Maui madness: Broome's tip-in gives No. 4 Auburn comeback win over No. 5 Iowa State

LAHAINA, Hawaii – Johni Broome’s tip-in with one second remaining gave No. 4 Auburn an 83-81 come-from-behind victory over No. 5 Iowa State Monday in the Maui Invitational, the second biggest comeback in the Bruce Pearl era and the Tigers’ second top-five win this season.

Auburn overcame an 18-point deficit, one point shy of the Tigers’ 19-point comeback win at Ole Miss in 2020. 

“Our kids didn’t quit,” Pearl said. “Iowa State played great in the first half. You could tell both teams were very well prepared. I think they got a little tired. We started guarding them. We came here to make history.

“This team now owns two top-five wins. Not since 1990 when Kansas started the season 5-0 with two top-five wins has it happened, so we made some history.”

Broome led five Tigers in double figures with 21 points and 10 rebounds in 36 minutes. Chad Baker-Mazara scored 18 points, Tahaad Pettiford added 14 while Miles Kelly and Denver Jones each scored 12 points.

Auburn outscored Iowa State 50-32 in the second half, outrebounding the Cyclones 21-10 after intermission while enjoying a 14-2 advantage in second-chance points, including Broome’s game-winner. 

Trailing by 16 at the half, Auburn came out sizzling in the second half, pulling within three during a 13-0 run after Baker-Mazara’s 4-point play. 

“Don’t let adversity take the best out of us,” Baker-Mazara said. “The guys responded very well, and we came back and put up a fight.”

Auburn needed only six minutes to erase the Cyclones’ lead, tying the score at 53-53 on Kelly’s 3-pointer with 13:51 to play.

Iowa State regained the lead, holding onto it for nearly 10 minutes until Broome’s second-chance 3-pointer tied the score at 73-73.

Jones hit a pair of free throws to give Auburn its first lead with 4:01 to play before hitting a jumper that put the Tigers up 77-73 lead with 3:19 remaining.

A flagrant foul on Auburn led to a 4-point possession for Iowa State that tied the score at 77-77 with 2:07 remaining. 

Baker-Mazara gave the Tigers another lead, but Iowa State hit four free throws to lead by two with 51 seconds to play.

Kelly tied it once more with a layup with 38 seconds left. Broome’s steal with 11 seconds left gave Auburn a chance to win. 

Jones drove and shot a layup that Broome tipped in for the win.

“I trusted Denver to get downhill,” Pearl said. “Somehow the ball circled out and Johni Broome, after he set a screen, they put two on the ball and let Johni get to the backside and make a play.”

Iowa State used a 10-0 run to build a double-digit lead midway through the first half, expanding the advantage to as many as 18 late in the half. 

Broome made a 3-pointer during a 7-0 Auburn run, then Kelly’s 3-pointer pulled the Tigers within 10 points with 1:28 to play before the Cyclones ended the half on a 6-0 run to take a 49-33 halftime lead. 

Iowa State shot 58.1 percent in the half while holding Auburn to 38.5-percent shooting. The second-half shooting percentages were nearly the opposite: 54.5 percent for the Tigers, 31.8 for the Cyclones. 

The Cyclones valued possessions more effectively than Auburn in the first half, forcing seven turnovers while committing only two to build an 11-0 edge in points off turnovers. 

Iowa State, as Pearl pointed out while previewing the Cyclones last week on the Plains, excelled in transition, outscoring Auburn 14-3 in fastbreak points in the half.

Broome and Pettiford each scored 10 points in the first half to lead Auburn.

The Tigers (5-0) take on the winner of Monday’s late game between No. 12 North Carolina and Dayton Tuesday in the semifinals at 10 p.m. CT on the Auburn Sports Network from Lahaina Civic Center. 

Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on X: @jeff_shearer

POSTGAME NOTES

• Auburn went with the starting five of Denver Jones, Miles Kelly, Chad Baker-Mazara, Johni Broome and Dylan Cardwell for the third-straight game (3-0).
• The Tigers placed five players in double figures for the third time this season including the last two games.
• With the win, Auburn now leads 3-2 in the all-time series with Iowa State. The Tigers have won both matchups in the series under head coach Bruce Pearl after defeating the Cyclones, 80-76, as part of the 2020 Big 12/SEC Challenge at Neville Arena.
• The game was the first matchup of Associated Press Top 5-ranked teams in the quarterfinals in the 41-year history of the Maui Invitational.
• Auburn is off to a 5-0 start for the third time in the last six seasons after starting 8-0 during the 2022-23 season and 15-0 in 2019-20.
• The win over No. 5-ranked Iowa State gives this year’s team the first two wins over Top 5 non-conference opponents in program history after the Tigers defeated No. 4 Houston, 74-69, on Nov. 9 as part of the Mattress Firm Battleground 2k24 tournament in Houston, Texas.
• Auburn is the fourth team in AP Poll history (since 1948-49) to start a season 5-0 with multiple Top 5 wins and the first to do so since Kansas in 1989-90, according to ESPN Stats Info.
• Auburn is now 3-1 all-time in two appearances in the Maui Invitational. The Tigers went 2-1 in the event in 2018.
• The win is Coach Pearl’s 205th victory in his 11 seasons at Auburn, putting him eight wins behind Joel Eaves, who won 213 games 14 seasons as the Tigers’ head coach, for the most career coaching wins in program history.   
• Auburn scored 50 points in the second half on 54.5 percent shooting including 5-of-13 from long range and 9-of-12 from the foul line. The Tigers have scored at least 50 points in the last three halves after scoring 50 points and 52 points in the first and second halves against North Alabama respectively.
• Auburn was led by Johni Broome, who recorded his 63rd career double-double and third straight with 21 points and a game-high 10 rebounds including 11 points and seven rebounds in the second half against Iowa State.  It was Broome’s 31st consecutive game in double figures. He also blocked two shots in the game, giving him 171 career blocked shots, which passes Horace Spencer for fourth in program history. It was also Broome’s second-straight game with at least 20 points and 10 rebounds after going for 30 points and 17 rebounds against North Alabama.
• Chad Baker-Mazara scored in double figures for the third-straight game and the fourth time this season with 18 points on 5-of-8 field goals, 3-of-4 three-pointers and 5-of-5 from the foul line (all three 3-pointers and all five free throws in the second half) to go with three rebounds, two steals and one assist in the win. Baker-Mazara led Auburn with 16 points on 4-of-7 shooting including 3-of-4 from long range in the second half.
• Freshman Tahaad Pettiford scored 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the floor, including a pair of 3-point field goals, and added two rebounds, one assist and one steal versus the Cyclones. Pettiford is averaging 17.5 points on 55.6 percent shooting from the field and 53.8 from long range in two games against Top 5 opponents (Houston and Iowa State). 
• Playing in his 100th career collegiate game, Miles Kelly scored 12 points including a pair of 3-pointers. He finished with two rebounds, two assists and one block versus Iowa State. It was Kelly’s third game in double figures this season including back-to-back contests. He went over 1,100 career points in the game, finishing the night with 1,110 career points to date.
• Denver Jones scored in double figures for the fourth time this season and the third-straight game with 12 points including 10 points in the second half of play. He went 6-of-6 from the foul line and added three rebounds and two assists.
• The game marked the 100th career collegiate game for JP Pegues.