Johni Broome scored 12 of his 18 points in the second half and collected 11 rebounds as Auburn shook off a sluggish start and extended its nonconference home winning streak to 46 games with an 86-71 victory over Southeastern Louisiana Friday night.
Broome made 7 of 12 shots, including three layups and a dunk, as Auburn (1-1) did enough to rebound from Tuesday’s six-point loss to No. 20 Baylor and improved to 10-0 in home openers under coach Bruce Pearl. It was Broome’s second double-double in as many games and 48th of his career.
K.D. Johnson added 13, and Aden Holloway chipped in 11 as Auburn shot 47.2 percent in the second half and 41.4 percent overall. Chad Baker-Mazara added 12 points and six rebounds as Auburn overcame a combined 4-of-18 shooting performance from Jaylin Williams and Chaney Johnson.
Roger McFarlane scored 24 points to lead all scorers for the Lions (1-1), who started a five-game road trip by shooting 43.2 percent in the second half. McFarlane shot 9-of-23 from the floor and finished four shy of his career high.
Rosco Eastmond added 15, and Nick Caldwell chipped in 10 for Southeastern Louisiana, which entered the season as the favorite in the Southland Conference.
Auburn took its first-double lead on K.D. Johnson’s 3-pointer with 12:58 remaining. The Tigers held a 15-point advantage with about two minutes left in the first half before taking a 39-28 lead by halftime.
Auburn held a 55-38 lead on a basket by Cardwell with 13:32 remaining and led 61-46 on a three by Williams with 10:05 left before the Lions roared back by converting three transition layups in 16 seconds to make it 61-54 with 8:05 left.
Following the timeout, Auburn surged ahead again, opening a 72-58 lead on Cardwell’s putback dunk with 4:56 to go. After the Lions made it a nine-point game, the Tigers clinched it when Denver Jones sank a 3 for a 77-63 edge with 2:22 to go.
–Field Level Media
