Johni Broome scored 24 points and blocked four shots as No. 2 Auburn rolled over visiting Missouri 84-68 Saturday in the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams.
Bruce Pearl earned his 213th coaching victory at Auburn, tying him with Joel Eaves for the all-time lead at the school.
Chad Baker-Mazara and Chaney Johnson each scored 13 points for Auburn (13-1, 1-0 SEC). Denver Jones had 10 points and seven assists and Tahaad Pettiford added 10 points.
Marques Warrick led Missouri (11-3, 0-1) with 19 points. Marcus Allen had nine points and five rebounds as Missouri coach Dennis Gates rotated 14 players through the game and 11 of them scored.
Missouri took one lead once in the game, 7-6, on Mark Mitchell’s 3-pointer jumper. Broome answered with a 3-point jumper and two free throws to give Auburn an 11-7 lead.
A four-point play by Baker-Mazara extended the lead to 17-11 and got the Auburn offense into high gear.
When Missouri shifted to a matchup zone that worked well in other games, Auburn quickly took advantage with 3-point jumpers by Jahki Howard and Miles Kelly to extend its lead to 29-15.
After Auburn pushed out a 41-25 lead. Missouri outscored Auburn 8-4 closing the half. Warrick scored four points off the bench as Missouri cut its deficit to 45-33 at the half.
Missouri missed 8 of 10 shots from 3-point range during the 20 minutes while Auburn made 7 of 13 from beyond the arc. Auburn scored 14 points off seven Missouri turnovers and shot 58.3 percent overall in the half.
Auburn opened the second half with a 12-1 run – capped by 3-point jumpers by Baker-Mazara and Jones — to reaffirm its control of the game with a 57-34 lead.
Warrick scored 15 second-half points and led an 11-4 surge that pulled Missouri to within 17 points with 4:04 left. Auburn’s lead shrunk to 14 points in the final minute with substitutes on the floor.
–Field Level Media
