Auburn versus South Carolina notebook
It was a top-15 matchup but it was also a complete mismatch.
After South Carolina went up 9-4, Auburn ended the half on an extended 46-19 run and never looked back en route to a dominant 101-61 win over South Carolina, the former SEC leader.
With the win, Auburn tied South Carolina's SEC record at 9-3. Both teams are half a game behind Alabama
"Tonight, after a slow start, we just made shots and played with great freedom," said Bruce Pearl. "I think the other thing, too, that was important was we also disrupted them offensively. We turned them over, we were aggressive and made play on offense out of our defense."
UNREAL EFFICIENCY
When you score 101 points, the efficiency numbers are going to look good across the board.
Auburn shot 61 percent from the field, 60 percent from deep and 89.5 percent from the line.
Auburn had 22 assists compared to just seven turnovers, an assist-to-turnover ratio of 3-to-1.
"I’m just glad that we were able to play for 40 minutes," Pearl said. "I’m glad that we were able to turn them over. Our assist to turnover ratio, the fact that we scored 101 but we did it with 22 assists only seven turnovers speaks a lot. We demonstrated some versatility."
BIGS GOTTA EAT, AND ALSO...
A clear advantage that Auburn had offensively was its size advantage with Johni Broome and Jaylin Williams and they took full advantage, but not in the traditional way.
The forward duo combined for 44 points on 16-of-26 shooting; nine of those 16 shots were threes. Broome went 4-of-5 while Williams was 5-of-7.
In Auburn's last two home games -- both being against teams atop the SEC -- Williams and Broome have combined for 94 points.
"Jaylin’s 5-for-7 and Johni’s 4-for-5," Pearl said. "When you've got nine 3-balls from your starting front court, it kinda makes everything you might try to do offensively work, right... That makes you hard to guard. It makes you hard to guard because what do you do? If you don’t switch, we’re going to get those shots. And if you do switch, we’re going to have mismatches on the inside."
MAKE THEM PLAY YOUR STYLE
South Carolina is ranked in the bottom 10 in the country in tempo, and Auburn used that to its advantage.
Whenever it could, Auburn sped up the tempo and it did it efficiently.
Per Synergy, Auburn put up 16 points in transition which averaged out to 1.231 points per possession. The Tigers shot 55.6 percent from the field when running in transition.
"They're a very good defensive team, and their half-court defense is very good," Broome said. "We knew that if we got out in transition, that could be one of their weaknesses. Their set defense is so good. They give up 65 points a game. We knew that. We kinda just wanted to push it a little bit and get open, quicker shots."
DEFENSE
Auburn's offense will steal the headlines, but the defense was just as good.
South Carolina put up just 61 points on a true shooting percentage of 47.4 percent which averaged out to 0.772 points per possession. All three marks were the Gamecocks' second-lowest in conference play.
The Tigers forced 13 Carolina turnovers which led to 25 points for Auburn.
"I thought Steven Pearl did an amazing job on the scout," Pearl said. "He had us really ready to go. And they don’t turn the ball over, but we blitzed them a little bit in ball screens. We did some things with ball pressure that bothered them, and we weren’t afraid to switch."
GAMEDAY NEXT...
Kentucky is coming to town, and so is College Gameday.
Kentucky is a big name, but it isn't what it usually is as the Wildcats have dropped four of their last seven and haven't beaten a top-50 NET team since January 17.
For the fans, it'll be a spectacle. For Auburn, it's just another game.
"I’d say we get prepared for each game - each team like it’s the same game," Williams said. "Learn their scouts, learn their plays, what they like to do, what players love to drive left or whatever. I mean, we’re going to figure out tomorrow what they like to do. We’ve got an idea, I’ve watched them on tv a little bit. We start planning tomorrow."