Once boasting a 21-point lead at Texas, the No. 2 Tigers held off a late push by the Longhorns to narrowly escape the Moody Center with an 87-82 win, propelling Auburn to its first SEC road win of the season. The win on Tuesday night marks Bruce Pearl’s 214th on the Plains, surpassing Joel Eaves and making him the all-time winningest coach in program history.
“It just shows how we are as a team,” said senior forward Johni Broome. “That’s a good basketball team, they hit a lot of tough shots down the stretch. They had a run in the first half and a bigger run in the second half. The game got in between one possession, but it just showed out togetherness and being able to overcome adversity.”
Strong performances from Miles Kelly and Broome led the way for Pearl’s squad, with Kelly scoring 18 points and Broome tallying 20.
Kelly was on fire all night, shooting 50% from the field and 4-of-6 from behind the arc. His 18 points are the most since Auburn’s season opener versus Vermont back in November, where he posted 21 points against the Catamounts. Kelly also recorded three rebounds, one assist, and a plus/minus rating of +13.
“I haven't shot the ball the way I wanted to shoot the ball, and today, the rims just felt crazy, like I just had, I got a feeling tonight,” Kelly said. “So everything I put up, mostly, it was going in.”
In Auburn’s true road games, at Duke and at Texas, Kelly is averaging a 57.9% from the field and 72.7% from three, shooting 11-of-19 from the field and 8-of-11 from 3-point land in the two outings combined. After experiencing a minor hand injury the past couple of weeks, the experienced guard seems to have found his stride again and the Tigers will likely look to him to continue his sharp shooting in another road matchup on Saturday at South Carolina.
“Miles Kelly’s a bad boy on the road, now,” Pearl said. “Miles Kelly had played, in our two road games at Duke and then here now at Texas, two of his better games. That’s a great sign for a veteran player.”
Broome proved to be a dominant force once again, contributing 20 points, 12 rebounds, three blocks and two steals, leading Auburn in scoring and achieving his 10th double-double of the 2024-25 campaign. The National Player of the Year front runner now has the second-most double doubles in the country, trailing just Maxime Raynaud of Stanford (11). Broome also managed to shoot 6-of-7 from the free throw line, which is Broome’s highest free throw percentage of the season thus far.
However, the scoring production wasn’t solely Kelly and Broome, as five Tigers finished in double figures. Chad Baker-Mazara posted 16 points while Denver Jones and freshman Tahaad Pettiford recorded 10 each. This marks Auburn’s sixth game this season in which at least five players scored 10-plus points.
Contrary to Auburn’s diversified sources of scoring, it was a different story for the Longhorns. Senior forward Arthur Kaluma racked up 34 points on 12-of-16 from the field and 5-of-6 from behind the arc, carrying Texas from a 21-point deficit all the way back to make the contest a one-possession game with under a minute to play. Scoring 14 of Texas’ 27 first half points, Kaluma’s 34 at the end of the game was good for a career-high, but wasn’t enough to overcome the Tigers in the closing stages of the second half.
Texas star freshman guard Tre Johnson averages 18.4 PPG and 46.0% from the field on the season, but was held to just nine points and 38.5% from the field. Pearl credits it to the stout defensive play displayed by Baker-Mazara, who came alive in the second half and scored all 16 of his points during the final 20 minutes.
“That’s a talented team,” Pearl said. “[Arthur] Kaluma is going to be an NBA player. You know, [Tre] Johnson, they’re saying he’s top 10, and he couldn’t score on Chad Baker-Mazara. At the end of the day, Chad’s just out there making plays.”
“Today wasn’t the prettiest win but at the end of the day, we got it done and came out with a victory,” Broome said. So we’re going to go back, watch film, learn from it, and try to go beat South Carolina on the road.”
The Tigers are seeking a 3-0 start to conference play as they travel to Columbia, SC on Saturday to take on the South Carolina Gamecocks at 12 p.m. CST.
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Gunner is a freshman majoring in journalism. He started with The Plainsman in the fall 2024.
You can follow him on X (Twitter) at @norene_gunner10
