout. Auburn got a career-high tying 25 points from junior wing Chad Baker-Mazara.

With five-star signee Asa Newell watching in the sold-out crowd of 10,523, the Bulldogs lost their eighth straight to a ranked opponent and eighth in the last 10 games.

Georgia’s last win against a top 15 team was on Feb. 19, 2020, a 65-55 win over Auburn.

Georgia (15-12, 5-9 SEC) cut a 14-point second-half deficit to 64-61 on an inside score from Russel Tchewa with 9:29 left, but Auburn (21-6, 10-4) used a 14-2 run to blow the game open with Johni Broome (16 points, 13 rebounds) scoring nine of those points.

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5-star Georgia basketball signee Asa Newell: 'I can't wait to get on campus'

With 11:37 to go in the first half during a media timeout, the public address announcer told the crowd: Please welcome one of the highest ranked recruits in Georgia basketball history.”

“Asa Newell 2024 5 star signee,” the scoreboard graphic said as he clapped sheepishly when he was shown on the video.

Newell took his seat In the far corner behind the Bulldogs bench seven rows up a few minutes into the game.

The 6-foot-10, 215-pound Montverde Academy power forward is among the stars for a powerhouse team that travels for games all over the country.

“It’s my first game ever at UGA,” Newell, who spent part of his childhood in Athens, told the Athens Banner-Herald at halftime.  “I went when I was younger, but since I’ve been committed.”

Newell spoke at halftime with Georgia down 45-34.

He was asked the thoughts on his future team.

“We’ve got an exciting team," he said. "Next year’s going to be a lot different and I feel like everyone’s going to do a great job.”

Georgia entered the game last in the SEC in field goal defense on two-pointers at 54.8 percent, according to bartorvik.com, with teams meeting little resistance inside. Auburn shot 62.1 percent overall for the game including 14 of 26 on 3s.

“I’m a rim protector, I change shots,” Newell said. “I can extend on the 3-point line. I can guard multiple positions. On the offensive side, I’m a pick and pop threat, a pick and roll threat. I drive close outs really well and I attack the rim.”

Newell said he planned to hang out with his brother, Bulldog walk-on Jaden Newell, after the game.

“It’s a great atmosphere,” he said. “The student section is getting really into it. The fans are loud. I can’t wait for next year to get on campus.”

Georgia coach Mike White said "it was nice to see," Newell. "Just visited with him very briefly. We had some other guys in as well. It's a great environment for recruits to be here and experience."

Where things stand for Georgia Bulldogs in NIT

After the loss, Georgia chances to reach the NIT looked a little more uphill. At least based on the projection of ESPN's Joe Lunardi who had SEC bubble teams Texas A&M and Ole Miss outside the field.

Georgia can pick up some winnable games in the next three-game stretch.

If the SEC has just seven NCAA tournament teams (it had been projected for as many as nine), that would leave the eighth and ninth ranked SEC teams in the NET as guaranteed to make the 32-team NIT field under the new more friendly format for Power Conference teams. The top two SEC teams that don’t make the NCAA tournament will play in the NIT.

Georgia began the day in 11^th at No. 95 with Arkansas a distant 12^th at No. 122.

LSU is just ahead of Georgia at No. 84.

White said he's not focused on the postseason, but turning the page to LSU.

The Bulldogs and Tigers play Tuesday night in Baton Rouge.

Georgia then has home games against Texas A&M (No. 49 in the NET) and Ole Miss (No. 68) before playing Auburn again on the Plains where the Tigers are 13-1 this season.

If Ole Miss or Texas A&M are outside the bubble, Georgia’s chances diminish.

"Definitely I think any postseason would be good," freshman guard Silas Demary Jr. said. "We still want to try to make the (NCAA) tournament. Anything can happen."

Georgia hasn’t played in the NIT since 2017.  Its last NCAA tournament appearance was 2015.

"We don't have as many wins as we'd like," White said. "We're a more competitive, better basketball team, obviously than we were early and then we were last year. We're building. We're better. We want results though. We've got to get better."

Noah Thomasson keeps scoring punch going

Niagara transfer guard Noah Thomasson continued to provide points for Georgia.

He led the Bulldogs with 18 points on 5 of 12 shooting.

Thomasson had averaged 11.9 points per game and was shooting 34.7 on 3-pointers after an overtime loss to Florida on Feb. Jan. 27

In the next six games entering Saturday, Thomasson averaged 16.0 points and shot 44.7 on 3s.

He was just 1 of 6 on 3s Saturday.

"I thought he played with as much confidence as anyone on our team," White said. "Noah was trying to make something happen and they've been pressuring him, pressuring him, making him into a driver. I thought he did a really good job of drawing fouls."

Georgia got 16 points from Tchewa and 16 from Demary.

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: With 5-star Asa Newell in the house, UGA basketball crushed by Auburn