ATHENS, Ga. – For the second week in a row, Auburn went on the road and showcased how dangerous it can be.

A week after beating South Carolina on its home court, the Tigers used an 8-2 run in the final 4:09 of regulation – capped off by an Earnest Ross steal and layup – to take Georgia to overtime in front of 10,177 fans at Stegeman Coliseum on Saturday.

But three of the Tigers’ consistent tormentors – offensive stagnancy, bad free-throw shooting and the lack of an inside presence – came back with a fury in the extra period and led to an 81-72 loss.

“We played hard, we played tough, we battled and competed until the buzzer,” Ross said. “We just couldn’t pull it out.”

The loss spoiled a pristine day from Ross, who scored a career-high 30 points on 12-of-18 shooting – including 5-of-7 from beyond the arc – to go along with seven rebounds and three steals.

“It’s no secret he’s one of the few guys on this team that can get it going offensively,” Tigers coach Tony Barbee said. “He’s been a little quiet on offense lately, and that’s hurt us. Don’t know what he ate for breakfast or what he did in the layup line, but hopefully he can duplicate it the rest of the way out.”

Georgia (16-6, 5-4 SEC) led 67-63 after a Gerald Robinson free throw with 26.1 seconds left in regulation, before Ross followed a miss with a basket to pull the Tigers within 2 with 13.7 seconds to go.

After an Auburn (8-15, 1-8) timeout, Ross stole a lofted inbounds pass near midcourt and drove to the hole, knotting the game up with 10.4 seconds to go.

The sophomore also scored all of the Tigers’ points in overtime, netting the final 9 Auburn points for the game.

“Coach kept telling me just to shoot the ball,” Ross said. “Every opening I had, I had the chance to shoot it, and hopefully it went in.”

The magic started running out for Ross and the rest of the Tigers after the guard nailed his fifth 3-pointer of the night to put Auburn up 72-71 with 3:09 left in overtime.

Georgia’s Dustin Ware answered with a layup, and Josh Wallace had a chance to tie or put the Tigers in the lead from the line, but he missed the front end of a one-and-one.

Auburn finished 5-of-14 from the line on the night, the 10th time this season the Tigers have shot 60 percent or worse from the charity stripe.

Georgia’s Trey Thompkins hit a free throw during the Bulldogs’ next trip down, then, after an Auburn miss, completed a 3-point play to put Georgia up 77-72 with 1:16 to go and send it on its way to the win.

“I feel fortunate to win it,” Bulldogs coach Mark Fox said. “Auburn played with a little more edge than we did, and you have to credit them for that.

“It is a win, even though I’m very disappointed.”

Auburn, in its second game without 6-foot-10 forward Rob Chubb – who was suspended indefinitely for an unspecified violation of team rules – struggled with containing the 6-10 Thompkins and 6-8, 270-pound forward Jeremy Price.

Price tied his career high with 22 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to notch his first double-double of the year, and Thompkins scored 16 points to go along with six rebounds.

Travis Leslie, a 6-4 guard, also scored 20 and grabbed eight rebounds, as the Bulldogs outrebounded the Tigers, 48-30.

Auburn is minus-32 in the rebounding column over the past two games.

“They’re big guys, but you’ve got to fight with them and battle with them,” Auburn forward Kenny Gabriel said of defending Thompkins and Price in the post. “Once you let them know you’re not going to give up, they stop calling for the ball. With guys like that, you’ve just got to box them out, stay in front of them, and contest every shot.”

The Tigers used opportunistic defense – 12 steals, led by Wallace’s five – and a 9-of-18 performance behind the arc to stay in the contest, but made only 2-of-10 shots in the overtime period to fall for the eighth time in nine SEC games.

Gabriel (11) and Chris Denson (10) joined Ross in double figures for the Tigers.

“I’m proud of the kids, the way they fought,” Barbee said. “I’m proud of the kids, but disappointed because it could have gone either way.”

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