The Auburn Tigers caught fire in the second half on the way to a 91-77 win against Ole Miss at The Sandy and John Black Pavilion in Oxford, Mississippi.
After a start in which Auburn got handled physically by the Rebels, the orange and blue rumbled out of the locker room to score 56 points in the second half.
After losing two straight road games last week, the Tigers majorly improved their stock amongst the nation’s rankings, picking up their first Quad 1 win of the year – a big boost heading into a rivalry game with Alabama on Wednesday.
“That’s the best win of the year for us,” said head coach Bruce Pearl. “I think there’s a lot of respect between the two schools. A lot of Auburn kids go to Ole Miss and there’s some Ole Miss kids that go to Auburn. It’s a healthy rivalry.”
Trailing by nine at the half, Auburn went on a 15-6 run leading up to the second half's first media break that tied the game. The run was highlighted by two 3-point buckets from Chris Moore and Chad Baker-Mazara.
Following a shooting foul and the media break, K.D. Johnson hit two free throws that gave Auburn its first lead of the night with 15:10 left to go in the ballgame.
This momentum gave the Tigers all of the momentum that they needed to keep a win within their grasp. Center Johni Broome was elated with how the team handled itself once it took the lead.
“I feel like everybody came out with a different spark [in the second half],” Broome said. “We just needed everybody on the same page. ‘I got your back. You got my back. Let’s come out here and win the game.’”
Following a timeout with 11:23 remaining with the teams tied at 60, the game opened up for Broome to take over and lead the team.
Broome scored nine of his total 15 points after that break, being a dynamic force in the offensive performance that was put up by Auburn. Pearl was pleased with how his center handled the game and kept his composure.
“I want to compliment Johni Broome in a couple ways,” Pearl said. “Even though he didn’t put up any dominating numbers [in the first half] and got into a little bit of foul trouble, his demeanor, his play, his body language, the way he was in the huddle – there was no panic. I think the rest of the guys kind of fed off that.”
The game was not controlled by the Tigers in the first half though, as Ole Miss began the game looking seemingly unstoppable, going on a 10-3 run to open up. The Rebels held a 16-11 lead just under six minutes into the game.
Coming out of the timeout, the Rebels extended the lead to nine with points from both Brandon Murray and former Auburn player Allen Flanigan. Murray would make two 3-pointers before the next break, adding to the positive first half for Ole Miss.
The Rebels added to their momentum out of the second media timeout after two straight Auburn turnovers would turn into points on the other end. The Rebels' largest lead was 13 points at the 2:35 mark of the first half.
From that moment on, the Tigers started to slowly chip away to give themselves a fighter’s chance heading into the break.
Denver Jones played a massive role in this, as he got credit for eight of the final 13 points that were scored before the half, including a 3-pointer that put the deficit at single digits with 11 seconds left.
It was at halftime that Baker-Mazara helped get the team in the right mindset, and Pearl saw that as a big moment for his team’s performance.
“This is their team,” Pearl said. “One of the things that Chad did, I got out of the locker room pretty quickly. All I said was ‘Hey, we want to win this game, we can’t give them 44.’ But he’s got my demeanor, and then Chad and Johni and other guys, they said what needed to be said. Then we came in, we talked about the things we needed to do and then they went out and the player did it.”
That lit a fire into the Auburn offense, which pushed the Tigers to play like they did in the first matchup with the Rebels.
Following the second media timeout of the second half, Johnson gave Auburn the lead at 62-60. The Tigers never looked back following that bucket, and the true momentum booster did not come until a few moments later.
After a missed jumper by Ole Miss star Matthew Murrell, Auburn drove down the court and got the ball to Broome inside the paint, who found Jones with a slingshot pass to the corner for a 3-point shot that put the Tigers up by six.
The Wooden Award top-20 center scored the next seven Auburn points, which put the Tigers up by double figures, 80-69.
As Auburn began to run down the clock and finish the game off, Baker-Mazara and Johnson punctuated the road victory with two acrobatic dunks that pushed the team over the 90-point mark. The Tigers then ran out the clock and secured the 91-77 victory.
Auburn’s scoring was led by Jaylin Williams, who had 16 on the night. The offense had many contributors, though, as six players hit double figures on the scoreboard.
“I think it’s the key to our season,” Pearl said. “I think as much as anything they’re beginning to have confidence in each other now. K.D. can make a difference coming off the bench at any time. Chad Baker-Mazara is a really good player that’s so versatile with the way he plays on both ends of the floor. In the first half when Jaylin Williams didn’t play great, Chaney Johnson is out there playing and defending and making plays.”
The Tigers’ huge second half saw them shoot 73.3% from the field and 62.5% from beyond the arc. The 56 points scored in the second half were the most in any half that the Tigers have played this season.
Auburn also played well on the boards, posting 42 rebounds in total, with 14 of those being on the offensive side of the ball.
The Tigers now head back home to try and avenge their loss to archrival Alabama on Wednesday, Feb. 7. That game is set to tip-off at 6 p.m. CST and will be broadcast on ESPN2.
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Tyler Raley is a junior from Birmingham, Alabama, majoring in journalism.
Twitter: @traley34
