AUBURN | It was the bench that made the difference.

Led by Chad Baker-Mazara and K.D. Johnson, No. 25 Auburn’s bench out-scored Penn 39-16 in Tuesday night’s 88-68 win at Neville Arena.

“That second group has definitely sparked us, particularly on the defensive end,” said AU coach Bruce Pearl. “I thought this was one of K.D. Johnson’s best games because he did it at both ends of the floor.

“Chad Baker is just a great offensive player. He’s got such feel. I trust him with the ball.”

Baker-Mazara had 16 points on 5 of 10 shooting while Johnson added 11 on 3 of 6 shooting along with four assists, one steal and no turnovers.

Johni Broome recorded the 52nd double-double of his career with 22 points and 12 rebounds. He added three blocks, shooting 8 of 9 from the floor including 3 of 4 from 3-point range.

Denver Jones scored all 12 of his points in the first half.

Penn closed within nine points early in the second half but a 13-1 run put the Tigers in full control with 10:39 left.

“I feel like our depth is going to be the key to our success this year,” said Jones. “In the second half, we came out slow and put our second group back in and they turned us right back up.”

The Tigers shot a sizzling 55.2 percent from the floor in the first half including 10 of 19 3-pointers to lead 51-32 at the break.

Auburn made just 2 of 16 3-pointers in the second half to finish 12 of 35 for the game.

AU totaled 19 assists including a a team-high six by Aden Holloway and committed six turnovers.

Auburn, which finishes the non-conference portion of its schedule 11-2, opens up SEC play at Arkansas Saturday afternoon. Tip-off at Bud Walton Arena is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT on ESPN2.