Athens, GA – J.J. Frazier continued his strong season, scoring 31 points to lead Georgia past Auburn, 79-78. Georgia overcame a 16-point first half deficit, largely on the back of Frazier, who willed his team on Senior Night. He came up with several huge steals and loose balls, and hit numerous big shots on the offensive end.
Frazier scored in every way imaginable, including in transition, pull-ups, drives, and off screens. Frazier showed off his quickness and decision-making skills in transition, often coming up with a steal and leading the break, where he either took it to the basket or pulled up and hit the jumper. He really showed his proficiency using screens, often using them to setup his pull-up three-pointer. He was also very effective with the hesitation dribble, which allowed him to freeze defenders and blow by them on the way to the basket. Consequently, the defenders respected this move, which gave him a little extra space to get his three-point shot off. He shot 9-of-19 overall, but was 5-of-9 from behind the arc. He also made all eight of his free throws and added six rebounds, five assists, and three steals.
Mustapha Heron, a freshman and Auburn’s leading scorer coming into the game, scored 13 points on 4-of-12 shooting. A highly-regarded recruit, Heron possesses a lean, athletic frame and prototypical size for the 2-guard spot in the NBA. He plays aggressively on both ends, showing the willingness and ability to effectively drive to the basket on the offensive end. He is left-handed and prefers to go left, but is capable of driving right as well. Heron also showed a smooth shooting stroke, and he looks comfortable with the pull-up jumper from the perimeter. He made two 3-pointers early in the 2nd half, getting great elevation and shooting right over the defender’s contest. He shot 2-of-6 from behind the arc in this game, and added nine rebounds.
Austin Wiley, another freshman and Auburn’s starting center, has great size (6-11, 255) and length. He has a very smooth free throw stroke for someone his size. It looks like he could develop this stroke into a mid-range jumper, but I did not see him attempt one in this game. He showed a nice lefty jump hook along the baseline, but overall he struggled finishing down low (he finished 3-of-9 from the field). Defensively, he got caught being over-aggressive at times going for the block, which often left his man open for the put-back. Wiley finished with 10 points, eight rebounds, and four blocks.
This article was written by Akash Chaudhry, a correspondent and scout for NetScouts Basketball. You can subscribe to our RSS feed from the upper right corner of our home page, follow us on Facebook, or on twitter.
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