Broome propels No. 3 Auburn past Ole Miss into SEC semifinals

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – SEC player of the year Johni Broome led No. 3 Auburn to a 62-57 win over Ole Miss Friday in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals at Bridgestone Arena, the Tigers’ third victory over the Rebels this season.

“Johni carries us,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. “He puts us on his shoulders. He’s one of the best competitors. He hates to lose. 

“We held them to 57 points. Defense and rebounding win championships, and that’s what carried the day. If you can get stops, you can win. It was a good team effort.”

Tying Mike Mitchell’s 50-year-old program record with his 18th double-double of the season, Broome scored 23 points and grabbed 15 rebounds. 

“BP talks about it all the time, keep trying to make history,” said Broome, who was 8 of 14 from the field and 7-for-10 from the free-throw line. “I play for the name on the front and the back of my jersey. Auburn means a lot to me. To cement myself into Auburn history means a lot to me."

Broome’s last bucket, a low-post bank with 11 seconds to play, gave Auburn a five-point lead after a 6-0 Rebels run pulled Ole Miss within three. 

“I knew I was going to the basket,” said Broome, who drew seven fouls. “My teammates trusted me again, so I had to finish for them this time.” 

Leading by seven after holding Ole Miss to 22 points on 26.9-percent shooting in the first half, Broome and Miles Kelly scored Auburn’s first nine points of the second half, with Johni’s alley-oop dunk giving the Tigers a 38-30 lead, one of Chad Baker-Mazara’s game-high six assists.

“Our 3-point field goal percentage defense has been pretty elite,” Pearl said. “When you hold a good offensive team like Ole Miss to 22 points in the first half, you deserve victory.”

Auburn turnovers helped Ole Miss use a 7-0 run to tie the score at 46-46, but Chaney Johnson’s corner 3-pointer with 6:05 to play gave the Tigers a lead they would not relinquish.

“Denver made a good pass and a good read on the screen,” said Johnson, who added seven rebounds. “I was like, ‘I’m going to shoot it, I’m not going to second-guess anything.’ I’m going to shoot with a lot of confidence, and the confidence paid off. I’m thankful to have the teammates and coaching staff that I have. It was a great feeling.”

Broome and Denver Jones combined for eight points to give Auburn a 10-point lead with 3 minutes to play.

Ole Miss got within six before Baker-Mazara’s dunk and free throw put the Tigers on top 60-51 at the 1:34 mark before the Rebels’ last-minute rally.

Jones hit a pair of 3-pointers to help Auburn keep pace with Ole Miss before the first media timeout. 

“I wanted to come out aggressive, looking for my shot,” Jones said. “It paid off today.”

“Denver was great in the first half and he’s always the best defensive player out there on the floor,” Pearl said.

With the Tigers trailing by four, Tahaad Pettiford stole an errant pass and drove for a right-handed layup to trim the Rebels’ lead to 11-9 before the second media timeout.

Broome tied the score at 11-11 with a bucket at the rim after a Pettiford assist, Sporting News national player of the year gave Auburn a lead with a spin move and dunk. 

With Dylan Cardwell in foul trouble, Ja’Heim Hudson gave Auburn a three-point lead with an offensive rebound and putback. 

Jones put the Tigers on top by six with a floater in the lane, then Pettiford’s step-back 3-pointer put Auburn ahead by nine, leading to an Ole Miss timeout with 3:11 remaining. 

Jones, who led the Tigers with 10 points in the half on 4-of-5 shooting, drove and scored with 6 seconds left to give Auburn a 29-22 halftime lead. 

Advancing to Saturday’s semifinal, the top-seeded Tigers (28-4) take on Tennessee at noon CT 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 used the starting lineup of Denver Jones, Miles Kelly, Chris Moore, Johni Broome and Dylan Cardwell. Cardwell has started all 32 games this season, while Moore made his fourth of the season (46th of his career). The group is 4-0 as a starting unit this season.
• Auburn matched the 2021-22 squad with its 28th victory of the season – the third most on the program’s single-season wins list.
• Auburn also matched a program record with its fourth-straight SEC Tournament victory. The Tigers previously won four-straight tournament games in 1985 and 2019.
• Bruce Pearl, who is now 11-6 coaching Auburn in the SEC Tournament, matched Sonny Smith, who led the Tigers to an 11-10 record in 11 tournament appearances from 1979-89, for the most SEC Tournament wins in program history. Pearl has 17 tournament victories overall including his time at Tennessee, which is tied with Kentucky’s Rick Pitino and Georgia’s Hugh Durham for the fifth-most tournament wins since the renewal of the tournament in 1979.
• Auburn is making its 15th all-time appearance in the SEC Tournament semifinals – the fourth time the Tigers have advanced to the semifinals in consecutive seasons. Coach Pearl has led Auburn to the semifinals four times, matching Smith for the most by any head coach in program history.
• AU is 2-2 all-time versus Ole Miss in SEC Tournament play. The Tigers’ first tournament victory over the Rebels came in the 1985 first round when Auburn won the program’s first tournament title. Auburn has won nine-straight games over Ole Miss extending its longest winning streak in series history against the Rebels. Ole Miss is the first team Auburn has beaten three times in a season since the Tigers defeated Alabama three times during the 1998-99 season.
• With the win, Auburn became the fourth team in program history to score 2,700 points in a  single season, all since 2017-18. The Tigers finished the day with 2,702 points. As a team, the Tigers also moved up to sixth in program history with 957 field goals this season. They recorded 14 assists on 23 made field goals, which gives them 531 assists on the season, which is fourth on the program’s single-season assist list.
• Defensively, Auburn held Ole Miss to a season-low 57 points. The Rebels’ previous low was 62 points against Texas A&M. Ole Miss scored a season-low 22 points in the first half, three fewer than its previous low of 25 points against Grambling State.
• Auburn outrebounded Ole Miss, 38-28, and the Tigers had a +11.3 rebounding margin in three wins over the Rebels this season. It was the 10th time this season Auburn has had a rebounding margin of at least +10 including the sixth time against an SEC opponent.  
• AU blocked three shots in its win over Ole Miss giving the Tigers 201 blocks on the season. It was the third time in program history Auburn has blocked at least 200 shots in a season, all in the last four seasons.
• Auburn placed two players in double figures led by the 78th career double-double for Broome with 23 points and 15 rebounds along with one assist and one steal against the Rebels. It was his 18th double-double of the season, which matched the late Mike Mitchell’s single-season double-double record from the 1974-75 season. It was his sixth game of the season with at least 20 points and 15 rebounds. Broome’s 15 rebounds matched an Auburn SEC Tournament record (since 1979) equaling Charles Barkley’s 15 rebounds against Tennessee in 1984, Chris Davis’ 15 boards against South Carolina in 1995 and Mack McGadney’s 15 rebounds against Arkansas in 2000.  He became the ninth player in school history to score 1,600 career points, finishing the day with 1,605 points in his three years on the Plains. Broome is currently tied with Rex Frederick (1956-57) for fourth on Auburn’s single-season rebounding list with 322 boards.
• Denver Jones scored 13 points on 5-of-8 field goals and 2-of-5 3-pointers to go with two assists and two rebounds, including 10 points (4-of-5 field goals and 2-of-3 3-pointers) in the first half of play against Ole Miss. Jones surpassed 1,600 career points on the afternoon finishing with 1,604 points.
• Tahaad Pettiford, who played in the 32nd game of his freshman season in Auburn’s SEC Tournament Quarterfinals win over Ole Miss, has now played in the 10th-most games (tied) among Auburn freshmen in program history. Pettiford scored five points against the Rebels to pass Isaac Okoro (2019-20) on the school’s all-time freshman scoring list. Pettiford’s 364 points are ninth-most among Tiger freshmen all-time. Pettiford’s solo 3-pointer against the Rebels gave him 62 on the season and tied him with Toney Douglas (2004-05) for the fourth-most 3-point field goals all-time by an Auburn freshman. His one assist tied him with DeWayne Reed (2006-07) for 10th among Auburn freshmen (93).