Block party: No. 1 Auburn swats Sooners 98-70

AUBURN, Ala. – Reaching the halfway mark of SEC play without a conference loss, No. 1 Auburn blocked 11 shots in a 98-70 thrashing of Oklahoma Tuesday at Neville Arena, the Tigers’ 14th straight win. 

“We had an advantage on the inside,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. “I was really pleased with our effort. We’ve got great size at the rim. That was the key to us being able to hold them down. We’ve got some big, long guards. Our length was a factor tonight.”

Dylan Cardwell swatted six of Auburn’s rejections, adding eight points on four dunks, including a sensational reverse slam of Denver Jones’ lob, prompting the game’s loudest cheers.

“I just threw it to the rim,” Jones said. “I had no idea he was going to try to reverse that.” 

Like every other opponent this season, Oklahoma had no answer for Johni Broome. The national player of the year frontrunner again filled the box score with 15 points, a team-high six assists, five rebounds, three blocks and three steals.

“Cardwell’s so big and he’s active on the glass,” Oklahoma coach Porter Moser said. “It’s two of them, and then they’ve got shooters everywhere. They’ve really got a complete team. The physicality and the size they have, they make you pay.”

Leading by 10 at the half, Chad Baker-Mazara scored Auburn’s first eight points of the second half and the Tigers led by double-digits the rest of the game.

Jones hit back-to-back 3-pointers to put the home team ahead by 18 points. Jones scored 13 points and was 3-for-3 on 3-pointers, adding four assists and three rebounds while compiling a team-best plus-26.

Baker-Mazara fouled out with 9:34 to play but not before scoring 11 of his 15 points in the second half to help the Tigers lead by 21.

Tahaad Pettiford added three 3-pointers in the second half and finished with 11 points, one of five Tigers in double figures. 

Chaney Johnson scored 13 points and grabbed a team-best eight rebounds. 

The Tigers held the Sooners to 33.3-percent shooting, including 7-of-23 (30.4 percent) on 3-point shots.

“They made 18 baskets,” Pearl said. “Pretty good defense. Our offensive efficiency numbers are what they are, we’ve got inside-outside, and the fact that we will guard. Those two things together are why we are the No. 1 team in the country.”

Auburn shot 68.1 percent on 2-point attempts int the first half while building a 10-point halftime lead. 

Miles Kelly opened the game with a corner 3-pointer after Broome’s assist, but the Tigers made only 1 of 11 long-range shots the rest of the half.

Auburn post players Broome, Cardwell and Johnson combined for 24 first-half points on 9-for-14 shooting. 

Pettiford drove and dished to Cardwell for the first of Dylan’s dunks. After Pettiford hit a pair of free throws following a technical foul on the Sooners, Johnson lobbed to Cardwell for another slam that gave Auburn a 10-point lead. 

Auburn ended the half on a 6-0 run, taking a 44-34 lead to the locker room after Chris Moore’s driving layup with 3 seconds left. 

“They tell me every day to be aggressive,” said Moore, who scored six points and grabbed three rebounds. “When I’m aggressive, that adds another element to our offensive side.”

Looking for its 15th consecutive win, Auburn (21-1, 9-0) begins the second half of SEC play at Neville Arena Saturday at 3 p.m. CT against No. 6 Florida (19-3, 6-3) on ESPN. 

“Our focus is to get better,” Pearl said. “Florida is the most physical team in our league. (Todd Golden’s) teams play hard, tough and physical. That’s going to be the next challenge.”

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

Postgame Notes

• With the win, Auburn now leads 3-1 in the all-time series. The Tigers have won all two games (one game vacated) against the Sooners under head coach Bruce Pearl. 
• Auburn improved to 21-1 overall this season – the nation’s best record. It marked the 13th time the Tigers have won 21 games in a season including the seventh time in the last eight seasons.
• Auburn moved its winning streak to 14 games, which is tied for the sixth-longest streak in program history and the second-longest active streak in the country. It was the longest winning streak since Auburn won 19-straight games during the 2021-22 season. Of the Tigers’ nine winning streaks of at least 14 games all-time, four have come in the last eight seasons.
• AU won its 12th-straight game at Neville Arena, which is tied for the ninth-longest active home-court winning streak in the country. The Tigers are 109-12 at home since the start of the 2017-18 season.  
• The Tigers remain the only undefeated team in SEC play at 9-0. It marks the third time in program history they have won their first nine SEC games including 10-0 in 2022 and 11-0 in 1959.
• The 28-point win is Auburn’s largest margin of victory over an SEC opponent since an 86-55 victory over No. 15 South Carolina in the quarterfinals of last year’s SEC Tournament and the largest in a regular-season SEC game since beating the No. 11 Gamecocks, 101-61, on Feb. 14, 2024.
• It marked the first time Auburn has scored at least 90 points in consecutive SEC games since scoring 101 points at Missouri and 92 points against Georgia in the final two regular-season games last season. 
• The Tigers saw its 65th-consecutive sellout crowd at Neville Arena (9,121).
• Auburn shot 52.5 percent overall and 68.6 from inside the arc against Oklahoma. It was the ninth time the Tigers have shot at least 50 percent this season including the third time in four SEC home games.
• AU blocked an SEC season-high 11 shots against Oklahoma. It was the fourth time this season the nation’s top shot blocking team has recorded double-digit blocks including a season-high 13 blocks against Ohio State on Dec. 14.
• Auburn scored an SEC season-high 46 points in the paint, which was the Tigers’ third-highest total overall of the season.
• The Tigers turned over the ball only seven times against Oklahoma, which is the 12th time they have had single-digit turnovers on the season and the third time in SEC play.
• Auburn went with the starting lineup of Denver Jones, Miles Kelly, Chad Baker-Mazara, Johni Broome and Dylan Cardwell. Baker-Mazara, Jones and Cardwell have started all 22 games this season. The group is 16-1 as a starting unit this season.
• AU placed five players in double figures led by Johni Broome and Chad Baker-Mazara, who each scored 15 points. Broome finished with five rebounds, six assists, three blocks and three steals against the Sooners. He was 7-of-9 from the free throw line, setting a new season high in free throws made. It was also Broome’s 18th game in double figures this season and the 134th of his career. He is averaging 19.3 points, 12.0 rebounds, 3.0 blocks and 3.0 assists in four games since returning from missing two games with a sprained ankle. On the night, Broome passed Rasheem Barrett for 15th all-time on Auburn’s career scoring list and became the 15th player in program history to surpass 1,400 career points, finishing the night with 1,406 points.
• Baker-Mazara scored 11 points in the second half including Auburn’s first eight points after halftime. It was his 49th career game in double figures and his 17th of the season including the last three contests when he is averaging 14.7 points.
• Jones and Johnson each chipped in 13 points. Jones was perfect on the night going 4-of-4 from the floor, 3-of-3 from 3-point range and 2-of-2 from the foul line. He added four assists, three rebounds, one steal and only one turnover. It was his second-straight game in double figures, 15th of the season and 76th of his career. Jones is 7-of-10 from long range over the last two games. He finished the night with exactly 1,500 career points.
• Johnson went 4-of-6 from the floor and 5-of-6 from the foul line to go with eight rebounds, three assists, one block and one steal. It was his 10th game in double figures on the season and 84th of his career. He finished the night with 601 career made field goals and led a bench unit that scored an SEC season-high 38 points.
• Freshman Tahaad Pettiford scored in double figures for the 13th time in his first 22 career games, including the seventh time in nine SEC games, finishing with 11 points. Pettiford scored nine points on 3-of-4 from distance in the second half.
• Cardwell became the first player in Auburn history to play in 150 career games on Tuesday night. He set a career high with six blocked shots to go with eight points on 4-of-4 shooting, three rebounds and one assist. He is averaging 9.0 points on 7-of-10 shooting to go with 8.0 rebounds and 4.0 blocks in the last two games.