After suffering two consecutive losses, and a loss to Georgia earlier in the season, there was plenty of motivation for Auburn heading into Wednesday’s contest against their rivals.
There was little doubt that the No. 23 Tigers had revenge on their minds when they took the floor on Wednesday to face Georgia, who defeated the Tigers 76-64 in January at Stegeman Coliseum. Auburn jumped out to a strong lead, and refused to let off the gas as they cruised to a 94-73 victory on Wednesday.
Auburn’s largest win of the SEC schedule was fueled by an awe-inspring shooting performance, where the Tigers made 56% of their shots, including a stellar 68% in the second half. Four players reached double-figures, led by Allen Flanigan’s 22-point outing, and by Johni Broome’s double-double that included 19 points and 18 rebounds.
Auburn also dominated the boards by out-rebounding Georgia by 10, 37-27, and outscoring the Bulldogs in the paint, 48-18.
The Tigers got off to a slow start but ultimately found their groove in the opening stages of the game. Auburn missed their first five shots before [autotag]Johni Broome[/autotag] put Auburn on the board with a three-point play to put the Tigers ahead, 3-2 with 17:44 remaining in the first half. Broome and [autotag]Allen Flanigan[/autotag] would combine to score Auburn’s first nine points as they took a 9-5 lead into the first media timeout of the game.
Auburn built a 25-14 lead at the under-eight media timeout by using a 9-0 run over a 2:56 stretch to build up their lead. [autotag]Wendell Green Jr.[/autotag] would extend Auburn’s lead by connecting on two-straight three-pointers out of the timeout. Auburn would ultimately construct a 19-point lead, 33-14, by holding Georgia scoreless for over six minutes.
Auburn took a 42-24 lead into halftime. Broome recorded his seventh double-double of the season within the game’s first twenty minutes by scoring 13 points and securing 12 rebounds. Green also scored double-digits in the first half by scoring 11 points.
Both teams scored 12 points each through the first five minutes of the second half, with both Broome and Green succeeding on both of their shot attempts during the stretch to push Auburn to a 54-36 lead.
Auburn continued cruising to the final media timeout of the game by outscoring Georgia over a ten-minute period, 23-13 to extend the lead to 77-49. [autotag]K.D. Johnson[/autotag] was the star to that point of the second half, as he scored nine points by the 7:54 mark in the half to bring his total output to 11 points, making him the fourth Tiger to reach double-figures joining Broome, Green, and Flanigan.
A road trip to No. 4 Tennessee is next up for the Tigers. The top 25 battle in Knoxville is scheduled for Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. CT.
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