Without All-American Johni Broome, No. 1 Auburn blasted past No. 15 Mississippi State 88-66 with stifling defense and an elite performance from beyond the arc to pick up the Tigers’ eighth quad-one win of the season – marking Auburn’s fourth quad-one win by 14-or-more points.
“You can't be anything but impressed. You can’t,” Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl said. We felt the energy in the building, our guys felt the energy in the building. Hearing Chaney get introduced with the starters, and the way the crowd and the students received him. I thought it was awesome.”
With the absence of national player of the year candidate Johni Broome, Chaney Johnson rose to the action in his first ever start for Auburn. Johnson recorded 13 first half points in what became a 17 point performance against the Bulldogs.
“But I'll say it again, Chaney Johnson is my hardest worker,” Pearl said. “It's really hard. You go back and look at me for 10 or 11 years, when I say somebody's a hard worker, I always put a couple guys in because you don't want to hurt anybody's feelings. Nobody on this team would argue it. Whether it's developing his body, working on his jump shot, just doing all the different things like that, and so he handled the minutes, he didn't get in foul trouble and gives us a chance moving forward.”
Falling short of his second double-double of the season, Johnson shot 7-for-10 from the field including a make from deep along with 8 rebounds on the night. The 6-foot-7 senior collected a career-high 4 blocks to go along with Auburn’s team total of 10 – marking the third game of double-digit blocks for the Tigers.
“It was a great feeling. Honestly, it was a blessing,” Johnson said of his first start of the season. “I think this is my second time starting at Neville. I remember I started the AUM game last year. This is my second time. It was an amazing feeling, man. I'm just grateful.”
Auburn got up double-digits in a hurry, immediately starting the game on a 10-0 run with Chad Baker-Mazara scoring eight of the Tigers first 10 – including two 3-pointers. Baker-Mazara finished the contest with a season-high 20 points on 8-for-11 shooting from the field and three made shots from deep.
“He’s got, Chad Baker's got stuff you can't teach. Like he's got IT. There's an IT factor in sports, and the great ones have it. He's got it. You can't explain it. But when you see it, you know it. Other players know it. Coaches know it. He's got it,” Pearl said.
The Tigers’ defense held Mississippi State to only five assists on 35% shooting from the field – hitting just nine shots in the first half. The Bulldogs shot 3-for-24 from deep and had 16 turnovers leading to 22 points for Auburn.
The Bulldogs’ best two players, Cameron Matthews and Josh Hubbard, finished 4-22 from the field.
“They put 90 on Kentucky on Saturday. They scored 66 against us,” Pearl said. “I thought the defensive game plan was great. But more than anything, Chaney and Dylan, their ability to stay down, be second off the floor, blocked all those shots. Just really worked hard at defending without fouling. That was the difference in the game.”
The Tigers’ next test likely without Johni Broome could prove to be tougher as No. 1 Auburn travels on the road to take on No. 23 Georgia on Saturday, Jan. 18 at Noon CST inside of Stegeman Coliseum.
“We just beat a team by 22 that beat a team that we just beat by three that they beat by 30. They beat South Carolina by 30 or 30-something. It's just wacky in this league,” Pearl said. “You can't really predict what's going to happen. It's just get to the next one and just see if we can keep getting better."
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Patrick is a junior from Auburn, Alabama, double majoring in journalism and marketing. He started with The Plainsman in the fall of 2022.
You can follow him on X (Twitter) at @patrickabingham
