Auburn star Johni Broome played through a shoulder injury and recorded 23 points and 11 rebounds on Saturday to help the No. 2 Tigers notch an 87-69 victory over No. 16 Purdue in a nonconference showdown at Birmingham, Ala.
Broome made 10 of 15 field-goal attempts and Auburn (11-1) led by as many as 33 points during an easy victory.
Tahaad Pettiford had 18 points and five assists and Denver Jones added 15 points for the Tigers, who have won four straight games.
C.J. Cox scored 16 points and Trey Kaufman-Renn had 15 points and eight rebounds for the Boilermakers (8-4) but missed six of his seven free-throw attempts.
Fletcher Loyer had 11 points for Purdue, which lost for the third time in four games.
Broome injured his right shoulder during the opening minutes of Tuesday’s 100-59 victory over Georgia State, and an MRI exam one day later displayed no major damage.
It was unclear whether Broome would be available for this showdown, but the National Player of the Year candidate didn’t look hampered against the Boilermakers.
Auburn led by 15 at the break and quickly put the game away during the first 13 minutes of the second half.
Broome hit a jumper to end a 6-0 run to start the half and make it 47-26. Nearly four minutes later, Miles Kelly drained a 3-pointer to push the margin to 23.
A short time later, the Tigers ripped off 11 straight points, capped by Jahki Howard’s jumper that made it 66-37 with 9:36 left.
A layup by Broome made it 72-39 with 7:01 remaining. Purdue later narrowed the gap considerably after scoring the game’s final 11 points.
The Tigers shot 54.5 percent from the field and were 10 of 26 from the 3-point line. Auburn had a 23-7 edge in points off turnovers.
The Boilermakers shot 39 percent from the field and hit 8 of 23 from behind the arc.
Broome had 12 points and six rebounds to help Auburn hold a 41-26 halftime advantage.
The contest was tied at 15 after a three-point play by Loyer before the Tigers broke the game open with a 16-2 burst.
Auburn scored the final nine during that charge, with Broome scoring five of them. Chad Baker-Mazara ended it with a putback for a 31-17 advantage with 5:34 left in the half.
The lead was 18 later in the half after Pettiford made two free throws.
Loyer and Kaufman-Renn each had nine first-half points for Purdue.
–Field Level Media
