Johni Broome scored 24 points in a milestone outing, Auburn set a season-high in points, and the No. 1 Tigers hammered the Mississippi Rebels 106-76 Wednesday night in Auburn, Alabama.
The shooting was outstanding for the Tigers (26-2, 14-1 SEC), who won their fifth straight game after losing 90-81 to No. 6 Florida on Feb. 8.
They connected on 34 of 57 shots (59.6 percent) and hit 11 of 21 from long range.
Broome, who added nine rebounds, four assists and two blocks, sank a free throw in the first half to become the 86th player in DI history to reach 2,500 career points.
Chad Baker-Mazara had 22 points and was 4 of 5 from deep. Miles Kelly, Chaney Johnson and Denver Jones had 13 apiece.
Auburn eclipsed the 102 points it tallied against North Alabama on Nov. 18.
For the Rebels (19-9, 8-7), Sean Pedulla totaled 14 points, four assists and four rebounds. Jaemyn Brakefield had 13, while Matthew Murrell and Dre Davis had 12 each. Malik Dia added 11 in the team’s third straight defeat.
The border schools set a torrid pace early in their second meeting, especially the home side as it hit its first six shots, including two 3-pointers by Kelly and another by Baker-Mazara, for a 19-7 lead just 4:36 in during a 12-0 run.
Auburn spent the better part of building a 22-point lead by raining threes over the Rebels, canning 6 of 8 shots from distance with Kelly and Baker-Mazara combining for five.
However, Ole Miss battled its way back into the game behind Pedulla, who trimmed the deficit to 44-38 with a trey at 2:09. But Tahaad Pettiford’s short jumper with 2.9 seconds left gave Auburn a 50-40 halftime lead.
In the second half, the visitors were able to cut it to single digits in the first two minutes behind two Davis buckets, but the Tigers’ overall inside-outside game was too strong and the lead increased to 20 on Ja’Heim Hudson’s free throw with 9:44 remaining.
Auburn poured it on in the final seven minutes and ended the game on a 26-13 run to cap the lopsided win.
–Field Level Media
