Aden Holloway and Johni Broome each had 15 points, and Auburn opened the second half on a 13-0 run en route to its 83-59 win over Notre Dame on Thursday night in the semifinals of the Legends Classic in New York.
Holloway went 4-of-5 from 3-point range, while Broome added six rebounds and four assists for Auburn (2-1), which shot 53.4 percent and 9-of-20 from distance to punch its ticket into Friday’s championship game against St. Bonaventure. Meanwhile, the Tigers held the rebuilding Irish (1-2) to 34 percent shooting and 2-of-26 from beyond the arc.
Auburn, which had five players in double-figure points, led by as many as 15 late in the first half, but only 39-33 at halftime. However, the Tigers sealed the win in the opening minutes of the second half.
Holloway opened the half with a 3, Broome followed with his own bucket, then another 3-pointer from Holloway highlighted the Tigers’ spurt of 13 straight points to open the second. Notre Dame’s first point of the second half didn’t come until Carey Booth’s free throw with 16:35 remaining.
J.R. Konieczny led Notre Dame with 18 points and 11 rebounds, while Tae Davis scored 13.
Broome scored eight of the first 11 points of the game for Auburn, but took only two shots the rest of the first half. The Tigers, though, took a 34-19 lead on Holloway’s 3-pointer with 3:51 to play in the opening half.
However, Notre Dame found some life by closing the first half on a 14-5 run.
Freshman Braeden Shrewsberry (10 points) hit the first two 3s of the night for the Irish and also added a two-point make during that spurt. Fellow freshman Markus Burton (12 points) had two buckets during the run that left Notre Dame trailing by those six points at the break, despite committing eight turnovers and allowing Auburn to make nearly 54 percent of its shots and 5-of-10 from distance.
Notre Dame will face Oklahoma State in Friday’s third-place game.
–Field Level Media
