No. 4 Auburn was on the ropes and needed a spark. Chad Baker-Mazara shrugged off a minor knee injury and provided it.

The senior scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half to lead the Tigers to an 83-81 win over No. 5 Iowa State in the opening round of the Maui Invitational.

“He was unbelievable, and we weren’t sure at halftime if he was going to be able to go,” AU coach Bruce Pearl told the Auburn Network. “But he toughed it out. He was a huge, huge difference for us.”

Baker-Mazara shot 4 of 7 from the floor in the second half including 3 of 4 3-pointers as Auburn erased a 16-point halftime deficit, scoring 50 points after the break.

The senior added three rebounds, one assist and two steals. He made all five of his free throw attempts.

He was also a big part of AU stepping up on defense. The Cyclones were held to 31.8 percent shooting in the second half after they shot a blistering 58.1 percent in the first.

“They had their best run in the first half and we knew they couldn’t do better than that. They were hitting almost every shot,” said Baker-Mazara. “Either we were going to let them have it or we’re going to put up a fight.

“The guys responded very well and we put up a fight.”

Auburn out-rebounded ISU 35-27 including 21-10 in the second half. AU also scored 14 second-chance points off 10 offensive rebounds including the game-winer with 1.2 second left.

Broome finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds.

“Man, I was just so glad that he was there in that position to have a chance to tip it in. He has an amazing touch. I was just happy he was there to get that W for us,” said Baker-Mazara.

Auburn will play the winner of No. 12 North Carolina and Dayton in the semifinals Tuesday night at 10 p.m. CT on ESPN.