Observations: Auburn 102, UNA 69
UNA took the lead late in the first half. Then Johni Broome took the *game*, and the rest of the Tigers followed suit in another dominant win.
C Johni Broome (Zach Bland/Auburn Tigers)
AUBURN — Bruce Pearl has developed a reputation over the years for his masterful baseline out-of-bounds plays, or “BLOBs.”
His Auburn teams rep them relentlessly in practice, going over every single detail. These plays are often a symphony of off-ball movement and pre-designed passes, knowing precisely where and when to attack an opponent’s defense.
But, sometimes, the calls are as easy as “get the ball to the All-American and get out of his way.”
That was the case with a little under a minute to go in the first half Monday night. Auburn had gotten a BLOB opportunity on a non-shooting foul from North Alabama. Instead of orchestrating a series of actions to create an open look, the ball was simply lobbed to Johni Broome.
The fifth-year senior caught it, took a few dribbles, then launched a high-arcing turnaround jumper in the paint. It went straight through.
Auburn was now up by 11 — a little more than five minutes after it found itself trailing to UNA. The Tigers would lead by double-digits the rest of the way, eventually winning by 33 and covering the pregame point spread.
“It took us a while to get there,” Pearl said after Auburn’s 102-69 win. “We shot some good inside-out 3s early in the game. (Then) I thought we settled a little bit. But Johni Broome proved why he’s an All-American. He was the most dominant player on the floor.”
Broome had 30 points and 17 rebounds for Auburn, and that BLOB jumper was part of an unbelievable surge in which he had 17 in the final 7:35 of the first half. He singlehandedly went on a 7-0 run and a 6-0 run for the Tigers.
Of course, Broome would never say he did it alone.
“First of all, you know, I credit my lord and savior, Jesus Christ, for allowing me to be able to be out there and make plays,” Broome said afterwards. “And my teammates — my teammates were getting the ball. My coaches were calling the right play calls to get us the right looks for us to score.
“I just delivered.”
And it’s important to note that while Broome matched his Auburn-best mark in scoring Monday night, the Tigers also got at least a dozen points from each of their other four starters: Denver Jones, Chad Baker-Mazara, Miles Kelly and Dylan Cardwell.
Auburn hadn’t scored 50 points in a half yet this season. It did that twice Monday. The Tigers shot an excellent 61.9% from the field and 44.4% from deep.
Their frontcourt went a combined 22-29 on their shot attempts, including a ridiculous windmill in transition from Chaney Johnson. They had 25 assists, giving them 77 through four games.
Their opponents have combined for a grand total of 23 assists — and 47 turnovers.
On both ends of the floor, few teams in college basketball are playing as consistently well as this consensus top-four Auburn squad. And, now, the Tigers will take that momentum into a four-game stretch that starts with a top-five showdown against Iowa State in Maui and ends with a trip to perennial powerhouse Duke.
“Our guys respected the opponent,” Pearl said. “I’m glad we played to the end. And now… the next four games are going to be against Elite Eight-caliber teams. All four. And so it’ll be a true test and a true measure of where we’re at.”
Here are four Observations from Auburn’s 102-69 win over UNA, along with the Rotation Charts, Nerd Stats and the Quote of the Night.
C Johni Broome (Zach Bland/Auburn Tigers)
Johni Broome is the most dominant player in America
For someone who finished with 30 points — and played on a team that finished with 102 points — it’s rather stunning in hindsight that Broome didn’t even attempt a shot until there was 7:35 left in the first half.