Auburn overpowered Indiana 104-76 on Saturday in a neutral-court matchup of strong SEC and Big Ten teams in Atlanta.
After trailing by 12 points early in the first half, Auburn outscored Indiana by 30 points over the final 13 minutes of the half and the Hoosiers never recovered.
Auburn (6-2) got back in the win column after a loss last Sunday to Appalachian State, while Indiana (7-2) suffered its first defeat after four straight wins.
The Tigers, who utilize a 10-man rotation, had six players in double figures, led by freshman point guard Aden Holloway (5-of-8 on 3-pointers) and senior forward Jaylin Williams with 24 points apiece.
KD Johnson recorded 14 points, Denver Jones had 12, Chad Baker-Mazara scored 11 and Tre Donaldson 10 off the bench for the Tigers.
The Hoosiers had four players in double-figure scoring with Malik Reneau (15 points), Kel’el Ware (13), Gabe Cupps (11) and Mackenzie Mgbako (10), but Indiana never cut the lead to less than 11 points in the second half.
Auburn outrebounded Indiana 39-35 and made nearly half of their 3-point attempts (14-of-29) to the Hoosiers’ 35.3 percent (6 of 17).
Indiana also turned the ball over 12 times to Auburn’s three.
Indiana got out to a 22-10 lead on a pair of free throws by Mgbako seven minutes into the first half with an up-tempo game that seemed to surprise Auburn.
But Auburn took off on a 42-12 run down the stretch of the first half behind 12 points from Jones and 11 from Holloway. The Tigers’ bench chipped in 17 points and Indiana had eight turnovers as Auburn took a 52-34 lead into the locker room at the half.
Mgbako made 4 of 4 free throws in the game to stay perfect from the stripe for the season at 21-for-21.
The game was the second-ever between Auburn and Indiana, the other being a 107-90 win by the Bobby Knight-led Hoosiers in the 1987 NCAA Tournament.
–Field Level Media
