The Auburn basketball team kept their win streak alive this week with a victory over the LSU Tigers in Baton Rouge. As the season goes on and Auburn remains at the No. 1 spot in the AP Poll, the target on their back keeps getting bigger and the Tigers continue to show why they're the best team in college basketball.
Auburn got off to a slow start in the first half, but by halftime, they put up a 12-point lead and ran the floor for the rest of the game. In his second game back, Player of the Year candidate Johni Broome recorded another double-double with 26 points and 16 rebounds. Chad Baker-Mazara and Miles Kelly put up 11 and 13 points, respectively, and Tahaad Pettiford added 10 points off the bench.
The Tigers improve to 19-1 overall and are undefeated in conference play. Here's how the team reacted after their 87-54 win.
Johni Broome on the traveling Auburn fans, per Auburn Rivals:
"It's very impactful. You know, they cut the lead to six or seven, and in the media timeout, you heard 'Let's go Auburn' — the chant going through the arena. It kinda gave us an extra little spark for us to go on one more run. It gave us the effort to pull the game out. When The Jungle travels, it means a lot to us."
Bruce Pearl on the Tigers' season-high steal numbers, per Auburn Undercover:
"We recognized their guards were really good. Their guards score tremendous. Chad Baker-Mazara had three steals, Johni had one and Dylan gets two steals. Denver gets four steals, Miles Kelly gets three steals and Chaney gets two. That's a season high for us. We just felt like we did not want to let LSU get comfortable running their offense and running their sets. We extended and drove them out of some stuff. We needed every bit of it because that's a good defensive team. They've got athletes and they're long. They made it difficult for us. Nothing around the basket was easy."
Ja'Heim on his contributions off the bench, per Auburn Rivals:
“My numbers might not show it right now but I can shoot it. I’ve just been staying confident, staying in the gym and working on it. And today, it kinda showed.”
Auburn basketball returns to action this Saturday on the road against Ole Miss.