Broome scores season-high 31, No. 1 Auburn beats Georgia

AUBURN, Ala. – After missing No. 1 Auburn’s first matchup with Georgia five weeks earlier, Johni Broome played a starring role in the sequel, leading the Tigers to an 82-70 wire-to-wire victory Saturday at Neville Arena. 

“It’s about survival. The league is so good and so competitive,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. “Georgia had a great game plan. We managed to find a few things we could do. In the second half, we made some good adjustments.”

Broome dominated in the second half, scoring 19 of his season-high 31 points while making all seven shots from the field, grabbing eight of his game-high 14 rebounds and recording all four of his assists.  

“My teammates got me looks, my coaches got me in the right spots, and God let the ball go through the basket,” Broome said. “Nothing crazy, I’m just trying to get back to my normal self.”

“That’s why he’s player of the year,” Pearl said. “Unbelievable poise. He plays at a great pace. He’s patient and calculating. He attacked the rim so much, that was the biggest difference.  We had No. 4, they didn’t. He trains like a pro, he prepares like a pro. He’s invested in his development.”

With two weeks remaining in the regular season, Auburn enjoys a two-game lead in its quest for a fifth SEC championship in the past eight seasons under Pearl.

“Beating Georgia matters to Auburn,” Pearl said. “It matters to me. That’s 13 out of 16, and that’s a pretty good stretch against one of your rivals.”

With his 17th double-double of the season, Broome drew within one of Mike Mitchell’s 50-year-old program record while leading Auburn to its fifth straight win over the Bulldogs.

“This whole season, one of our mottos has been to make history,” Broome said. “Whether that’s individually or as a team. If God’s willing, I’ll be able to break it.”

Denver Jones scored 17 points, Miles Kelly added 11 points and grabbed eight rebounds, Chad Baker-Mazara scored 11 points and Tahaad Pettiford led the Tigers with five assists. 

Leading by five after a cold-shooting first half, Auburn shot 59.3-percent in the second half, taking a 10-point lead on Broome’s second 3-pointer.

Asa Newell, who led Georgia with 20 points, hit a trio of 3-pointers to keep the Bulldogs within striking distance, but Broome answered with a baseline dunk to put Auburn ahead by seven. 

After Georgia (16-11, 4-10) pulled within four on a 3-pointer, Broome assisted Chaney Johnson for a layup with 3:19 remaining and the Tigers led by at least five the rest of the game.

Broome led the Tigers with 12 points and six rebounds in the first half, scoring Auburn’s first points in a 9-0 opening run during which the Tigers made four straight shots. Broome, Kelly, Jones and Baker-Mazara each made 3-pointers in the first half.

Baker-Mazara’s corner 3 gave Auburn an eight-point lead with 8 seconds left before Silas Demery Jr. beat the buzzer with a 3-pointer that cut Auburn’s halftime lead to 29-24.

The top-ranked Tigers (25-2, 13-1) conclude their three-game homestand Wednesday at 6 p.m. CT vs. Ole Miss at Neville Arena on ESPN2 and the Auburn Sports Network.

“We’ve got to continue to try to get better,” Pearl said. “That’s our goal. And while we’re trying to do that, we’re trying to beat the people in front of us. We’re trying to play for championships.”

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

POSTGAME NOTES

• With the win, Auburn now leads 104-97 in the all-time series with Georgia. The Tigers have won 13 of the last 16 in the series including the last five. Auburn has swept a home-and-home against the Bulldogs in five of the past eight seasons. AU leads 66-25 in games played on the Plains. The Tigers have won four-straight home games and seven of eight at Neville Arena in the series.
• Auburn is 15-7 against Georgia under head coach Bruce Pearl including 7-4 in Athens and 8-3 in Auburn. Pearl is 25-10 against the Bulldogs overall. His Milwaukee squad lost 89-69 in Athens in 2002 and he was 10-2 at Tennessee including 5-1 in Knoxville and 5-1 in Athens. 
• Coach Pearl is 8-7 lifetime against Georgia head coach Mike White including 3-6 while White was at Florida and 5-1 at UGA. 
• Auburn is 144-40 as a ranked team under head coach Bruce Pearl including 80-6 at home, 34-25 on the road and 30-9 at neutral sites.
• Ranked Auburn teams are 18-5 all-time against Georgia including 12-0 in Auburn. When the Tigers are ranked, they are 18-4 against unranked Bulldog squads, including 12-0 in Auburn.  
• Auburn has matched the 1998-99 Tigers for the best 27-game start in school history at 25-2. The Tigers secured the seventh 25-win season in program history including an SEC-best sixth in the last eight years. This season marked the fifth time Auburn has won 25 regular-season games including the fourth time in the last eight seasons. 
• Auburn improved to an SEC-leading 13-1 in SEC play, which matches the 1998-99 for the best 14-game SEC start in program history.
• The Tigers played before their 68th-consecutive sellout crowd at Neville Arena (9,121).
• Auburn scored 53 second-half points on 59.3 percent shooting overall (16-of-27) and 86.4 percent from the foul line (19-of-22) against the Bulldogs. It was the third-most points the Tigers have scored in any half this season, only trailing their 57 points in the second half against Georgia State and 54 second-half points against Oklahoma. 
• AU committed only eight turnovers against Georgia. It was the 16th time this season the Tigers have had single-digit turnovers including six times in the last eight games.
• Auburn pulled down 17 offensive rebounds, which is the second-most for the Tigers this season behind their 25 offensive boards at LSU. For the game, AU won the rebounding battle, 40-35. The Tigers are 18-1 when outrebounding their opponents this season.
• The Tigers went with the starting five of Denver Jones, Miles Kelly, Chad Baker-Mazara, Johni Broome and Dylan Cardwell. Baker-Mazara returned to the starting lineup after coming off the bench in the last three games. He had started the first 23 games of the season before the last three games. Jones and Cardwell have started all 27 games this season,
• With its five blocks on Saturday, Auburn has 176 blocked shots on the season, which is sixth-most in a single season in program history. Cardwell blocked three shots on the afternoon giving him 201 blocks for his career, joining Kyle Davis, Mamadou N’diaye and Broome as the only players with 200 career blocks in program history.
• Auburn placed four players in double figures led by Johni Broome’s 77th career double-double of 31 points and 14 rebounds along with four assists and two blocks. Broome’s 17 double-doubles this season are one off Mike Mitchell’s school record 18 double-doubles during the 1974-75 season. It was his third game of at least 30 points and 10 rebounds in his three seasons as he went for 30 points and 13 rebounds against Virginia Tech last season and 30 points and 17 rebounds vs. North Alabama earlier this season. His 31 points are an Auburn career high and one off his overall career-high of 32 points against Murray State in 2022, while playing for Morehead State.
• Jones scored 17 points and went 6-of-6 from the free throw line in the final 1:26 of the game against UGA. It was his 79th career game in double figures including 17 this season and five in the last seven contests.
• Baker-Mazara and Kelly each added 11 points. It was Baker-Mazara’s 20th game in double figures of the season including three straight during which he has averaged 13.7 points, and the 52nd of his career, while Kelly has scored in double figures 15 times this season and 64 times in his career. Baker-Mazara added four assists and three rebounds and Kelly pulled down eight rebounds for the third-straight game and recorded two assists in the win.