A trophy is coming back to the Plains. Five years to the day of its last SEC Tournament title, Auburn earned another one – beating Florida 86-67 to win the championship. It is Auburn’s third SEC Tournament title in program history and its second under head coach Bruce Pearl.
“The markings of a great program, the character and culture of the players,” Pearl said. “These guys have been really easy to support, all right? They have been really easy to support.”
The Tigers never trailed in the game, leading for the final 39:37, and pulled away in the second half for a big win.
On the Tigers’ title run, they defeated South Carolina, Mississippi State and the Gators, punctuating it with a thrashing of the Gators in the title game and avenging a previous 16-point loss to Florida. Pearl improved to 2-1 in three games against his former assistant Todd Golden.
Auburn’s Johni Broome was named tournament MVP and Chad Baker-Mazara was named to the All-Tournament team. Broome led all scorers with 19 points in the title game, while Baker-Mazara, who led Auburn in scoring against Mississippi State, added 10 in the championship.
Broome was 7-of-10 in the game and 5-of-7 at the foul line, while his 11 rebounds gave him a double-double.
Auburn was 50.8% from the field in the game, with a 6-of-19 mark from 3-point range. Only one Tiger made multiple 3-pointers – Tre Donaldson, who made two shots behind the arc in the span of under a minute, helping to kickstart Auburn’s big close to the game.
Broome’s 19 and Dylan Cardwell’s seven points led Auburn to 44 points in the paint.
The Tigers, whose lead was just one point with 17 minutes to play in the game, closed out the game on a 41-23 run to create separation and dominate the Gators in the title game.
Basketball is a game of runs. But it's about how you respond,” Broome said. “You got to take the punches, but you also got to give some back.”
Denver Jones scored 11 points in the game, all in the second half. Nine of Broome’s 19 were in the second half, while Cardwell scored all of his seven points in the second half.
“I feel like at that point, when they made their run, we had fresh, new guys come in,” Baker-Mazara said. “I feel like the guys who came in just turned it up a whole different notch. We executed, stayed calm, stayed composed. We stayed composed, came out there, executed. Once we figured it out again, we didn't let down.”
Meanwhile, Auburn held Florida to just one made 3-pointer, as the Gators went 1-of-13 from behind the arc. The Gators averaged 23 3-point attempts per game in the tournament.
“I think part of it was four games in four days. Florida had three great wins.” The teams they played against to get to the championship game…,” Pearl said. “They played great basketball. I'm sure fatigue was a factor.”
The Tigers earned their 27th win of the season, with 26 now coming by double digits. In Pearl’s two SEC title games at Auburn, the margin of victory was an average of 19.5 points against Tennessee in 2019 and the Gators on Sunday.
Auburn being called for six fouls in the first 5:23 of the second half, Auburn committed just five the rest of the way. It was Auburn’s second game in the tournament in which it scored 86, while also winning a defensive battle against Mississippi State.
“Yeah, we got to adjust to the game,” Broome said. “Every game is going to be the same way. That's why this team is so good, because we can adapt. If y'all want to have a shootout, we can have a shootout. If your guys want to rough it up a little bit, play more physical, we can do that, too.”
The Tigers, who came into the tournament as the 4 seed, left as champions. The tournament win, which took place in front of a large contingent of Auburn fans at Bridgestone Arena, cemented Auburn’s place in the NCAA Tournament.
Auburn will find out its March Madness opponent and destination Sunday night. The Selection Show will air at 5 p.m. CT on CBS.
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Matthew is a senior from Huntsville, Alabama, majoring in journalism. He started with The Plainsman in fall 2021.
Twitter: @mattwallaceAU
