The No. 24 Auburn Tigers ended the nonconference slate on a high note by earning a convincing win over the Washington Huskies on Wednesday night.
Following a strong end to the first half which saw them go on an 18-11 run over the final eight minutes, Auburn shot 73% from the field in the second half to run away with the 84-61 win over the Huskies at Alaska Airlines Arena in Seattle.
Washington cut Auburn’s lead to 39-33 at the 16:12 mark in the second half on a layup by Koren Johnson, which would be the closest deficit of the half. That sparked another Auburn run that would not see their lead dip below ten for the remainder of the game. With 7:48 remaining in the game, Jaylin Williams nailed a jumper to put Auburn up by 20, 63-43. The largest lead of the night was courtesy of a made free throw by [autotag]Wendell Green Jr.[/autotag], which put Auburn up by 27 points with 3:09 left in the game.
Four Tigers reached double-figures, led by Williams and Johni Broome’s 18-point night. Chris Moore ended with 12, while Green scored 11.
Despite a slow start offensively, Auburn took control of the first half. Following a three-pointer by Washington’s Keion Brooks that cut Auburn’s lead to 13-12 with 8:55 remaining in the opening half, the Tigers went on an 18-11 run to end the half with a 31-23 lead.
Two layups by [autotag]Chris Moore[/autotag] and [autotag]Johni Broome[/autotag], as well as a three-pointer by [autotag]Jaylin Williams[/autotag], extended Auburn’s lead to eight points in just under two minutes following the three-point shot by Brooks. Auburn would lead by as many as 15 points during the stretch. The Huskies went on a 5-2 run over the final 1:39 to trim Auburn’s halftime lead to eight points.
Moore got the Tigers on the board early, by scoring the game’s first five points. He made a fast break layup one minute into the game and connected on a three-pointer that would give Auburn the 5-2 lead at the first media timeout.
Auburn began to spread the wealth more over the next five minutes. Following two successful free throw attempts by Williams, Broome joined the party by scoring four fast-break points to move Auburn ahead, 11-7 at the halfway point of the first half.
The Tigers ended the first half by shooting 40% from the field and limited the Huskies to just 21%. Auburn also outrebounded Washington, 27-19, and outscored them in the paint, 18-8.
Auburn Basketball will now take a few days off to celebrate the holiday season. They will return to action on Wednesday, Dec. 28 when they host Florida at Neville Arena.
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