AUBURN, Ala. – A late rally and 21 points from Johni Broome were not enough Sunday afternoon as Auburn fell on the road at Appalachian State 69-64. It was the first true road game of the season for the Tigers.
"Great environment in here. Great fan base," Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl said. "We knew coming in this was going to be like playing a middle-to-lower-half SEC team. Give them all the credit. Their guards, in particular, lined us up and drove us. That was an issue until late in the game when we went to some zone and had a little bit more rim protection.
"I think when you miss 10 free throws and make nine and you miss 24 3s and make three, it's not going to win many games. Some of that was the defense, but a lot of it was open shots."
Broome, coming off a 30-point effort against Virginia Tech on Wednesday night, led Auburn against the Mountaineers with 21 points, 13 rebounds and two blocks. It was his fourth double-double of the season and No. 50 for his career. It was the second time in his career Broome has posted consecutive games of 20 points and 10 rebounds.
Midway through the second half, Broome scored six straight points for Auburn to ignite a 10-2 run and cut the lead to 3. Sophomore guard Tre Donaldson capped the run with a tough lay-up inside to make it 62-59 with just over four minutes remaining.
That was as close as the Tigers would get.
Donaldson also finished in double figures with 12 points and dished out a team-high five assists. He sparked a 9-0 run in the first half when he scored or assisted on four straight Auburn baskets. The run helped the Tigers get out to an early 17-8 lead, but Appalachian State answered back with a 10-0 run of its own. The Mountaineers led 33-31 at the break.
One of Donaldson's five assists came early in the second half when he threw a lob to Chaney Johnson who threw it down with both hands much to the delight of the Auburn fans who traveled to Boone, North Carolina. It was Johnson's only points of the game.
No other Auburn player reached 10 points. As a team, the Tigers shot 39.4 percent from the floor, 11.1 percent from beyond the arc, and 47.4 percent from the free throw line.
"We've got 11 good players," Pearl said. "The good news is when we go to the bench, we don't drop off. The bad news is when we go to the bench, we don't drop off. Our starting five, where are they going to rank in the SEC?
"If you go down the roster, with the exception of maybe Lior (Berman) or maybe Johni and maybe Tre a little bit, I think most of the guys would say, 'I have to play better' or 'I have to coach better.' Whatever it is. That's how we beat Indiana."
Berman, who Pearl mentioned, played a season-high 14 minutes Sunday. The senior scored two points, pulled down three rebounds and Auburn was +11 with him on the court.
The Tigers won't play again until Saturday when they make the short trip up I-85 to Atlanta to take on Indiana in this year's Holiday Hoopsgiving event.
APPALACHIAN STATE POSTGAME NOTES
>> Auburn moves to 2-1 all-time against Appalachian State. Prior to today's loss, the Tigers defeated the Mountaineers, 84-61, on Nov. 29, 1976, at Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum and 67-53 on Dec. 22, 2020, at Neville Arena under head coach Bruce Pearl.
>> Johni Broome led Auburn with game highs of 21 points, 13 rebounds and two blocks. It was Broome's second-straight double-double after a 30-point, 13-rebound performance in Auburn's victory over Virginia Tech in the ACC-SEC Challenge on Nov. 29. The junior big man has recorded four double-doubles on the season and 50 for his career. It was the second time in his career Broome has posted consecutive games of 20 points and 10 rebounds and the first time since the 2021-22 season when he scored 24 points and grabbed 13 rebounds at ETSU and followed that up with 20 points and 12 rebounds at Xavier, while playing for Morehead State.
>> Tre Donaldson finished with a season-high 12 points and matched season highs with five assists, three rebounds and one steal against the Mountaineers. He shot 2-of-5 from 3-point range. It marked his second game in double figures this season and the fourth of his career.
>> Auburn scored a season-high 42 points in the paint for the second-straight game and scored 40+ points in the paint for the third-straight game. Over that stretch, the Tigers have averaged 41.3 points in the paint per contest.
>> The Tigers matched a season high with 48 rebounds and their 16+ rebounding margin was its second-best mark of the season. They also pulled down a season-high 20 offensive rebounds, led by four from Broome.