AUBURN, Ala. – Johni Broome produced a double-double during a nearly flawless first half for No. 25 Auburn to help the Tigers even the season series with Georgia, beating the Bulldogs 94-73 Wednesday at Neville Arena.
"That was a really good team effort tonight," Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said of the Tigers' season-high point total. "A lot of guys contributed. Great balance tonight."
Broome scored 19 points and equaled his career high with 18 rebounds. Allen Flanigan led Auburn with 22 points, making 8 of 10 shots. Wendell Green Jr. added 18 points and six assists, and K.D. Johnson reached double figures for the first time in SEC play this season with 13 points.
"Wendell's a fierce competitor," Pearl said. "All he cares about is winning."
The Tigers committed a season-low five turnovers while distributing 22 assists.
Green hit a pair of 3-pointers within 30 seconds to cap a 17-0 Auburn run that turned a two-point lead into a 19-point advantage with 6:13 remaining in the first half.
"We were efficient offensively and we were getting stops," Pearl said. "Our guys were locked into the scouting report and what we did bothered them. Our defense was better in front of our bench again, which is a problem. We've got to do a better job in the second half."
Broome's tip-in with 2:54 left in the half gave him double figures in points and rebounds. He finished the half with 13 points and 12 boards.
"I took care of the ball and made smart plays. My teammates put me in good spots," Broome said. "Coming into the game, we knew we had to be the more physical team and dominate the glass."
The Tigers committed only two turnovers in the first half while outrebounding the Bulldogs 23-14, helping Auburn amass a 20-6 advantage in points in the paint in the half.
Leading 42-24 at halftime, Auburn's offense was even more explosive in the second half, yielding 52 points on 67.7-percent shooting.
Flanigan's transition dunk after Tre Donaldson's defensive rebound and assist put the Tigers ahead 56-36.
"When Al plays with that rhythm and tempo, and plays without a turnover, he does things inside and out, and defensively," Pearl said.
Auburn hit 10 consecutive shots down the stretch, punctuated by Dylan Cardwell's dunk. The Tigers outscored Georgia 48-18 in the paint.
"We dominated the five position tonight," Pearl said of Broome and Cardwell's combined 27 points and 23 rebounds on 12-of-16 shooting. "They had the physical advantage tonight against a smaller, athletic Georgia team. They certainly took advantage of their size and physicality."
Mardrez McBride made six of Georgia's 14 3-pointers to lead the Bulldogs (14-8, 4-5) with 20 points.
Auburn (17-5, 7-2) begins the second half of SEC play at No. 2 Tennessee Saturday at 1 p.m. on ESPN.
"The guys and myself had to come out and put on a show today in order to prepare for that game," Broome said. "Now we're getting our eyes on Tennessee."
"We've got nine games left and we're probably going to be an underdog in six of them," Pearl said. "We've got to win the ones we're supposed to win and can win, and we've got to see if we can pick up a couple that are really hard to get starting Saturday at Tennessee."
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer
GEORGIA POSTGAME NOTES>> For the sixth-straight game, Auburn started Wendell Green Jr., Zep Jasper, Allen Flanigan, Jaylin Williams and Johni Broome (4-2).
>> With the win, Auburn splits the regular-season series with Georgia. It was the Tigers' 100th all-time victory over the Bulldogs in program history. In both teams' first meeting of the season, Georgia beat the Tigers by 12 points. Auburn got revenge by defeating the Bulldogs by 21 points in the rematch.
>> In back-to-back games, Allen Flanigan came out hot shooting 6-of-10 from the field, 6-for-9 from the free throw line and registering 19 points in the first half alone versus West Virginia and Georgia.
>> Flanigan reached double digits for the ninth time this season with a game-and season-high 22 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the field including a trio of 3-pointers against the Bulldogs. It was the 36th double-figure game of his career and his sixth career 20-point outing.
>> Johni Broome is currently on four-game double-digit scoring streak recording 19 points, career-high tying 18 rebounds and one blocked shot versus Georgia. He turned in 13 points and 12 points in just the first half of play – his first time this season to record a double-double before halftime. It was his 42nd career double-double and seventh of the season, which is second most in the SEC.
>> It was the first time an Auburn player brought down 15-or-more rebounds in a game since Jabari Smith (15) versus Miami (Fla.) in the NCAA Second Round on March 20, 2022. It was the most in a SEC game since Walker Kessler (19) at Arkansas in overtime on Feb. 8, 2022. It was also tied as the third-most rebounds in a single game in the Bruce Pearl Era.
>> For the third time this season, Wendell Green Jr. also reached double figures before the half with 11 of his 18 points versus UGA. He also knocked down 14 first-half points against Saint Louis on Nov. 27 and 12 first-half points versus No. 13-ranked Arkansas on Jan. 7.
>> Back-to-back double-digit games for K.D. Johnson, who tallied a conference season-high 13 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field against his former school UGA.
>> Auburn turned over the ball a season low five times against Georgia.
>> The Tigers scored a season-high 94 points against the Bulldogs. It was their second game of the season with a 90+ point scoring output next to 93 points against Colgate on Dec. 2.