NASHVILLE, Tenn. – It was a perfect night for Jaylin Williams who scored a game-high 21 points to lead No. 13 Auburn to an 80-65 win at Vanderbilt on Wednesday night.
The fifth-year senior made the first shot of the night, a hook shot on the game's opening possession, and he never missed after that. He finished 7-of-7 from the field, including a pair of 3-pointers, and made all five of his free throw attempts.
"I thought Jaylin Williams was phenomenal," Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl said.
In the second half, when K.D. Johnson realized Williams had not missed a shot yet, he had some advice for his teammate.
"You better just take only lay-ups," he told him. "Stay perfect."
Williams, who set a career high for points in the first half with 17, only took two shots in the second half. Both went down.
"The open shots that I had (in the second half) were when they were pressuring us," he said. "I wasn't really feeling those shots to begin with. And then I was looking for my teammates. Things ended up pretty good for me."
"That says it all," Pearl added. "He's 5-for-5 in the first half and doesn't say a word about 'Get me the ball.' He doesn't say a word about his touches. He just plays. He plays the game the right way and gives God a chance to bless him."
Williams also pulled down eight rebounds and dished out three assists, including a ridiculous behind-the-back pass to set up Denver Jones for a corner 3-pointer.
The 15-point win was Auburn's second-largest margin of victory at Vanderbilt all-time and the largest since 1921, the first game in the series. The Tigers have now won 10 straight on the season with all 10 victories coming by 11 or more points.
The Commodores battled back after Williams' early barrage and took a 16-14 lead at one point, but Auburn responded with a 20-2 run of its own that included a three-point play from Williams and back-to-back 3-pointers from Aden Holloway who finished with 10 points and scored in double figures for the second straight game.
Auburn stepped up defensively as well, holding Vanderbilt to just eight points over the final 12:32 in the first half. The Tigers led 41-24 at the break.
In the second half, it was Johni Broome and Dylan Cardwell who carried the load for Auburn as they combined for 19 points and 10 rebounds over the final 20 minutes.
Broome recorded his 53rd career double-double and eighth this season with 15 points and a team-high 12 rebounds. He's now scored in double figures in each of the team's last eight games and is averaging 15.8 points per game over that span.
Cardwell scored eight of his career-high 12 points in the second half and added six rebounds, two blocks and a steal in 15 minutes. It was his fourth career game in double figures.
"Dylan was just a monster at the rim and did a great job of getting out of ball screens and getting into the lane and going downhill," Pearl said. "And obviously defensively, he just doesn't take a possession off. Ever. If I could get everybody to do that, we have a chance to be pretty good. But he was great in there."
Auburn (15-2, 4-0) returns home this weekend for a top-25 matchup against Ole Miss in Neville Arena. The game is set to tip off at 7:30 p.m. CT on Saturday.
VANDERBILT POSTGAME NOTES
» Auburn has now won six of its last seven games against Vanderbilt. The victory marked the Tigers' 20th win in 72 games at Vanderbilt and their 16th win in 55 games at Memorial Gymnasium. The Commodores still hold a 90-57 lead in the all-time series. The 15-point win was Auburn's second-largest margin of victory at Vanderbilt all-time and the Tigers' largest win there since a 27-7 victory on Jan. 28, 1921, in the first game in series history.
» Bruce Pearl is now 14-9 in his head coaching career against Vanderbilt including 6-5 at Auburn. Pearl is 6-7 lifetime in Memorial Gymnasium including 3-4 at Auburn.
» Auburn extends its winning streak to 10 games with its win at Vanderbilt. It marks the Tigers' longest winning streak since winning 19 straight games from Nov. 25-Feb. 5 during the 2021-22 season.
» With its 15-point win at Vanderbilt, all 15 of Auburn's victories this season have been by at least 11 points.
» Auburn held a 41-24 lead at halftime, which is the eighth time this season the Tigers have led by at least 17 points at intermission including each of the last two games after leading LSU, 51-34, at halftime on Saturday. It was the fifth time Auburn has held an opponent to 25 or fewer first-half points.
» Auburn scored a season-high 29 second-chance points on 14 offensive rebounds.
» Auburn shot 18-of-22 (81.8%) from the free throw line at Vanderbilt. The Tigers are shooting 80.9 percent (169-of-209) from the foul line during their 10 game winning streak.
» Jaylin Williams led four Tigers in double figures with 21 points on a perfect 7-of-7 shooting from the floor, 2-of-2 from 3-point range and 5-of-5 from the free-throw line to go with eight rebounds, three assists, one block and one steal. He scored 17 points in the first half on 5-of-5 shooting from the floor, including a pair of 3-pointers, and 5-of-5 from the free-throw line, which was a career high for points in the first half, topping his previous high of 16 points at Ole Miss in 2021. It marked his fifth 20-point game during Auburn's 10-game winning streak during which he is averaging 15.8 points on 69.9 percent shooting from the floor.
» Johni Broome recorded his 53rd career double-double with 15 points on 6-of-12 field goals and 12 rebounds. He added three steals, two assists and one block in the win. It marked his 17th double-double in two years at Auburn including eight this season. It was Broome's eighth-straight game in double figures during which he is averaging 15.8 points. Broome's first bucket of the night gave him 1,700 career points and he ended the night with 1,713 career points to date.
» Dylan Cardwell scored a career-high 12 points on 4-of-7 field goals and 4-of-4 free throws to go with six rebounds, two blocks and one steal at Vanderbilt. It was Cardwell's fourth career game in double figures including his previous career-high of 11 points versus USC earlier this season.
» Aden Holloway added 10 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, and added one rebound and one assist on the night. After scoring 13 points against LSU on Saturday, Holloway has scored in double figures in consecutive games for the first time since doing so in the first three games of the season.
