AUBURN, Ala. – Bryce Brown scored a career-high 34 points to lead No. 8 Auburn to a 82-72 win against Dayton Saturday night at Auburn Arena.
Brown's 34 points not only marked the most by an Auburn player in five seasons under head coach Bruce Pearl, but also were the most in a single-game since Toney Douglas scored 38 points vs. Nicholls State on Nov. 24, 2004.
"It feels good," Brown said. "Just a big shout out to my team and coaches. Jared (Harper) hit me in great spots. Samir (Doughty) hit me in good spots. Chuma (Okeke) hit me in good spots. I just have to give a shout out to my teammates for finding me."
On the defensive end, Auburn (8-1) continued to stifle its opponents and forced Dayton (5-4) to 23 turnovers, including a season-high 16 first-half turnovers. It was the team's third straight game forcing 20 or more turnovers and the fifth time this season the team has done so.
"We just know that when we play defense we want to create," Jared Harper said. "We don't just want to lay back and let teams do what they want to do. We always preach about making plays.
"Anytime we're able to make a play defensively to lead to easy baskets for us, we look to do that. We have people at multiple positions that can pressure the ball and get in pass lanes. As long as our defense is on a string, we can turn teams over."
Harper added 20 points and dished out a game-high seven assists while committing just one turnover in 35 minutes played.
Samir Doughty did a little bit of everything on the floor as the Philadelphia, Pa. native scored eight points with a career-high 10 rebounds. He added six assists and a game-high four steals.
Austin Wiley scored eight points on 4-of-7 shooting off the bench and matched a career-high with five blocks for the second straight contest. The junior also added seven rebounds.
"I was really pleased with Samir's six assists and 10 rebounds," Pearl said. "I thought he had a really good floor game. Austin did a nice job for us coming off the bench and made a little bit of a difference for us rebounding."
After Dayton cut Auburn's lead to 58-52 with 13:31 to play, Doughty and Brown hit back-to-back threes to extend the lead to 10. Harper then poured in a pair of threes of his own in a span of 30 seconds to extend the lead to 74-56 with 9:50 on the clock.
Auburn held the Flyers to just one field goal in the final 4:26 en route to the win. It was Auburn's 19th straight home win against a non-conference opponent dating back to Jan. 30, 2016.
"It was a very good win," Pearl added. "They've been in last-possession games against Virginia, Mississippi State and Oklahoma, and they beat Butler. So we'll take it and move on."
The Tigers went on a 19-6 run to start the game, capped off by an alley oop from Harper to J'Von McCormick, and forced nine Dayton turnovers in the first 13 possessions.
Dayton narrowed the lead to 23-19 with 7:17 to play in the first half, but a steal by Doughty and dunk by Brown on the other end sparked the Tigers, who ended the half on a 28-13 run to take a 19-point advantage into intermission.
Brown hit four threes in the final 2:29 of the half as the Tigers took a 51-32 lead into intermission. It was the fourth half this season Auburn has scored 50 or more points and just the second time Dayton allowed a 50-point half in two seasons under head coach Anthony Grant.
Nineteen of Brown's 22 first-half points came in the final 6:41. He was 6-of-7 from the floor, including 4-of-5 from behind the arc, to lead the way with 22 points in the opening 20 minutes of action. Auburn's starting backcourt combined for 36 points in the first half and outscored the Flyers by four at the break.
"We'll be getting ready next week for UAB, NC State and Murray State," Pearl stated. "It'll be a good and tough week for us."
Auburn's non-conference slate continues as the Tigers take on UAB as a part of the Mike Slive Invitational in Birmingham, Ala. next Saturday. Tipoff at Legacy Arena is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT.
Brown's career night leads No. 8 Auburn past Dayton
