In its first home game of the 2023-24 season, Auburn defeated Southeastern Louisiana, 86-71, to earn its first win of the season.
“(Southeastern Louisiana) is a good team. That team’s going to have a good year,” said head coach Bruce Pearl. “But I’m still not pleased.”
Jaylin Williams made history, becoming the winningest player in Auburn men’s basketball history. Williams scored nine in his 88th career win at Auburn, passing Anferee McLemore, Scott Pohlman and Allen Flanigan for sole possession of first place in the Tigers’ record book.
“It feels amazing,” Williams said. “Shout out to my team and my coaching staff for believing in us as a team.”
Johni Broome led the Tigers with 18 points and added 11 rebounds to his stat line, giving him a double-double for the second straight game to start the season.
Broome was 7-of-12 from the field, including a made 3-pointer, and was 3-of-3 from the foul line. Twelve of Broome’s points came in the second half, leading the Tigers after the intermission.
“A lot of my coaches, my teammates make plays for me,” Broome said. “Just execute when I get the ball.”
K.D. Johnson, Chad Baker-Mazara and Aden Holloway also reached double figures for the Tigers in scoring.
“I thought K.D. (Johnson) was terrific. I thought K.D. played one of his better games,” Pearl said. (Baker-Mazara) has real ability. But he has to do it on both ends of the floor…I’ve got a great relationship with both K.D. and Chad, and both those two guys are really talented.”
Chaney Johnson equaled Broome with 11 rebounds, making an impact on the game despite shooting 2-for-11. Of his 11 rebounds, seven were on the offensive glass.
“Every shot he takes, I like,” Pearl said. “I’m okay with Chaney. Maybe he tricked off a few shots but he really helps us defensively and, obviously, with 11 boards, seven offensive boards, that’s how he needs to play.”
Following a 47% rate on 3-pointers against Baylor, the Tigers took a step back from 3-point range. The Tigers shot the 3-pointer at a 34.4% rate, making 11 of the 32 they attempted. At the free-throw line, however, Auburn converted 85% of its attempts, going 17-of-20.
“We shot the ball decent tonight,” Williams said. “Usually, we shoot the ball pretty well as a team. Everybody on the team can score one-on-one, everyone can just go by anybody and score.”
Auburn’s depth showed again, with the bench outscoring the starters. Auburn’s bench players tallied 46 points, with the starters scoring 40. Three of the Tigers’ top four scorers came off the bench.
The Auburn defense continued to frustrate Pearl, specifically in the second half. After giving up 54 points after the break to Baylor, the Tigers surrendered 43 second-half points to the Lions.
The Lions scored 43 in the half despite only making one 3-pointer in that span. Southeastern Louisiana scored on nearly 62% of its possessions in the frame, with 24 points in the paint and 14 second-chance points.
“I’m still not happy,” Pearl said. “We give up 43 points in the second half, 54 against Baylor. That’s 97 points in the second half of basketball, which is not really good enough. We only turn them over one time in the second half and I’m still having to coach effort and energy, and that’s a problem.”
Next on the schedule for Auburn, the Tigers hit the road again to play two games in Brooklyn, New York, in the Legends Classic. Auburn begins the event on Thursday, Nov. 16 at 8 p.m. CST when it faces Notre Dame for the first time. The game will be televised on ESPN2.
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Matthew is a senior from Huntsville, Alabama, majoring in journalism. He started with The Plainsman in fall 2021.
Twitter: @mattwallaceAU
