No. 2 Auburn returned to Neville Arena on Tuesday night and picked up another sound 100-59 victory over Georgia State, giving the Tigers their 10th win of the season.
Here are the biggest takeaways from the game:
Johni Broome goes down early
The frontrunner for the National Player of the Year and Auburn’s leading scorer, Johni Broome, went down with an apparent shoulder injury on a rebound attempt just over two minutes into the game. Broome, who was coming off a 20-point, 20-rebound performance against Ohio State, resulting in co-SEC Player of the Week honors, immediately went back to the locker room and returned to the bench a few minutes later in streetwear with ice wrapped around his right shoulder. It was reported midway through the first half that the Voice of the Auburn Tigers, Andy Burcham, was told that Broome would be reevaluated at halftime. It was made official a couple of minutes into the second half that he would not return to action as he joined his teammates on the bench with a sling on his right arm.
Career night for Chaney Johnson
Auburn's offense was shaky after Broome’s departure, but forward Chaney Johnson stepped up big with 13 first half points, six rebounds and four assists. Dylan Cardwell picked up three early first half fouls, and Ja’Heim Hudson picked up two early fouls, leaving Johnson as the Tigers’ lone big man for the rest of the half.
Johnson continued his prolific style of play in the second half and finished his night with 26 points, eight rebounds and four assists. Coming into the game averaging just 9.1 points, his 26 points were a career-high while suiting up in orange and blue.
It wasn’t all Johnson
Though it was Johnson who ignited the Auburn scoring efforts, he was joined in double digits by a pair of other Tigers.
Chad Baker-Mazara was right behind him with 19 points and was a perfect 11-of-11 from the charity stripe – marking 37 straight makes from the free throw line dating back to November 18. He is now 43-of-46 on the season from the free throw line. Denver Jones poured in 17 points, going 5-of-7 from beyond the arc, putting him over 40% from deep this season.
The Tigers couldn’t quite get into a shooting rhythm from deep until the end of the game, despite Jones’ five makes from deep. Auburn had just six made threes until Jahki Howard, Chris Moore and JP Pegues added a few in garbage time. The Tigers finished 9-of-25 from deep– ending a three-game streak of double-digit treys. To go along with the nine 3-pointers, the Tigers dominated in the paint offensively, scoring 52 points down low.
Auburn shot a strong 57% clip from the field on the night - 69% in the second half - despite Broome’s absence.
Defense showed up
Auburn’s defensive effort was dominant yet again in the win on Tuesday night, holding Georgia State to just a 34% clip from the field.
The Tigers forced a whopping 20 turnovers which turned into 30 points on the other end. The only knock for the Tigers on that end of the floor was the efforts on the defensive glass, as they gave up 17 offensive rebounds, which turned into 20 second-chance points for Georgia State.
Auburn will be back in action for another opportunity at a quad 1 win against No.16 Purdue on Saturday in Legacy Arena at the BJCC in Birmingham. Tipoff is set for 3:30 p.m. CT and will be aired on ESPN.
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email logan.fowler@1819News.com.
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