Tigers dominate Hoosiers

ATLANTA | Auburn used stifling defense and hot shooting to take an 18-point lead into halftime and withheld a small comeback effort from Indiana in the second half to come away with a 104-76 victory over the Hoosiers in the Holiday Hoopsgiving.

Indiana came out blazing, putting up 22 points in the first seven minutes to put Auburn down by 12.

The Tigers responded emphatically. From the 12:54 mark in the first half, Auburn went on a 42-12 run, holding the Hoosiers to three field goals in the final 10 minutes. A three by Aden Holloway at the end of the half sent the Tigers into the locker room with a 52-34 advantage.

Great victory over a historic program, “Bruce Pearl said. “We played really well. As you look up and down our roster, virtually every player had a big day.”

Indiana tried to make it a game at the beginning of the second half, cutting the lead to 11 twice, including at the 15:59 mark, but a Jaylin Williams three started an 11-1 run to extend Auburn's lead to 21.

After shooting 3-of-27 from behind the arc in the loss to Appalachian State on Sunday, Auburn responded in a big way, finishing 14-of-29 from three, including 8-of-12 in the second half. The Hoosiers made their first four three-point attempts but would only make two of their final 13 attempts.

Williams led the Tigers with 24 points, seven assists and six rebounds. Aden Holloway put up 24 points of his own. K.D. Johnson (14), Denver Jones (12), Chad Baker-Mazara (11) and Tre Donaldson (10) finished in double digits.

“Jaylin Williams, that's the best he's played,” Pearl said.

The Tigers finished the game with 25 assists to just three turnovers.

Auburn returns to the floor on Wednesday as the Tigers battle UNC-Asheville in Huntsville.