AUBURN, Ala. – Three players scored in double figures as Auburn (10-2) closed out the calendar year with a 101-66 rout of Chattanooga (8-5) on Saturday night at Neville Arena.
It was the Tigers' fifth-straight win and 51st-consecutive victory over a non-conference opponent at home. It was also the second time this season Auburn hit the century mark.
"I thought we played really well tonight," head coach Bruce Pearl said. "We respected our opponent in Chattanooga. That's a good offensive team and I thought we did a really good job guarding them."
Defensively, the Tigers held the Mocs to just 36.1 percent shooting from the floor and outrebounded them on the glass, 46-23. Chattanooga came into the ballgame as one of the top teams in the country in 3-point shooting and defensive rebounding.
"I thought we valued possessions with 23 assists and nine turnovers," Pearl said. "Chattanooga beat Louisville earlier in the season by 10 and they are going to have a nice run in their league. Our kids played well and they had fun playing together tonight."
Jaylin Williams continued his hot streak pouring in a game-high 21 points on a perfect night from the floor (9-for-9), behind the 3-point arc (2-for-2) and free throw line (1-for-1).
Johni Broome joined Williams in the double-figure column with 18 points and eight rebounds, while Chad Baker-Mazara came off the bench and added 13.
"We knew they took a lot of tough shots going into the game, especially a lot of long shots from three," Williams said. "We knew if we crashed the boards, we would get a lot of offensive and defensive rebounds."
As a team, Auburn shot a season-best 56.1 percent from the field versus the Mocs.
The Tigers will ring in the New Year with Penn (8-6) on Tuesday, Jan. 2 at 8 p.m. at Neville Arena, in their final non-conference test before Southeastern Conference play.
"Chattanooga is a very good team and Penn is a very good team as well," Broome said. "Our coaches schedule teams like this to make us better before conference play. We need to make sure we finish the rest of this week off strong, handle business and get ready for SEC."
CHATTANOOGA POSTGAME NOTES
» With the win, Auburn improved to 3-2 in the all-time series with Chattanooga. The Tigers are now 3-0 when playing the Mocs in Auburn. They are also 58-26 lifetime versus current members of the Southern Conference.
» Auburn has now won 51-consecutive games against non-conference opponents at Neville Arena. The Tigers also boast a 94-25 mark in regular-season non-conference games under head coach Bruce Pearl.
» Despite the late tip time and with school not in session with students, it was the 45th-consecutive sellout crowd at Neville Arena (9,121).
» Auburn improved to 10-2 on the season, marking the third-straight season the Tigers have reached double-digit wins before conference play.
» AU won its fifth-straight game for the second time this season.
» Auburn went with the same starting lineup of Aden Holloway, Denver Jones, Jaylin Williams, Johni Broome and Chris Moore for the seventh -traight game. That group is 8-1 as a starting unit this season. Williams and Moore remain the only Tigers to start every game this season.
» The Tigers scored the first 12 points of the game, matching the their best run to start a game this season against Alabama A&M on Nov. 21.
» Auburn surpassed the 100-point mark for the second time this season (104 points vs. Indiana). The Tigers' 49 first-half points tied the second-most scored by the team this season. Against Indiana, AU scored a season-high 52 points in the first half and the Tigers scored 49 points against Alabama A&M and USC before intermission.
» The Tigers scored 52 points in the second half against Chattanooga, matching their most points in any half this season, which they did in both halves against Indiana. Both halves surpassed the most points Chattanooga had allowed in a half this season prior to Saturday's contests, which was 47 points in the second half versus Morehead State on Dec. 3. Against the Eagles, the Mocs allowed a previous season-high 87 points for the game.
» Auburn's 49-27 halftime lead is the fourth time the Tigers have led by at least 20 points at intermission this season and is its second-largest halftime lead (49-15 vs. Alabama A&M, 49-27 vs. Chattanooga, 46-25 vs. Alabama State and 48-28 vs. St. Bonaventure).
» Auburn shot a season-best 56.1 percent from the floor including 52.8 percent in the first half and 60.0 percent in the second half – the seventh time this season the Tigers have shot at least 50 percent from the floor before halftime. The Tigers have shot at least 50 percent in a half 11 times this season. It was also the second time this season Auburn has shot at least 50 percent in both halves in a game and the first time since doing so against Notre Dame on Nov. 16.
» The Tigers drained 11 3-pointers in the win over Chattanooga. It was the third time the Tigers have made double-digit 3-point field goals this season including a season-high 14 3-pointers against Indiana and 11 3-pointers against Southeastern Louisiana.
» Auburn outrebounded Chattanooga, 46-23. The Tigers' +23 rebounding margin is their largest since posting a +31 margin (66-35) on the boards against Mississippi College on Nov. 14, 2018.
» AU recorded 23 assists on 37 made field goals against Chattanooga, which is the second-most of the season, only trailing the Tigers' 25 assists against Indiana. It was the fifth time the Tigers have recorded at least 20 assists in a game this season.
» The Tigers committed only nine turnovers for the game. It marked the fifth time this season the Tigers have committed single-digit turnovers.
» Jaylin Williams led three Auburn players in double figures with 21 points on 9-of-9 field goals, 2-of-2 from long range and 1-of-1 from the free-throw line. Williams was one field goal off Charles Barkley's school record for the most field goals without a miss (10-of-10 vs. Georgia, Jan. 22, 1983, in Auburn, Ala.). It was Williams' third 20-point game over the last five games during which he is averaging 17.4 points on 68.8 percent shooting from the floor.
» Broome scored 18 points on the night including 14 points in the first half on 9-of-12 field goals. He also added eight rebounds and a season-high-tying four blocks. It was Broome's 10th game in double figures and the fourth time he has scored in double figures in the first half this season including a season-high 16 points before halftime versus Virginia Tech. He has blocked 19 shots over the last seven games.
» Chad Baker-Mazara recorded his fifth game in double figures this season with 13 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the floor, 3-of-5 from 3-point range and 2-of-2 from the foul line against Chattanooga. He added two assists, one rebound and one steal in the win.
