Chaney Johnson took over for an injured Johni Broome and scored a career-high 26 points on Tuesday to lead the second-ranked Auburn Tigers to a dominant 100-59 win over the visiting Georgia State Panthers.
Chad Baker-Mazara and Denver Jones contributed season highs of 19 and 17 points, respectively, for the Tigers (10-1). Auburn cruised to its third straight win despite getting only two points from leading scorer Broome (19.7 ppg entering Tuesday), who exited the game less than 2 1/2 minutes into the contest.
Broome, a two-time All-Southeastern Conference selection and nation’s leading rebounder (12.7 per game), grabbed his right shoulder after vying for a defensive rebound with Georgia State’s Nick McMullen. After Broome had his right shoulder collided with McMullen’s side, the Auburn star immediately ran off the court and toward the locker room.
The team officially declared him out shortly after halftime, and he was seen wearing a sling on the sidelines. Coach Bruce Pearl said postgame that Broome likely will miss at least the next game, Saturday against No. 16 Purdue in Birmingham, Ala.
Auburn led by as many as 15 in the first half thanks to Johnson. The senior guard replaced Broome and surpassed his 9.1 scoring average before halftime, scoring 13 on 6-for-8 shooting in 15 minutes.
Johnson, who made 12 of 14 shots overall, scored double figures for just the second time in his last eight games and matched his scoring output from his last four games combined.
Jones, who netted 11 of his points in the second half, connected on five of his seven 3-point shots for the game. The rest of the team shot 4-for-18 from the perimeter.
Baker-Mazara finished a career-best 11-for-11 from the free-throw line to help the Tigers win their 59th straight home game over a nonconference foe, the nation’s longest active streak.
Auburn pulled away using an 11-0 run shortly after halftime to build a 54-34 lead with 16:32 remaining. The Tigers shot 69.2 percent in the second half as the lead steadily expanded the rest of the way.
The Panthers (4-7) committed a season-high 20 turnovers — also a season-high forced by Auburn — as they lost their fourth straight game. The Tigers had a 30-9 advantage in points off turnovers.
McMullen, the Sun Belt Conference’s leading rebounder (9.9 per game), led Georgia State with 16 boards and 15 points for his fifth double-double of the season. Cesare Edwards added 15 points and seven rebounds.
–Field Level Media
