COLUMBIA, S.C. – Johni Broome set the tone Saturday with a dunk on the team's opening possession. No. 16 Auburn never looked back. The Tigers led wire-to-wire on the road at South Carolina and beat the Gamecocks 81-66 to make it five straight victories.
With Wednesday's win at LSU, Auburn went 2-0 on the week, earning two SEC road wins and never trailed in either game.
"We obviously respected our opponent," Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl said after Saturday's victory. "We played well early, which you have to do. Our starters did a really good job. Give South Carolina credit. They never quit."
Broome led the Tigers with a season-high 27 points on 12-of-17 shooting from the field. The sophomore transfer also pulled down 11 rebounds to pick up his sixth double-double of the season. including five since the start of SEC play.
"I've had a couple rough games, so it was good to get going early," Broome said.
The pass on Broome's first dunk came from Wendell Green Jr. It was one of 12 assists on the day for the junior point guard who had a double-double of his own with 16 points and 12 assists. Green is the first Auburn player have a double-double with points and assists since he did it against Georgia last season on Jan. 19, 2022.
"(Green's passing) boosted the whole team's confidence," Broome said. "He had 12 assists. Wendell is a special point guard. Everybody knows he can score, but I think his passing is a little bit underrated and he proved that tonight."
Green and Broome also hooked up on the opening basket of the second half when Green lobbed an alley-oop to Broome who threw it down with one hand and drew the foul.
The duo became the first set of Auburn teammates to have a double-double in the same game since Jabari Smith and Walker Kessler each had double-doubles in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament last year against Jacksonville State.
Senior Jaylin Williams scored 12 points and has now scored in double figures in each of Auburn's last four games. He also grabbed six rebounds.
As a team, the Tigers shot 50 percent from the field (30-of-60) and only turned the ball over nine times. Defensively, they held South Carolina to just 22 points in the first half and finished the half on a 12-3 run to take a 39-22 lead into the locker room. It was the third straight game the opponent has scored less than 23 points in the first half.
The momentum from the end of the first half carried over to the second half as Auburn opened on another 12-3 run and led by as many as 26 (51-25) at one point. The Gamecocks went on a run of their own to close the gap back to 10, but that's as close as it got.
Senior Allen Flanigan matched his career high with 10 rebounds and just missed a double-double with eight points. He now has seven or more rebounds in four of the last five games.
Freshman Yohan Traore also scored eight points, knocking down a 3-pointer in each half and throwing down a two-hand dunk on a fastbreak in the second half. The Tigers had 27 fastbreak points to just nine from South Carolina.
"I'm proud of our guys," Pearl said. "With the exception of maybe at Georgia, which is not an easy place, our guys have taken care of business. That's three (SEC) road wins so far for us. We all recognize, though, that the schedule toughens starting next week."
After back-to-back road wins, Auburn (16-3, 6-1) will return home Wednesday to face Texas A&M. The game will tip off at 8 p.m. CT and will be televised on ESPN2.SOUTH CAROLINA POSTGAME NOTES>> For the third consecutive game, Auburn started Wendell Green Jr., Zep Jasper, Allen Flanigan, Jaylin Williams and Johni Broome (3-0). It was Flanigan's fourth start of the season and 53rd of his career.
>> With the win, Auburn claimed its sixth straight victory in the all-time series with South Carolina. It was also the Tigers' 14th road win in Columbia, S.C.
>> Second 20-point game for Johni Broome in SEC play with a game- and season-high 27 points on 12-of-17 shooting from the field and 11 rebounds at South Carolina. He previously recorded 22 points at Georgia on Jan. 4. It marked his 20th-career 20-point outing. Broome also recorded his 41st career double-double and sixth of the season.
>> Wendell Green Jr. extended his team-best double-digit scoring streak to five games with 16 points and 12 assists at South Carolina. It was the first time for an AU player to record a double-double in points and assists since he last did it versus Georgia (12 points and 11 assists) on Jan. 19, 2022. It was Green's fourth career double-double performance and third career 10-assist game.
>> Green''s consecutive free throw streak ended at 25 – the third-longest in school history. He went 2-for-3 in his first attempt at the line at South Carolina.
>> It was the first time to have two players with double-double performances since Jabari Smith (20 points and 14 rebounds) and Walker Kessler (13 points and 10 rebounds) against Jacksonville State in the 2022 NCAA First Round on March 18, 2022.
>> Behind Green, the Tigers dished out 20 assists in the ballgame versus the Gamecocks – the second most this season behind Washington (22) on Dec. 21.
>> Freshman Yohan Traore drained his fourth and fifth 3-pointers of the season and his career to tally a conference-best eight points at South Carolina.
>> Allen Flanigan brought down a career-high tying 10 rebounds at South Carolina. He also tallied eight points, three assists and two steals in 32 minutes of play.
>> Jaylin Williams is now on a four-game double-digit scoring streak with 12 points and six rebounds at South Carolina.
>> The Tigers came out hot and shot 4-for-4 from the line in the first three minutes of the contest. They shot 57.1 percent (16-for-28) in the first half – the second best shooting percentage in the first half this season behind 58.6 percent versus Bradley on Nov. 22.
>> For the third-consecutive SEC game and fourth game this season, the Auburn defense held its opponent under 23 points in the first half. The Tigers previously held LSU to 21 points, Mississippi State to 22 points and Northwestern to 19 points.
