Georgia's star tandem of Yante Maten and J.J. Frazier combined for 58 points and the Bulldogs withstood an early 3-point barrage by Auburn and rallied past the Tigers in the second half for a 96-84 victory Thursday at Auburn, Ala.

Maten finished with 31 points, his third 30-point performance of the season. He also had eight rebounds and connected on all nine of his free-throw attempts. Frazier had 27 points with five assists and five steals for the Bulldogs (9-4), who overcame an eight-point halftime deficit in the SEC opener for both teams.

Freshman guard Mustapha Heron had 19 points, and freshman forward Danjel Purifoy added 13 points for the Tigers (10-3), who had their four-game win streak snapped, despite a sizzling start to their SEC opener.

Auburn hit six of its first eight 3-point attempts and was up 27-18 after Ronnie Johnson knocked down a trey with 11:10 left before halftime. The Tigers went into halftime leading 51-43.

Georgia cut into the lead early in the second half, with Frazier's layup trimming the deficit to four at 68-64 with 11:30 left. The Bulldogs closed out the Tigers with a 20-8 run in the final seven minutes.

Maten was dominant despite picking up two early fouls and having to go to the bench in the first half. He returned in the second half and hit a driving basket to put Georgia up 80-76 with six minutes to play.

The Bulldogs entered their conference opener ranked 11th in the SEC in scoring, but poured in a season high for points.