History made! No. 1 Auburn wins at No. 2 Alabama

TUCALOOSA, Ala. – On the eve of the SEC’s first No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup, Bruce Pearl gathered his team at midcourt and said, “I promise you; you will remember this game. Let’s make history.”

Twenty-four hours later, No. 1 Auburn celebrated its latest history-making milestone, a 94-85 victory over No. 2 Alabama Saturday at Coleman Coliseum in a game the Tigers never trailed.  

“All eyes of college basketball were on the state of Alabama and the SEC,” said Pearl, who earned his second career victory in a battle of the nation’s top teams. “I’m a big fan of making history and I know that 1-2s are rare. We’ve got two road wins in the 1-2 matchup that I will cherish.”

Leading national player of the year candidate Johni Broome led six Tigers in double figures, totaling game highs in points (19), rebounds (14) and assists (6) to help Auburn improve to 7-0 in SEC road games.

“It’s a good win,” said Broome, who added two blocks and a steal. “I’m proud of my teammates and our staff. I came in trying to be aggressive. I was feeling it a little bit and making some plays.”

Denver Jones scored 16 points, Miles Kelly and Chad Baker-Mazara each added 15, Chaney Johnson scored 14 and Tahaad Pettiford contributed 13 points. 

“I’m happy because we had such balance,” Pearl said. “I’m happy for the kids from Alabama. For Chaney and Denver, it was really big, and they both played really well. This rivalry matters in the state.” 

Leading by nine at the half, Jones hit a trio of 3-pointers early in the second half to give Auburn a 14-point lead. 

“Coming out aggressive,” Jones said. “If I had an open look, I was taking it, trusting myself and my teammates.”

The home team used a 10-0 run to pull within three points with 9:36 to play.

Alabama twice tied the score, only for Auburn to answer with 3-pointers from Pettiford and Baker-Mazara.

“What our locker room feels really good about right now is that so many guys contributed,” Pearl said. 

A 7-0 Auburn run gave the Tigers a 75-68 lead with 5:35 to play, and the Tigers led by at least five points the rest of the way.

Kelly hit a pair of free throws to give Auburn a 10-point lead with 51 seconds remaining. Alabama got within five with 34 seconds left, but Jones and Kelly each hit a pair of free throws to close out the victory.

Broome and Johnson each scored 12 points in the first half to help the Tigers maintain the lead throughout the half.

After Kelly opened the game with 3-pointer, Broome hit a pair of 3s to give Auburn a 9-0 lead. 

“You’ve got to play well early on the road if you’re going to win,” Pearl said. “Can’t give the home team any kind of momentum.”

Johnson’s 3-pointer gave Auburn a 10-point lead just 3 minutes and 7 seconds into the game.

Alabama twice got within one point but Johnson hit a corner 3-pointer and the Tigers ended the half on a 7-0 run to lead 42-33, the Crimson Tide’s lowest scoring half of the season.

Mark Sears led Alabama (21-4, 10-2) with 18 points, but he made only 4 of 17 shots and was 2-for-11 on 3-pointers.

“(Denver Jones) did a great job on Mark,” Pearl said. “He made his catches tough, stayed down. How do you stay in front of Mark Sears? Hardly anybody can. Denver Jones did.”

The Tigers made 12 of 30 3-point attempts while holding Alabama to 5-for-26 on long-range shots.

Auburn (23-2, 11-1) returns to Neville Arena for its next three games, beginning Wednesday at 8 p.m. CT vs. Arkansas on ESPN and the Auburn Sports Network.

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

POSTGAME NOTES

• Auburn claimed the first No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup between two SEC teams in conference history.
• Bruce Pearl became the first head coach to win a No. 1 vs. No. 2 game with two different schools and the first to win two AP Top 2 matchups on the road. Pearl previously led No. 2 Tennessee to a road win at No. 1 Memphis in February of 2008.
• Auburn is now 8-7 in its last 15 games against Alabama in the rivalry series.
• Auburn has now won three-straight ranked matchups against Alabama with two of those coming in Tuscaloosa. Prior to that, the Crimson Tide had won the first four ranked versus ranked games between the two teams all-time. Overall, the Tigers are 10-2 in their last 12 Top 25 matchups and are 3-1 in ranked matchups on the road this season.
• Saturday’s game was Auburn’s fifth Top 10 matchup of the season, which is just one fewer than the Tigers had in program history entering the season. Auburn is 3-2 in those matchups this season compared to just 1-5 before this season.
• Auburn improved to 23-2 on the season, which is tied with the 2021-22 Tigers for the second-best, 25-game start in program history, just one game behind the 24-1 start in 1998-99. AU has won at least 23 games six times in the last eight seasons compared to just three times in program history before that.
• Auburn, which leads the SEC with an 11-1 conference record, reaches 11 SEC wins for the sixth time in the last eight seasons and the 20th time in program history.
• AU set a school record with its seventh SEC road win of the season, breaking the old mark of six road wins in conference play in 1950, 1970, 1999 and 2022. The Tigers’ seven SEC road wins this season lead the league, one ahead of Alabama with six.
• Pearl joined former head coach Bill Lynn as the only Auburn head coaches to lead the Tigers to three wins on the road at Alabama all-time.
• Pearl is now 14-14 against Alabama in his head coaching career including 9-11 at Auburn. He is 5-8 in Tuscaloosa including 3-7 during his coaching career on the Plains.
• Auburn surpassed the 90-point mark for the ninth time this season and the third time in the last five games with its 94 points at Alabama.
• AU made 12-of-30 from 3-point range compared to just 5-of-26 for Alabama, who came into the game leading the SEC with 10.3 three-pointers per game. It was the sixth time this season the Tigers have made at least 12 three-point field goals in a game including the second time in SEC play (14 at Ole Miss).
• Auburn finished with 42 bench points, which is the third most for the Tigers this season overall and the most in an SEC game.
• AU committed just four turnovers in the game, which was the fewest turnovers for the Tigers since they had only three turnovers against Indiana last season. It was also the 15th time Auburn has had single-digit turnovers this season including the last four games when they have averaged 6.75 turnovers.
• Auburn had six players in double figures for the third time this season and the first time in SEC play. Johni Broome led Auburn with his 75th career double-double and his 15th this season with 19 points and 14 rebounds to go with six assists, two blocks and one steal against the Crimson Tide. Broome went for 12 points, eight rebounds, three assists and one steal in the first half. It was the 10th time he has scored in double figures in the first half this season. He passed former Tiger Scott Pohlman to move into 12th on Auburn’s career scoring list finishing the day with 1,460 points. It was his sixth game of at least 15 points, 10 rebounds and five assists on the season. The Tigers previously had six double-figure scorers against Richmond and North Carolina.
• Denver Jones added 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the floor, 3-of-5 from long range and 3-of-3 free throws at Alabama. Jones finished with one rebound and one block. Jones has drained 100 three-pointers in his Auburn career. It was his 78th career game in double figures including 16 this season. He scored 13 points on 4-of-6 shooting including 3-of-4 3-pointers and 2-of-2 from the foul line in the second half.
• Chad Baker-Mazara scored 15 points of 4-of-7 field goals, 2-of-3 three-pointers and 5-of-5 from the foul line at Alabama. He added five rebounds, three assists, one block and one steal. It was his 50th career game in double figures including 18 this season. CBM needs just one point to reach 1,000 points in his collegiate career.
• Miles Kelly added 15 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, to go with eight rebounds and two assists at Alabama. Kelly scored 12 points in the second half including going 7-of-8 from the free throw line. He made both of his field goal attempts and his only 3-point attempt. It marked his 63rd career game in double figures including 14 this season.
• Chaney Johnson poured in 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting overall, 2-of-4 from beyond the arc and 2-of-2 free throws to go with five rebounds and one block. Johnson has now scored in double figures 13 times this season including four-straight games during which he is averaging 15.0 points per contest on 68.6 percent shooting (24-of-35). He has tabulated 87 double-figure scoring games in his career.
• Freshman Tahaad Pettiford scored in double figures for the 15th time in 25 career games. He scored 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the floor, one 3-pointer and 2-of-3 from the foul line. Pettiford went for 11 points in the second half on 4-of-6 field goals, 1-of-2 from 3-point range and 2-of-3 from the foul line. He has scored in double figures in nine of 11 games against ranked opponents and nine of 12 SEC games.