OXFORD, Miss. – How do you win on the road? Bruce Pearl gave the blueprint in Monday's press conference. "Not turn it over, shoot it better and stop fouling defensively."
On Tuesday night, his Auburn team turned it over just 10 times. They shot 49 percent from the field. And they only committed 17 fouls. As a result, the 21st-ranked Tigers went to Ole Miss and picked up a signature road victory, winning 82-73 in Oxford.
"Road wins are hard to get," Pearl said after the game. "The guys were locked in."
Four players scored in double figures for Auburn, led by 23 from Wendell Green Jr. The junior point guard scored 18 of his 23 points in the second half, including the team's final eight points to secure the victory. He also led Auburn with seven assists.
"Wendell Green was the best point guard on the floor," Pearl said. "Again, he doesn't get enough credit. He's one of the best point guards in the country. He made plays on both ends of the floor, offensively and defensively. Scored, assisted, low turnovers, rebounded – a real complete game, really poised on the road. He controlled the tempo of this game."
Johni Broome poured in 19 points and pulled down 11 rebounds to record his fourth straight double-double. The sophomore transfer from Morehead State made Auburn's first shot of the game and finished 8 of 13 from the field. He's now averaging 16.3 points and 11 rebounds per game in conference play this season.
Broome scored 12 of his 19 points in the first half, and his dunk in the closing seconds cut the Ole Miss lead to one, 35-34, at the break. In the second half, it was Green, Allen Flanigan and Jaylin Williams who took over and helped the Tigers pull away.
Flanigan made his first four shots in the second half and finished the night with 15 points off the bench. He played a season-high 34 minutes after teammate Chris Moore left the game in the opening minute due to injury and didn't commit a single turnover.
"I just went in there and did what I'm supposed to do for this team," Flanigan said. "That's one of my jobs to be aggressive night in and night out, pick us up wherever we need to be picked up – whether that's rebounding, playing harder defensively, getting guys shots or me taking shots."
"Allen Flanigan goes 4 for 5 in the second half and doesn't have a turnover, which tells you that he's really trying to work on his game and be productive and be aggressive without trying to force the issues," Pearl added. "He played great defense."
Williams scored 12 points with 10 coming after halftime. He was 5 of 8 from the field and a perfect 4 of 4 in the second half. He also had five assists, three rebounds and two steals.
As a team, Auburn scored 48 points in the final 20 minutes and turned it over just four times.
"I think our offense is starting to come together, guys starting to play better, myself included," said Green who made all 11 of his free throw attempts. We feel very comfortable out there. They play pretty good defense, they switch it up a lot, but we're just very comfortable. I like how we're going. We're progressing.
"It was good just seeing different guys step up and make shots, but we've got to be a lot better defensively if we want to win this conference," Flanigan added.
The Tigers did win the battle inside as they outrebounded Ole Miss 38-28, holding the Rebels to just six offensive rebounds, and outscored Ole Miss in the paint 46-26.
Auburn (13-3, 3-1) will take a two-game winning streak into Saturday's home matchup against Mississippi State. The game tips at 7:30 p.m. CT and will be televised on SEC Network.OLE MISS POSTGAME NOTES>> For the 12th time this season, Auburn started Wendell Green Jr., Zep Jasper, Chris Moore, Jaylin Williams and Johni Broome (9-3).
>> For the 14th time this season, Auburn used the starting five of Wendell Green Jr., Zep Jasper, Chris Moore, Jaylin Williams and Johni Broome (11-3).
>> With the win, Auburn improves to 80-64 in the all-time series with Ole Miss. It was the first time to win three-straight games in the series since winning four-straight from Feb. 2002 to Jan. 2004.
>> Johni Broome reached double figures in the first half for just the second time this season with 12 of his 19 points at Ole Miss. He previously scored 11 first-half points at USC on Dec. 18. Broome is on a team-best, 10-game double-digit scoring streak.
>> Broome became the first Auburn player to record four-straight double-doubles since Cinmeon Bowers did so during the 2015-16 season. Broome against four-straight SEC opponents, while Bowers in non-conference play against Middle Tennessee, Mercer, Xavier and New Mexico. It was his fifth double-double of the season and 40th of his career.
>> Auburn shot a conference season-best 49.2 (30-of-61) percentage from the field at Ole Miss.
>> Four players scored in double figures for the fourth time this season.
>> Allen Flanigan recorded double digits for the third-consecutive game with 15 points at Ole Miss.
>> Auburn scored 46 of its points in the paint – tied for the fourth most of the season behind 50 versus Winthrop on Nov. 15.
>> Chris Moore missed the rest of the game due to a right shoulder injury in the first half where he played two minutes against the Rebels.
>> Wendell Green Jr. turned in back-to-back games in double figures with a season-high 23 points including 11-for-11 shooting from the free throw line at Ole Miss. It was his third 20-point game of the season and 15th of his career. He also dished out a season-high seven of the team's 19 assists in the contest.
