When No. 2 Auburn found itself down six at the half on the road to South Carolina, it had shot 50% from the field with six different players having knocked down two-or-more shots. The defensive end – the core of the Tigers’ makeup – on the other hand had uncharacteristically struggled 20 minutes in.
“I thought South Carolina's size really bothered us. And even with Johni, we did not do a good job defensively in the first half,” head coach Bruce Pearl said on the Auburn radio postgame show. “They were on pace to score 80.”
In the first half Auburn – with Johni Broome – was getting dominated down low. South Carolina led rebounds by a +7 margin, 21-14, and recorded six more offensive boards, 11-5, than the Tigers.
The Tigers trio of big men, Johni Broome, Dylan Cardwell and Chaney Johnson, combined for 12 points but also recorded two-plus fouls a-piece – Johnson with three first half personal fouls.
Ranking in the top-30 nationally in both free throws attempted and made, South Carolina was able to knock down 8-for-10 from the charity stripe in the first half off of nine team fouls for Auburn. The Tigers only attempted 12 free throw shots during the entire game.
“Look, that’s life on the road,” Pearl said. “Give South Carolina tremendous credit. Coach lost his point guard…Well, then all of a sudden they got just bigger. They got huge. And so they made their second chance points in the first half, significant.”
National player of the year candidate Johni Broome shot 2-for-8 from the field totaling four first half points compared to South Carolina big man Collin Murray-Boyles who recorded 18 first half points, shooting 7-for-10 from the field.
In a game of runs, Auburn saw itself going extended periods of time – two stretches of three-plus minutes, 3:25 and 3:23, – without scoring a point while the Gamecocks went on an 8-0, 10-0 and 6-0 run all in the first half.
When the Tigers got it to a one possession game at the 13:45 mark, national player of the year front-runner Johni Broome exited the game with a left ankle injury that seemed to only make matters worse for a struggling defense – specifically in the paint.
“We know that he's got a pretty serious sprain. We will MRI and X-ray it when he gets back and hopefully, that's what it is. Don't know much more than that,” Pearl said.
So how did the Tigers limit South Carolina to its lowest second half point total, 23, of the season?
“I think the key was not fouling them, making them make tough twos,” Pearl said. “I thought the guys did a really good job of framing their guards, and looked, that took a lot out of us. I mean, if you are late and not getting through screens, South Carolina's gonna make you pay. And I thought our guards did a phenomenal job.”
After an 18-point first half performance, Auburn held Murray-Boyles to just seven more points in 19 second half minutes, shooting 3-for-8 from the field, and not hitting a shot in the last six minutes of the game.
“Dylan Cardwell, just incredible,” Pearl said. “His defense, his physicality, his rebounding, his poise. Three huge blocks. Tremendous.”
The Tigers were also able to out-rebound the Gamecocks, after a disastrous first half, by a +3 margin, 19-16, and limiting South Carolina to just three offensive rebounds, compared to Auburn’s four, in the final 20 minutes of play.
And the ‘key’ as Pearl stated was Auburn's ability to only allow South Carolina to take six shots from the charity stripe in the second half – with the Gamecocks only making one of those six attempts – on just six Tiger team fouls.
This complete 180 degree turn for Auburn culminated in South Carolina missing its last six shots from the field and being held scoreless for the final 5:18 of play and the No. 2 Tigers securing a second straight road win in the SEC.
“We won on the road twice,” Pearl said. “It was a one possession game in Texas. It was a one possession game here. You know, that's all you gotta do is to put yourself in position.”
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
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
