2.2.23 Auburn Articles

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No sweep: Broome, Tigers brush off Bulldogs

Mark Murphy

6–7 minutes

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AUBURN, Alabama–Johni Broome dominated play inside and got plenty of scoring support from his teammates as the Auburn Tigers avenged an earlier loss to Georgia with a 94-73 SEC basketball victory on Wednesday night at Neville Arena. Broome scored 19 points and pulled in  season-high 18 rebounds for the Tigers.

Broome hit 8-11 field goals and finished with seven offensive rebounds, plus 11 on the defensive boards. Auburn pulled in 37 rebounds, 10 more than the visitors. The Tigers dominated the points in the paint 48-18 on the way to scoring a season-high total of 94 points.

Broome's rebound total was the most in a SEC game for an Auburn player since Walker Kessler grabbed 19 at Arkansas in overtime on Feb. 8, 2022. It was also tied as the third-most rebounds in a single game in the Pearl Era.

Combined with an Auburn season-low five turnovers the Tigers weren’t threatened even though the Bulldogs got hot from three-point range in the second half, making 10-19 in the period and 14-34 for the game.

Auburn got 22 points from Allen Flanigan, who hit 8-10 field goals. It was a season-high for the senior forward, who helped the Tigers improve to 17-5 overall and 7-2 in the SEC.

“When Al plays with that kind of rhythm and tempo, he plays without a turnover, and he does things inside-and-out defensively (the results are strong)," Coach Bruce Pearl said. "I actually texted him last night that he was going to have a big one. I said, ‘You will have a bunch of points and a bunch of rebounds. You are going to play great defense and you are not going to turn the ball over.’ And, I love it when I'm right.”

Wendell Green finished with 18 points and six assists, and the fourth Tiger in double figures, K.D. Johnson, came off the bench to score 13 points. When Green was on the court the Tigers outscored the Bulldogs by 18 points, making the junior guard the plus/minus leader.

For the game the Tigers outscored UGA 20-10 in points off of turnovers, which Pearl said was one of the keys to the victory.

"It was a good win," Pearl said. "They were better than us in January. It is a good sign we have made progress."

Dylan Cardwell added eight points and five rebounds off the bench. "We absolutely dominated the post position tonight," Pearl said.

Broome said Auburn's 12-point loss to Georgia in game two of the SEC season was on the mind of the players on Wednesday night.  “We knew we let that game slip. That was a game we were supposed to get, but you know, it happens. It’s a part of basketball. They came out ready to go so we knew today, on our homecourt, we had to come out there and show what we were supposed to do.”

Georgia scored the first points, but after that the first half belonged to the Tigers, who led 42-24 at the break on the strength of a 17-0 run. Pearl said the run was a result of sticking with the defensive game plan and running the offense more efficiently than the Tigers have a times this season.

Broome led the charge with 13 points and 12 rebounds in the half as the Tigers out-rebounded the Bulldogs 23-14 in the period.

Allen Flanigan attacks the basket vs. Georgia. (Photo: Greg McWilliams, Inside the Auburn Tigers, 247Sports)

Green scored 11 points in the first half while Flanigan added nine points as the Tigers hit 45.5 percent of their field goals, 4-14 threes and 8-11 free throws.

The Tigers helped build the lead by turning the ball over only twice in the half while Georgia turned the ball over eight times.

The Bulldogs hit 31.8 percent of their first half field goals and were 4-15 from three and 6-9 at the foul line.

In the second half the defense left something to be desired for both teams. Auburn scored 52 points in the period, but gave up 49.

For the game the Tigers shot 56.3 percent to 44.2 percent for Georgia. Auburn made 9-25 threes and 13-21 free throws. UGA hit 13-19 free throws.

Pearl said he really liked finishing the game with 22 assists and just five turnovers. "We watched a lot of film this week and we broke down a lot of our transition, and we held our guys accountable saying look, this is not a good shot," he said. "This is not a good decision to take it one-on-three, we don't have any numbers here.

"To the kids' credit, they really listened and recognized and then when we run something -- it doesn't matter what we run, but just run something. If we don't have numbers, pull it out and run something. You're going to get a better shot, you're going to get in better rebounding position, and we're not going to turn the ball over. As a result, we were able to do that. Now, again, Tennessee will climb all in us and pressure and make it really hard for us to run our stuff. Georgia doesn't turn you over much."

Georgia got 20 points from Mardrez McBride, who got hot from three-point range hitting 6-9 for 20 points. However, the guards who led UGA to a 76-64 victory at Athens, Terry Roberts and Kario Oquendo, were held in check. Roberts hit 2-5 field goals and scored seven points. Oquendo hit 2-8 shots and finished with 10 points.

The Bulldogs dropped to 14-8 overall with the loss to the 25th-ranked Tigers and are 4-5 in league play.

Stat of the Game: Auburn finished plus 30 for points in the paint.

Worth Noting:  Flanigan scored in double digits for the ninth time this season and 36th time as a Tiger. It was his sixth 20-point performance at Auburn.

 Up Next: The Tigers will play the Tennessee Volunteers at 1 p.m. CST on Saturday at Knoxville. The Vols were upset on Wednesday night at Florida. Pearl said he plans to study the video of how the Gators pulled off that win in Gainesville, but noted the Vols are tougher at home than on the road.

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Auburn basketball dismantled Georgia: Will it carry over with Tennessee, A&M and Alabama ahead?

Richard Silva, Montgomery Advertiser

4–5 minutes

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AUBURN — It's almost like the circumstances surrounding Auburn basketball's game against Georgia on Wednesday were opposite of the first matchup between the two teams.

The Tigers first played Georgia this season on Jan. 4. Auburn traveled to Stegeman Coliseum in hopes of securing their second straight SEC win to begin conference play after outlasting Florida the game prior. Instead of stringing together a couple of victories, though, the Bulldogs humbled the Tigers, sending them home with a 76-64 loss.

The response from coach Bruce Pearl's team couldn't have been much better. Auburn rattled off five straight wins, including three on the road, following the loss in Athens. The Tigers then stumbled, however, dropping two straight contests for the first time since November 2020.

RECRUITING:5-star PG Tahaad Pettiford commits to Bruce Pearl, Auburn basketball

BEATING GEORGIA:Johni Broome dominates as Auburn basketball gets revenge with win over Georgia

That led Auburn to Wednesday's matchup with Georgia for the second time this season. With the threat of losing three consecutive games looming, the Tigers had arguably their best showing of the season, demolishing the Bulldogs en route to a 94-73 win in Neville Arena. It's the highest point total Auburn has logged all season.

The loss against Georgia earlier in the month propelled Auburn to its best stretch of the season so far. Conversely, can a dominant win against the Bulldogs do something similar?

Pearl better hope so. The Tigers are tasked with going to play Tennessee in Knoxville, Texas A&M in College Station and Alabama in Neville Arena in their next three games. The Vols, despite losing to Florida and Pearl's protégé Todd Golden on Wednesday, are ranked No. 2 in the nation and are 10-1 at home this season.

The Aggies are threatening, too, proving that with a win over Auburn in Neville Arena on Jan. 25. And the Crimson Tide, despite recently getting walloped by Oklahoma, is as dangerous as any team in the country when freshman phenom Brandon Miller has it going.

"We've got to beat the teams that we can and pick off some (other) ones (where) we're going to be an underdog," Pearl said of his team's goals through the final portion of the regular season. "We've got nine games left, and we're probably going to be a dog in six of them.

 

Auburn Tigers guard Wendell Green Jr. (1) goes up for a layup as Auburn Tigers takes on Georgia Bulldogs at Neville Arena in Auburn, Ala., on Saturday, Feb. 1, 2023. Auburn Tigers lead Georgia Bulldogs 42-24.

 

"We've got to win the ones we're supposed to win and can win, and then we've got to see if we can pick off a couple that are going to be really, really hard to get, starting Saturday at Tennessee, which is going to be tough. They've just been blowing people out at home, playing great."

This final stretch of the season − starting with Texas A&M on Jan. 25 and running through the schedule's final game − was always going to be what defined Auburn's 2022-23 campaign. The Tigers have largely won the games they've been supposed to win.

But beyond that, it's now time to see if they can channel some of the positive energy built against Georgia into some late-season upsets.

“Everybody knew that we got Tennessee on Saturday, but I feel like the guys and myself had to come out and put on a show today in order to prepare for that game," said Johni Broome, who had 19 points and 18 rebounds against the Bulldogs. "We knew we couldn’t come out and play around with Georgia.

"And now we’re getting our eyes on Tennessee.”

Richard Silva is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at rsilva@gannett.com or on Twitter @rich_silva18.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: How Auburn basketball can use its win over Georgia to generate momentum

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Bruce Pearl saw Allen Flanigan’s season-best performance vs. Georgia coming

Published: Feb. 02, 2023, 8:00 a.m.

4–5 minutes

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Allen Flanigan (22) during the game between the Georgia Buldogs and the #25 Auburn Tigers at Neville Arena in Auburn, AL on Wednesday, Feb 1, 2023. Zach Bland/Auburn TigersZach Bland/Auburn Tigers

Bruce Pearl sent Allen Flanigan a text Tuesday night.

The Auburn coach had an inkling, and he wanted to share it with his senior wing. Pearl had a gut feeling that Flanigan was going to come through big for No. 25 Auburn in its rematch against Georgia at Neville Arena.

“You’re going to have a bunch of points,” Pearl told Flanigan. “You’re going to have a bunch of rebounds. You’re going to play great defense, and you’re not going to turn the ball over.”

Read more Auburn basketball: No. 25 Auburn steamrolls Georgia with treacherous stretch looming

Rewinding Auburn’s blowout win against Georgia

Auburn lands five-star 2024 point guard Tahaad Pettiford

Pearl’s premonition wasn’t spot-on — not quite, but it largely came to fruition during the Tigers’ 94-73 flattening of the Bulldogs on Wednesday night.

Flanigan scored a season- and game-high 22 points against Georgia, and while he grabbed only one rebound, he committed zero turnovers and played strong defense, coming up with two of the team’s eight steals in a must-have game for Auburn.

“I love it when I’m right,” Pearl said.

While Pearl went 3-of-4 on his predictions for Flanigan, the 6-foot-6 senior was even more efficient than that when it came to his scoring. He finished 8-of-10 from the floor, including 3-of-5 from beyond the arc, and he didn’t miss a shot attempt after halftime, going 5-of-5 from the field, 2-of-2 from deep and 1-of-1 from the free-throw line in the second half.

Along with his proficient shooting from 3-point range—which matched Wendell Green Jr.’s clip from deep against Georgia — Flanigan’s explosive athleticism was on display. He threw down three dunks on the night, including an alley-oop from Green off a steal early in the first half and another lob from Green with 6:43 left in the game to put Auburn ahead by 26.

Not only was it a season high for Flanigan, eclipsing the 18 he scored against South Florida in nonconference action and against Arkansas last month, but it was his highest-scoring performance since he dropped 22 against Mississippi State in the final game of his sophomore campaign during the 2020-21 season. It was also two off his career high of 24, which he had against South Carolina as a sophomore.

In other words, it was Flanigan’s best offensive night since the Achilles injury he sustained in the preseason heading into his junior year.

Wednesday was Flanigan’s second straight game in double figures, and it continued a relatively consistent stretch of play for the senior since the calendar flipped to 2023—beginning with Auburn’s trip to Georgia on Jan. 4. During that nine-game stretch, Flanigan has averaged 11.3 points per game on 50.6 percent shooting, including 37.5 percent from beyond the arc. He has also pulled down 5.4 rebounds per game while being one of Auburn’s best defensive rebounders.

More than just returning to form after that Achilles injury derailed most of his junior campaign, Flanigan has reemerged as a crucial piece for an Auburn team that finds strength in its depth. Flanigan isn’t quite in double figures for the season — averaging 9.4 points per game — but he has been able to provide another scoring punch behind the Tigers’ trio of double-figure scorers: Green (13.8), Johni Broome (13.6) and Jaylin Williams (10.8). He has also settled into the starting role at the three after being inserted into the lineup following Chris Moore’s shoulder injury last month.

“When Al plays with that kind of rhythm and tempo, right? And plays without a turnover, and he does things inside and out and defensively, (he can be a factor),” Pearl said.

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.

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