Despite the disappointing outcome of the basketball season, there have been a few bright spots.  There’s Sundiata Gaines of course.  Billy Humphrey has developed into a solid and more consistent guard.  Dave Bliss continues to make the most of his senior year.

Recently the story has been the emergence of Albert Jackson.  Jackson was, to put it bluntly, pretty clumsy on the offensive end up to this point.  He rebounded well, but he either fumbled passes or put up shots with no aim or purpose.  That’s changed lately.

It started with a 9 point, 8 rebound performance at Vanderbilt.  Not Tim Duncan, but it was one of his better games of the year.  He followed it up with 12 points and 7 rebounds against Florida.  He was less of a factor at LSU as Bliss and Price got most of the frontcourt minutes, but he returned with a vengeance in Wednesday night’s game at Auburn.

Jackson had a career high 16 points and added 8 rebounds (6 on the offensive glass!) to lead Georgia in both categories in a 59-54 win at Auburn.  Over the last four games, Jackson has shot 67% from the floor (18-27).

It was Georgia’s first SEC road win of the season, and it wasn’t pretty.  Georgia turned the ball over, Auburn couldn’t shoot, and Georgia struggled to seal the game from the line, but finally they made just enough plays at the end of a game to come away with the win.

The Dawgs trailed by as many as 11 in the first half, led by as many as 7 in the second half, and Auburn got back ahead by 5 midway through the second half.  Neither team could grab control down the stretch, and it wasn’t until Billy Humphrey’s free throws with 0.1 second remaining that Georgia could feel certain of the win.  The Dawgs are now 4-11 in the SEC and will close the regular season by hosting Ole Miss on Saturday in the final home game for Sundiata Gaines and  Dave Bliss.