No. 1 Auburn routs Ole Miss 106-76 to sweep series

AUBURN, Ala. – One step closer to an SEC championship, No. 1 Auburn led from start to finish Wednesday, beating Ole Miss 106-76 to sweep the season series, the Tigers’ fifth straight victory.

“We played so well offensively,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. “There’s some really special pieces. Johni was dominant on the inside. We shot it and shared, and as a result, we put up a pretty big number.”

National player of the year frontrunner Johni Broome led Auburn with 24 points and nine rebounds, adding four assists and two blocked shots. 

“Broome’s got great poise and patience,” Ole Miss coach Chris Beard said. “If you double him, he’s such an improved passer. If you don’t double him, he’s more than capable of getting to the free-throw line and scoring.”

Four Tigers joined Broome in double figures. Chad Baker-Mazara totaled 22 points while Chaney Johnson, Denver Jones and Miles Kelly each added 13. Tahaad Pettiford led Auburn with six assists.

Leading by 10 at the half, Auburn led by double digits for the final 18 minutes and 32 seconds after Broome’s baseline drive.

Broome’s last bucket gave Auburn a 23-point lead with 5:17 to play. Baker-Mazara hit a pair of 3-pointers in 26 seconds to extend the Tigers’ advantage to 28 points with 3:17 remaining.

Auburn reached the century mark on Jahki Howard’s 3-pointer with 2 minutes to play, the first of two 3-pointers for the freshman in 19 seconds. 

Broome became the 86th player in NCAA Division I history to score 2,500 career points when he made his fifth free throw of the half to give the Tigers an 18-point lead. 

“All glory to God,” Broome said. “He let me have an impact my freshman year. He gave me the platform I have now. He’s kept me healthy enough to achieve that goal.”

Auburn made its first six shots on its way to shooting 60.7 percent from the field and 75 percent from 3-point range in the first half.

Known for his explosive second halves, Broome did most of his damage in the first half, scoring 16 points and going 8-for-8 from the free-throw line before intermission.

“It feels good. I’ve been working on my free throws,” said Broome, who drew nine fouls and finished 10 of 12 from the line. “In the first half I made some free throws, so it got me in the rhythm of the game seeing the ball go in the basket the easy way.”

A pair of 3-pointers from Miles Kelly, one from Baker-Mazara and two Broome buckets in the paint gave Auburn a 19-7 lead after a 12-0 run.

The Tigers extended their lead to 17 points on a slick give-and-go from Dylan Cardwell to Johnson, followed by Jones’ 3-pointer and a pair of Jones’ free throws.  

Kelly’s fadeaway 3-pointer put the Tigers on top by 22 with 8:05 to play in the half before Ole Miss shaved 16 points off the Tigers’ lead over the next six minutes. 

Pettiford’s high-arcing floater gave Auburn a 50-40 halftime lead.

“As good as advertised,” Beard said of Auburn, which has defeated Ole Miss eight consecutive times. “A team that is definitely one of the handful of teams that would be a favorite to win six games in three weekends. They come at you in waves with depth.” 

After three straight home games, the top-ranked Tigers (26-2, 14-1) look to improve to 8-0 in SEC road games, traveling to Lexington, Kentucky, Saturday to play No. 17 Kentucky at noon CT on ABC and the Auburn Sports Network. 

“It’s a huge building. They have a very knowledgeable fan base. They’re the fifth best offensive team in the country,” Pearl said, noting Auburn’s most recent win at Kentucky came in 1988. “Historically, Kentucky’s been the best team in the league and historically, we haven’t been one of the best teams in the league over a long period of time. But we’re trying to put a dent in that right now.”

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

POSTGAME NOTES

• With the win, Auburn now leads 85-64 in the all-time series with Ole Miss. The Tigers swept the Rebels for the third-straight season and have won eight straight in the series, which is their longest winning streak in series history. Auburn leads 55-17 in games played on the Plains. The Tigers lead 8-6 at Neville Arena including winning the last four and five of the last six games in Auburn.
• Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl is now 17-11 lifetime against Ole Miss including 12-9 coaching Auburn, which includes eight-straight victories. With the Tigers, Pearl is 6-5 against the Rebels in games played at Neville Arena and 6-4 in Oxford.  
• Coach Pearl has won all five meetings between he and second-year Ole Miss head coach Chris Beard including consecutive season sweeps over the Rebels.
• Auburn’s 26 victories this season are tied for fifth most in program history. The Tigers have won at least 26 games in five of the last eight seasons compared to just once in program history prior to the 2017-18 season. AU has matched the 1998-99 Tigers for the best 28-game start in school history at 26-2 and has also matched the second-most regular-season wins in program history from 1998-99, one win behind Auburn’s 27 regular-season victories during the 2021-22 season.
• Auburn’s 14-1 SEC record is the best 15-game start in conference play in program history, one game better than the Tigers’ 13-2 SEC starts in 1998-99 and 2021-22. The 14 SEC victories are tied with the 1998-99 Tigers for the second-most in school history, one behind the 15 SEC wins in 2021-22.
• AU maintains its two-game lead in the SEC with three games to play. The Tigers clinched a double bye in the SEC Tournament.
• Auburn is now 146-40 as a ranked team under Pearl including 82-6 at home.
• The Tigers used the starting lineup of Denver Jones, Miles Kelly, Chad Baker-Mazara, Johni Broome and Dylan Cardwell. Jones and Cardwell have started all 28 games this season.
• Auburn played in front of its 69t-consecutive sellout crowd at Neville Arena (9,121).
• The Tigers’ 106 points were the most in an SEC game since a 109-86 victory at South Carolina on Jan. 23, 2021. They scored 90-plus points against Ole Miss in both meetings this season (92 points in Oxford) and are the only team to score 90 points against the Rebels this season.
• The 30-point win was the Tigers’ largest margin of victory against an SEC opponent since beating No. 15 South Carolina 86-55 in the quarterfinals of last year’s SEC Tournament and their largest in an SEC regular-season game since a 101-61 victory over the 11th-ranked Gamecocks last season on Feb. 14, 2024.
• It was Auburn’s second-largest win in the 149-game series history against Ole Miss and its largest over the Rebels since a 79-44 victory on Jan. 7, 1963.
• Auburn never trailed in Wednesday’s game. It was the ninth time this season the Tigers never trailed in a game.
• AU outrebounded Ole Miss, 33-20. The +13 rebounding margin matched an SEC season high from the LSU and Arkansas games.
• Auburn blocked eight shots against Ole Miss, passing the 2002-03 and 2017-18 Tigers for fourth on Auburn’s single-season blocked shot list with 184 blocks.
• The Tigers held a 10-point lead at the half (50-40) marking the 15th time they have held a double-digit halftime lead this season.
• Auburn recorded its third, 50-point first half of the season and its first in SEC play. The Tigers had its highest first-half field goal percentage of the season at 60.7 percent. Auburn’s 56 points in the second half are one off the Tigers’ season high for any half (57 in second half vs. Georgia State).
• Auburn shot 59.6 percent (34-of-57) for the game, which is its highest field-goal percentage in an SEC game since shooting 62.1 percent (36-of-58) last season at Georgia.
• Auburn made 11-of-21 from 3-point range in its win over Ole Miss. It was the 13th time this season the Tigers have made double-digit 3-pointers including the sixth time in SEC play.
• AU made a season-high 27 free throws and tied its season high with 33 free throw attempts. The Tigers’ previous season high was 26 made free throws against Oklahoma.
• Auburn recorded 20 assists led by Tahaad Pettiford’s career-high six assists. It was the eighth time the Tigers have registered at least 20 assists in a game this season.
• Auburn committed only eight turnovers on the night. It was the 17th time this season the Tigers have had single-digit turnovers. 
• Broome led Auburn with 24 points on 7-of-12 field goals and a career high 10 made free throws on 12 attempts along with nine rebounds, four assists and two blocks. He became the 86th NCAA Division I men’s basketball player, including the fifth active player, to surpass 2,500 career points.
• Chad Baker-Mazara recorded his sixth career 20-point game, including his second this season, with a season-high 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting overall and 4-of-5 from long range to go with three rebounds, two blocks, one assist and one steal against the Rebels. It was the fourth time Auburn has had two 20-point scorers in a game this season after Broome and Pettiford did so against Houston and at Duke and Jones and Chaney Johnson each posted 20-point games at Vanderbilt.
• Jones, Kelly and Johnson each chipped in with 13 points apiece on Wednesday night. Jones hit a pair of 3-pointers and recorded three assists and zero turnovers. It was his 18th game in double figures this season and the 80th of his career.
• Kelly was 4-of-7 from the floor, including 3-of-5 from long range, and was 2-of-2 from the foul line versus Ole Miss. He added three rebounds, one assist, one block and one steal in the win. It was the 10th time this season he has made at least three 3-pointers in a game. He has 16 double-figure scoring games this season and 65 for his career.
• Johnson made 5-of-6 field goals and all three of his free throw attempts and pulled down six rebounds along with two assists, one block and one steal. It was his 15th game in double figures this season including his sixth in the last seven games. It was also his 89th game in double figures for his career.