National Player of the Year frontrunner Johni Broome dropped a new Auburn career high (31 points) and led the Tigers to victory over Georgia 82-70.
Johni Broome finished against Georgia with 31 points, 14 rebounds and four assists. He was one of four players for Auburn to score in double figures, solidifying their dominance going into tournament play.
Despite losing, Georgia played physically and gave the Tigers a tough battle. Freshman Asa Newell led the Bulldogs with 20 points and five rebounds.
Before the game, coach Bruce Pearl said, "Georgia is excellent inside and has a great frontline. Asa Newell will be a lottery pick, and they've got a three-headed monster at center with all of them playing well," commending them on their team depth and chemistry.
Auburn started the game out dominantly with a 9-0 run, but Georgia kept it interesting and responded with a 10-4 run of their own. Although the action was back and forth throughout the entire first half, neither team shot the ball as well as they usually do, which led to a lower-scoring first half.
The Tigers were led by none other than Johni Broome in the first 20 minutes with 12 points and six assists. He had a great supporting cast with Miles Kelly (five points and five assists) and Denver Jones (five points). Georgia was led by Silas Demary Jr. with seven points, three rebounds and three assists. Despite ending the half trailing by five, the Bulldogs struggled to control the ball and withstand the Tigers' pressure.
Georgia turned the ball over seven times in the first half, while Auburn did twice. With the plentiful Georgia turnovers, the Tigers ended the half on top at 29-24 despite having the second-lowest field goal percentage in a half this season (31%).
The second half opened up with a lot of competitive action from both teams, with the scoring margin staying nearly the same into the first timeout. Both teams nearly doubled their scoring output from the previous half, leading to higher energy on both sides. With energy spiking through the roof, heads got hot, and a total of four techs were called in the half (two for each team).
The Tigers were once again led by Johni Broome who tallied 19 points, eight rebounds and four assists in the second half alone. Denver Jones had more of a scoring output with 12 points and perfect free-throw shooting. Johni didn't miss at all in the second half, shooting 7-7 overall and 1-1 from three. Georgia was led by Asa Newell with 17 points and Demary Jr. with 11.
Broome ended the game with a new career high for the orange and blue with 31 points (32 points is his overall career high) and had help from Jones with 17 points, Kelly with 11 and Chad Baker-Mazara with 11 as well.
When asked about the wing players getting rebounds, Broome said, "It feels good to have players like that. We make jokes about Miles hunting rebounds, and I do the same thing. It really helps to have guards being able to get the ones I'm not able to get. That's how you win games."
Broome collects his 17th double-double this season, one shy of the record held by Mike Mitchell, who had 18 in a season. The record has stood for 50 years, and Broome said, "One of our mottos this year is to make history, whether that be individually or as a team. If God allows me to, then I'll either tie or take the record for myself."
This quality home win propels the Tigers to 25-2 (12-1 SEC) this season. They look to continue their SEC dominance as they host the Ole Miss Rebels on Wednesday, February 26th with tipoff at 6 p.m.
